A Study Of ’culture Of Learning’ In EFL Classrooms Of China’s Secondary Schools

In recent years, studies about EFL in China’s secondary classrooms reveal adilemma: on the one hand, students are not interested in traditional English teachingmethod, and the learning results are far from satisfactory; on the other hand, somemodern teaching and learning methods, which have been brought in as curriculumreform, encountered frustration in China. Previous studies have ignored the concept of’culture of learning’.’Culture of learning’ refers to the collection of behavior, norms,values, beliefs and expectations about teaching and learning, which have a culturalorigin and which classroom participants often take for granted (Cortazzi&Jin,1996a).’Culture of learning’ is deeply rooted in culture. As rooted in traditional Chineseculture, Chinese ’culture of learning’ shows the cultural characteristics of collectivism.From the empirical perspective, the author made a questionnaire and aninterview on Chinese ‘culture of learning’ to340senior two students. Based on thequestionnaire of Shi (2006) on Chinese ‘culture of learning’, the author adjusts thestructure of the questionnaire, and study from five aspects: the criteria of a goodteacher and a good student; students’ favored teacher-student relationship; students;preferred teaching and learning method. On the basis of data analysis, it finds that,under the dynamic social context, Chinese ‘culture of learning’ is changing slightly.The changes lie in two aspects: first, while inheriting the characteristics of traditionalChinese ‘culture of learning’, current Chinese ‘culture of learning’ shows the traits ofwestern ‘culture of learning’; second, as different learning environment, students indifferent schools show differences in ‘culture of learning’，particularly between thekey and non-key schools. Lastly, pedagogical implications are drawn for improvingcurrent ELT in China’s secondary classrooms: firstly, updating teachers’ beliefs andpractices: foster equal and close teacher-students relationship; promotelearner-centered, interactive teaching method. Secondly, optimize the exam system: make reform in exams compatible with curriculum reform and alleviate exam pressureon teachers and students. Thirdly, promote eclectic method in Chinese ELT: takeadvantages of Chinese traditional teaching method and Western teaching method tomeet the dynamic Chinese “culture of learning”.