A Comparative Study Of Four English Curriculum Standards:Based On CECS, SECS, CEF And ELP

To meet the growing demand of the contemporary social and economic development, and in response to the "standards" movement having dominated educational realms since the1990s, the experimental version of Chinese English curriculum standards for Compulsory Education and Senior Secondary Education (CECS for short through this thesis) was drafted by the Ministry of Education of the PRC and came out in September2001. So far it has been in current use. In response to the curriculum reform of information age, Shanghai started the second round of curriculum reform in1998, which resulted in the formulation of English curriculum standards for Compulsory Education and Senior Secondary Education in Shanghai (SECS) in2004. Now many years have passed, with so many changes in society at home and abroad and also to keep up with the times, English education needs to be further improved. To improve English curriculum standards requires more comparative study to find the gap from which inspirations and suggestions can be drawn for the practical improvement. As developed countries, both European countries and the United States enjoy prosperous economy, brilliant cultures and also well-developed education. For the majority of countries in Europe, English is a second language and also an accepted language for European citizens to use for communication. Therefore English is a core subject and learning language in Europe. The "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:Learning, teaching, assessment"(CEF) was published by the Council of Europe in2001with the main aim to guide foreign language education in45member states of Europe. It is not language-specific, but since English is assumed by its member states to be the most important foreign language, CEF can be nearly regarded as English curriculum standards. Famous as the melting pot, America once had a great many foreign-language-speaking immigrant groups and immigration has been continuing. Due to the heterogeneity of the student population, there once appeared controversy centered on languages, education, culture and the forth, which lasted until the No Child Left behind (NCLB) of2001(TESOL,2006) was signed into law, since then English has been taught as a second language for the immigrants and has been in an important position in American education. American PreK-12English Language Proficiency Standards (ELP) was published in2006to offer an up-to-date resource for relevant educators who work with English language learners in today’s classroom, irrespective of the students with different background or the type of instructional model. It is generally agreed that economic development and the cultural and educational level of many developed countries, like the United States and European countries surpass the majority of the parts of Chinese mainland. Therefore the comparative study between the four English curriculum standards has great significance in improving CECS and SECS. The thesis first introduces the background for the four English curriculum standards, and then compares the framework, English competence level standards, and curriculum rationale of the four English curriculum standards.The comparative results show that all the four English curriculum standards reflect the world tendency in English education, which can find full expression in their shared similarities:presenting integrated curriculum standards, designing multiplex curriculum structure, valuing language proficiency development, providing rich teaching and learning resources, covering the main English knowledge to be acquired and skills to be obtained, and building a comprehensive system of assessment. Nevertheless, due to different social, cultural, and educational background, the inevitable differences arise. The comparative study is carried out in the framework of curriculum standards, English competence level standards including the definition of English competence, description of cognitive objectives of English learners and the guiding principle behind the level standards, and curriculum rationale. Through the comparison, CEF and ELP stand out in their advantages:coherent and consistent curriculum framework, clear and comprehensive definition of language competence, a comprehensive and refined description of cognitive objectives of learners, a sound and tenable guiding principle behind the level standards, and that curriculum rationale is well reflected in the design of standards.CECS and SECS have improved a lot, but compared with other top curriculum standards in the world, they still leave much to be desired. The inspirations and suggestions for the improvement of CECS and SECS are listed as follows: constructing a coherent and feasible curriculum framework, clearly defining English language competence, making cognitive objectives of learners interpretable, validating the guiding principle behind the level standards, and above all making sure the design is in line with curriculum rationale.