Research On Developing International Understanding Competence Based On Thematic Unit Teaching

In the era of globalization and informatization,China is in urgent need of talents with international understanding competence.Developing international understanding competence has become a trend of educational reform for every nation in the world and an important direction for deepening the reform of education and teaching and for improving educational quality in China.Unit is the basic element of curriculum.Thematic unit teaching is a reliable way to develop international understanding competence.This study aims to explain how to develop international understanding competence through thematic unit teaching.To be specific,it is necessary to answer four questions: What is international understanding competence? What is the nature of thematic unit teaching? Why can unit teaching develop international understanding competence and how?Through the analysis of literature,this paper found that international understanding education experienced three periods: concerning peace and human rights,emphasizing citizenship and pursuing cultural diversity and social justice.A conceptual framework of international understanding competence has been built up based on the comparative analysis of curriculum objectives of international understanding education of Australia,America,Japan and South Korea and the analysis of six curriculum standards of foreign languages for senior high schools in China.As curriculum objectives,international understanding competence can be divided into four dimensions: multiple perspectives,respect for differences,intercultural communication and participation.This study explored the nature of thematic unit,explained the reasons why unit teaching could improve international understanding competence and introduced the specific process and strategies of unit teaching.The researcher designed and implemented a thematic unit of five lessons in a high school with the help of a Spanish teacher based on the rationale of international understanding competence and the specific procedures of thematic unit teaching.In order to record and analyze the details of unit teaching and the international understanding competence of four participants in the case study,interviews,classroom videos,discussions and other materials were used to collect data.This study found that the design of learning aims,evaluation tasks and learning process were connected with international understanding competence consistently.Learning achievements of the thematic unit teaching could partly reflect some characteristics of students' international understanding competence.