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This study is an interdisciplinary inquiry into the social dynamics of Chinese English teacher education and the process of its change as viewed from the perspective of teacher education faculty. Chinese English teacher education is a product of diverse and conflicting socio-cultural influences, among which Marxism, Confucianism, Russian linguistics, and Western teaching practices feature prominently. Chinese English teacher training is adopting a more modern approach in response to a burgeoning population of English students, economic demand, technological advances, increased focus on the communicative aspects of language learning, and international exchange. The principal research was conducted as a case study at China's largest teacher training university, Hebei Teachers' University, from 1997 to 1999. The study presents the results of 54 in-depth phenomenological interviews with 20 English teacher education faculty. The analysis of data from the faculty interviews reveals recurrent themes about the process of English teacher education. Among the dominant influences on English teacher training are an academic culture favoring theory above practice; a default teacher training strategy of learning by imitation; a cultural ethic mandating harmony in collegial relations; and the bureaucratic structure of the university, which inhibits innovation. The process and prospects of modernizing teacher education are explored and presented. Among the influences of modernization effecting faculty are increased exposure to alternative teacher training strategies, study abroad, international professional development, university recruitment practices, foreign teachers, and the growing availability of teaching technology. For historical perspective, the study explores the history of English teacher education in China from the beginning of the missionary era up to the modern period in which the study was conducted (1664–1997), suggesting cultural, institutional and political precursors to the context of the study. The study also explores a philosophical foundation for the faculty perspectives with a discussion of phenomenology as it relates to the exploration of meaning in individual undertaking. Making meaning is a process that takes place within a landscape of one's own personal, social and cultural experience, which in turn serves as a constant referent. The study offers recommendations for modernizing teacher education as a response to the faculty perspectives.

This study describes an experimental fifth grade reading class in which an interactive writing program replaced the traditional school model's follow-up activities of workbooks, skill worksheets or assigned comprehension questions. For the purpose of the case-study, the researcher made careful, systematic observations, collected samples of the students' work and kept detailed ethnographic notes for an entire year. The researcher hoped to learn about the complementary relationship between reading and writing and more specifically the effects of a writing-infused program on the reading comprehension ability of the students involved. The subjects of the study were a group of fourteen students selected from the middle of a class of sixty-one fifth graders. The median IQ for the entire fifth grade was 108, while it was 100 for the fourteen students participating in the study group. The IQ ranged from 93-117. In this dissertation can be found the results of the writer's exploration and her answers to five research questions. Did the students make observable improvements in their writing abilities and skills? Did the writing-infused students make gains in reading comprehension? How did the writing-infused students perform in tests measuring traditional language and reading achievement as compared to the other fifth grade students in the same school receiving traditional reading instruction as recommended by the teacher's manual for their basal reader? How useful did the writing-infused students feel the writing activities were to their reading and writing development? And lastly, how much interest and enjoyment did the students have in the interactive writing activities? The findings cited in this study support the researcher's belief that students can be taught a process of writing that will positively affect their general reading ability--specifically their reading comprehension. The performance of the reading-writing students compared favorably to the performance of the students in the traditional classrooms. The students found the writing instruction to be appealing, informative and instructive and as a result made great progress in their competencies.

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No description available.

No description available.