A Study On College English Classroom Learning Environment

During the last three decades, learning environments research has become one ofthe most important tendencies in the educational research field. More and moreattention has been paid to the assessment of various learning environments throughdesigning, modifying and using different instruments with high validity andreliability.The present study assesses the College English classroom environment ofnon-English major undergraduates by utilizing the modified Chinese version of WhatIs Happening In this Classroom (WIHIC) questionnaire. The subjects of the studyconsist of236non-English major undergraduates from6classes and49CollegeEnglish teachers from a university. Analyses of the questionnaire data are conductedin order to scientifically assess the learning instrument. The data collected from thequestionnaires are processed by SPSS19.0.Based on the results of the data analyses, four research findings are concluded:(1)The students perceive their College English classroom at a relatively high and positivelevel;(2) Generally speaking, there is no significant perceptual difference betweenmale and female students;(3) To a large extent, the teachers perceive the classroommore positively than their students on almost all of the scales in the WIHIC;(4)High-level students perceive the classroom environment more positively than thelow-level students.The significance of the present study is that it provides a reliable instrument toassess the learning environments of Chinese College English classroom. With theutilization of the instrument, educators could achieve a more scientific and accurateevaluation about College English classroom learning environment, analyze and solvethe problems exist in it, and thereby further improve the standard of College Englisheducation.