An Inquiry Into Primary English Curriculum Implementation

As far as we are concerned, curriculum implementation issues were focused on teachers' curriculum decision, the differences between the operational curriculum and the formal curriculum, the influences on the implementation and students' attitude to the implementation. Curriculum implementation perspectives should not be limited to the fidelity to the formal curriculum, but include the students' development. We chose teachers and students from four primary schools which lie in different areas in Guangzou and inquired into the main characters and factors of primary English curriculum implementation by interviewing, questionnaire, classroom observing and documents analysis. The formal curriculum in Guangzou was designed to absorb the advanced English educational ideal and it fit the real situation in Guangzou well. Nevertheless, it need refining either for the objects or the contents, either for the curriculum resources or the curriculum development. These disadvantages affected the curriculum implementation greatly.Research showed that there were great differences between the operational curriculum and the formal curriculum on the contents and the instructional methods. Though teachers followed the formal curriculum to prepare their lessons and give their lessons, they didn't achieve all the goals that it demands. As for choosing the instructional methods, they didn't do according to the teachers' book but to their own convenience and the test. They only cared about the contents of the curriculum but not the students' need. Though they followed the contents of the curriculum, they didn't finish all the goals. At present, most of the students didn't agree with the implementation.The following were the main affecting factors: formal curriculum, assessment system, teachers' literacy, time, the culture of the school research, the limit from the population in class, social and family environment.Based on the analysis of the curriculum implementation and its affecting factors, we got the needs of the three kinds of participants who were involved in the implementation. The students desired to learn with exciting experience. They hoped that the teaching materials were interesting, active and easy to learn. They wanted teachers to be equal and friendly to them, too. In a word, they were appealing to the school to integrate their needs and experience into the curriculum and its implementation process. A school need more autonomy. Teachers yearned for more time for his self-development, easy aids and the principal's supports.All through this process, we ourselves got other kinds of rewards. We knew more about how to analyze the curriculum implementation. Still, we found some new factors which influenced the teachers' curriculum decision and realized that the new logical beginning of English language curriculum and instruction was children's needs.We attempted to make some suggestions on the listed problems: "Reconstructing" the Primary English Curriculum and Instruction Theory, changing the teachers' training courses, creating the flexible curriculum developing and implementing strategy, making schools and teachers more independent, perfecting the curriculum resources and doing a good job on teachers' professional development, were the necessary tasks we must perform. All that should be done were subject to the only goal, that is to keep the curriculum and its implementation according to the students' needs and language learning process, then integrating the children with the culture.