| Zhou Yutong(1898-1981)was a famous language educator in China in the 20th century.His ideas on language education had a leading role in the education of the Chinese language in the Republic of China.Since,he was more influential in the history of scripture,many scholars have neglected his inquiry in language education.Therefore,it is necessary to study Zhou Yutong’s ideas on language education in depth.The influence of the social era,the impetus of language education reform,and his own experiences in schooling and educational practice are all important reasons for the formation of his ideas on language education.The three parts of Zhou Yutong’s view of curriculum,teaching materials and teaching constitute the core of his ideological system of language education.Zhou Yitong’s view of language curriculum focuses on the objective of developing language skills and the curriculum of student-centred,multicultural,socially sensitive and linguistically grounded curriculum.Zhou Yutong proposed four criteria for selecting texts for language teaching materials:their topicality,their nurturing value,their pedagogical value and their literaiy-historical value,and advocated that national language teaching materials should be problem-based,and that literary materials should be organised in accordance with the times.On the teaching of reading,he emphasised the concept of "extensive reading and refined thinking",advocating the importance of systematic research and literary appreciation,the combination of reading and reflection,and the combination of reading teaching and integrated activities.On the teaching of composition,he valued students’ ’individual expression’ and advocated free and agile expression of personal emotions and a diverse approach to criticism.Zhou Yutong’s ideas on language education have important implications for contemporary educational practice.Firstly,Zhou’s curriculum objectives,which he twice proposed,emphasise the fundamental nature of language and writing,and his curriculum meets the needs of students,meets the requirements of society and is rich in content,which points the way to our next curriculum reform.Finally,he provided a variety of reading methods and forms of composition criticism for the practice of language education.Zhou Yutong’s ideas on language education incorporate the views of his predecessors and contemporaries,and many of his insightful arguments shine with wisdom and are still alive today,providing valuable theoretical resources for us to continue to promote the modernisation and scientificisation of language education and deepen the reform of language teaching. |
