Research On The International Understanding Competency In High School English Teaching

In 2010,Outline of the National Medium-and Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan(2010-2020)was released,which stated clearly that it was vital to "strengthen International Understanding Education,promote cross-cultural communications,as well as enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of different countries and cultures around the whole world".Then in 2016,Core Competencies and Values for Chinese Students’ Development further confirmed that "International Understanding" is one of the components of six major students’ core competencies.Later,the General High School English Curriculum Standard(2017Edition)which was issued by the Ministry of Education also regards "Cultural Awareness" as one of the core qualities of English subject in high school.Therefore,with the rapid development of globalization,it has become an important part of school education at all stages to guide students to understand the differences between different countries more naturally and correctly and to cultivate students’ intercultural communication skills more effectively.In recent years,International Understanding Education has becoming more and more popular in academic circles,let alone the varieties of studies of it.However,most of these studies are based on the national level,focus on the macro perspective,and incline to some developed cities.With a large population,students in Henan province are always facing the greater pressure of college entrance examination than other areas.So how about the current situation of students’ international understanding competency in ordinary high schools of Henan province? What are the successful experiences and shortcomings and what are the next strategies? By analyzing the theory of international understanding competency,this study expounds the connotation,theoretical basis and significance of international understanding competency,and integrates and analyzes the five compulsory English textbooks of senior high school of People’s Education Press,and to find out what it fits with the cultivation of high school students’ international understanding competency.As the only model school with international characteristics in Henan Province,Zhengzhou No.47 High School has already made some achievements in International Understanding Education.Making the school as an example,this paper analyzes the previous and present situations of students’ International Understanding Competency in high school English teaching from the aspects of teachers and students to explore the countermeasures to improve students’ International Understanding Competency and provide methods for the development of International Understanding Education in other ordinary high schools.This paper adopts the empirical research methods such as questionnaire survey and teacher-student interview.The author selects 300 students as participants in total,which means 100 students in each grade,and analyzes the current situation of students’ international understanding competency.On this basis,this study selected 6 in-service English teachers to do an interview by random to understand and analyze teachers’ attitudes and opinions on cultivating students’ international understanding competency in English teaching.The data analysis shows that(1)the overall level of students’ international understanding competency is good.However,there are differences in grade,arts and science,gender,urban and rural areas.And the female students in senior grade,and major in arts,living in cities are relatively high.(2)Most high school students have a higher willingness to understand the culture of other countries,but their intercultural communicative competence is average.(3)The proportion of high school students with intercultural communicative experience is low,most students have a narrow understanding of "World Englishes ",lack of understanding of multiculturalism,and the contact and understanding of other countries’ cultures are limited to European and American cultures.(4)As for English teachers,the overall level of international understanding literacy is good,but their teaching method is too single.(5)In terms of school training,the organization of international educational activities is insufficient,the popularization is not enough,the curriculum development is unbalanced,and the management and evaluation system are imperfect.The thesis covers six parts.The first chapter mainly shows the background,significance and frame structure of the research.And the second part reviews therelevant research results of International Understanding Competency at home and abroad.As for the third one,it introduces the theories of this paper.For the fourth chapter,it shows the research methods,the research object,background,and process.Then the fifth chapter discusses the data analysis and results of student questionnaires,focusing on the current situation of high school students’ International Understanding Competency and the development of high school students’ International Understanding Competency and English teachers’ understanding and cognition of cultivating students’ international understanding competency in English teaching procedures,discussing the research results of this paper,not only puts forward the corresponding solutions and suggestions for the research problems,but also discusses the key research results of this paper.The sixth chapter,discusses the relevant suggestions for future improvement.