Comparison And Reference Of English Teaching In Compulsory Education Of Finland And China

The paper aims to provide a successful experience for China by comparing the English teaching situation in China and Finland through various aspects.In terms of English teaching,Finland is one of the top five countries in the world,as well as its PISA results are also among the best in the world.People in China spend a lot of efforts and resources for learning English,however the overall result can be improved.Therefore,it can be useful to get inspiration from the teaching practice of Finland.The history of English teaching in China and Finland has both similarities and differences.Some common aspects are that both countries attach great importance to education;they have experienced difficult times during the twentieth century;in the past,their English proficiency level was not high;they were influenced by other countries in terms of education;English teaching reform has been undertaken in both countries.The difference is that China has the long history of teaching traditions and culture,starting from the ancient times,while general history,as well as history of education in Finland are shorter;English teaching development in Finland is continuous and progressive,but China had a period of suspension and regression;Finland is willing to accept new teaching methods,but China’s traditional education is relatively conservative.Concerning the current situation,two countries have many differences in English teaching.Regarding teaching objectives,in China student ability and skills are regarded as the goals of English curriculum standards for English teaching.This way,learning helps students to acquire the initial comprehensive language skills and promote the overall development.On the curriculum,in accordance with the ability of new English curriculum to the basic education stage English course is divided into 9 levels,the Finland basic education subjects or subjects were divided into several grades with different stages,and each stage provides minimum teaching hours per week.In Finland,the goal is different,it aims to provide students with different opportunities for listening,reading,speaking,writing,especially emphasizes the development of communication skills and the spirit of cooperation to help students understand a foreign culture.In China,English teaching methods are based on grammar,vocabulary,and translation;students can not relate the content to their daily life.In Finland,students have to do listening and speaking exercises,however other methods are added,such as CDs or videos,listening to the story,reading,playing games,drama performances,singing exercises,group discussions,dialogues and so on.Concerning examinations,the college entrance examination is China’s most important way of evaluation,is the only indicator for university entrance.However,in Finland,high school examination is often considered as a high school hidden curriculum,it is a learning ability test of high school graduates and used to test high school students about the knowledge they have received in school,including the degree of understanding of different school subjects.It is only one of qualifications for the university entrance.This way,competition in Finland is quite moderate.In the use of teaching materials,textbooks in China vary from region to region,after years of development and improvement,a number of different versions have been published in order to adapt to different abilities and levels of student needs.In Finland,the national unified teaching materials are used,there are no regional differences.In the development of teachers,English teachers in China have a heavy workload of teaching and management tasks,and training includes pre-job training and on-the-job training.While in Finland,teachers’ pass rate is relatively high,but teachers need to invest a lot of time and efforts to carry out their own professional development.In addition to teaching time,teachers also use three hours per week for activities such as different meetings,communication with parents and school development.There are many differences between the two countries in terms of English policy and reform orientation.Policy direction in China takes into consideration that urban and rural development is extremely uneven,the policy is more geared towards rural areas and the government encourages multi-party participation,diversification.Finland’s policy is very sound,especially the intelligent accountability system.Finnish education system gradually introduced a cultural aspect of trust,especially the education sector and political leaders are giving the teachers and schools a great deal of trust,they believe that teachers and schools can provide students with an excellent education.Both countries participate in different levels of teaching reform,including curriculum reform,examination reform,study burden and special development.For example,China’s curriculum reform is more likely to impact instrumental,human and other macro-level aspects of English.In Finland,curriculum reform is more detailed and diverse,including study goals,length,reading,writing and other minor details.Examination reform in China did not immediately change the structure of the college entrance examination,however reduction of grammar parts,changes in reading part and including-writing part had an impact on secondary school English Teaching.In view of this,it is suggested that the Chinese educational administration department decentralize the power to let schools adjust the curriculum according to the local situation,choose the teaching method;improve the English teaching goals,positively change the examination to be more practical;develop the communicative,the multimedia,the cooperation and activity based teaching,deepen the curriculum reform;Strengthen training of teachers,improve their quality.