A Study Of Bilingual Teaching In China's Higher Education Institutions

With the rapid development of economic globalization, English has become a majority language that crosses the boundary of countries, nations and cultures. In recent years, bilingual teaching has been a hot issue in the foreign language teaching reform, which is an important measure to promote the internationalization of the higher education in China. In the three documents of [2001]4, [2005] 1 and [2007]2 issued by the Ministry of Education of China, they put much emphasis on the promotion of bilingual teaching in higher education institutions. At present, bilingual teaching practice and exploration have been carried out in many universities and colleges in a thriving way.However, owing to various reasons, the effect of bilingual teaching in China is not very satisfactory. Some universities and colleges even blindly follow the bilingual models of other countries, which led to some unsuccessful bilingual teaching practice. In addition to the unpleasant effect of bilingual teaching, many people have very limited understanding even misunderstanding on bilingual teaching. Thus some opposing voice appears. Some people hold that it is just a show to carry out bilingual teaching in China. More and more teachers and educators also feel confused. Is bilingual teaching in China just a show? Is it necessary to carry out bilingual teaching in China? What are the problems that exist in the bilingual teaching in China? How to solve these problems?To answer these questions, a research was carried out on the basis of analyzing the basic bilingual theories and bilingual models. This research took the bilingual course International Trade Practice as a case. By analyzing the results from the research, some problems of bilingual teaching in higher education institutions have been found, and suggestions are given in this thesis.This research adopted the following three instruments:questionnaire, interview and classroom observation. Some problems were found on the basis of analysis of the results: (1) Students even some teachers haven't a clear view on the purposes of bilingual teaching, which will lead to a poor effect of bilingual teaching. (2) Qualified bilingual teachers are urgently needed in many universities and colleges. (3) There is a lack of suitable textbooks and other reference materials. (4) The bilingual class efficiency is inadequate for the reasons like students' language proficiency, students'academic knowledge, their psychological preparation and teaching methods. In view of the above problems, some suggestions are demonstrated in the aspects of bilingual teacher training, selection of textbooks, and selection of course.By studying the main theories of bilingual education and comparing the bilingual teaching home and abroad, this thesis helps direct China's bilingual teaching to a more effective way. By case study, problems are found and suggestions demonstrated in hope that such problems will be avoided and bilingual teaching reform can achieve better effect.