A Case Study On Developing And Implementing School-based English Curriculum In No.3 Primary School Of Lanzhou Chemical Industry Corporation

This study aims to investigate how school-based English curriculum is developed and implemented in No. 3 Primary School of Lanzhou Chemical Industry Corporation (CIC). More specifically, it presents a case study on the strategies of their school-based English curriculum, the perceptions of teachers and students on it, and the relationship between school-based English curriculum and students'English performance. The data were collected by conducting interview, classroom observation, and questionnaire. 2 English teachers and 102 students were involved in the present study. The findings yielded from this case study are enumerated as follows:First, in order to enhance students'ability of decoding and oral reading, and improve their ability of reading comprehension, school-based English curriculum was developed and implemented in 2003. It contains systematic phonics teaching in preliminary stage and whole language reading instruction in advanced stage. As for the whole language reading instruction, the strategies of it are consistent with teachers'beliefs about language and learning, therefore, reading is not taught uniformly across their school-based English curriculum.Second, the school-based English curriculum implementation enhances students'English performance. The systematic phonics teaching in preliminary stage improves students'decoding and oral reading. And the combination of phonics teaching and whole language reading instruction helps students improve their overall performance of English and balance every language skill.Third, the teachers in the school appreciate this school-based project, because SBCD activities are organized in an open, democratic and cooperative environment, it promotes a consensual culture in the school. And through it, teachers improve their knowledge and skills on SBCD, material design and curriculum related issues. And this project also has a positive effect on other curricula. Meanwhile, students also develop a positive attitude towards this project. They view it make them more interested in English learning and helpful to them.This study has important implications for the new interpretation of SBCD which can change the misconception in China whereby SBCD is taken as creating new curricular products such as English textbooks. Furthermore, the materials of school-based English curriculum enhance other English teachers'curricular resources. Finally, the research findings also have implications for teacher training, more specifically, in the area of curriculum and instruction. They will be able to help both pre-service and in-service teachers know the importance of implementing the enactment approach to curriculum instruction and implementing the variations of SBCD.