This research will examine participant perceptions about speaking and listening in modern foreign language classes in China and England, and focus on a number of case studies of teaching and learning speaking and listening in a foreign language. The question underpinning my research is: What are participant perceptions about speaking and listening in modern foreign language classes in China and England and their relationship to classroom practices? My chosen research approach is case study because this research seeks to illuminate the perceptions of teachers and learners in China and England about speaking and listening in modern foreign language and relationships between the issues within the topic of my research. For this study I have adopted a multiple case approach which included nine cases of a class, including the teacher, pupils and their perceptions about speaking and listening. In order to address the research questions in this research I used observation, questionnaire and interview to collect my data. This approach enables me to consider both my own observations and the views of the participants. When I was designing this research I did not anticipate that all nine cases would come to fruition. However all of them completed successfully. Therefore this study included 9 cases with a huge data set of 36 lesson observation charts and notes, 790 pupil questionnaires, 10 teacher questionnaires, 9 transcribed group interviews with pupils and 10 transcribed interviews with teachers. The findings of this research indicates that despite the different educational systems in China and England both the teachers and children in Chinese and English schools shared similar beliefs about the learning and teaching of a foreign language, especially speaking and listening. However there were differences between their practice and there was more variation in practice between the English teachers and children than between the Chinese teachers and pupils. Most of the Chinese teachers taught in ways which were substantially similar, but the English teachers taught in very different ways. I believe my results show that this is related to the cultural and educational differences between the two countries, in terms of time, practices of teaching and expectations about pupil activity. Although both Chinese and English teachers demonstrated similar beliefs about modern foreign language teaching and learning, especially speaking and listening, their practices were very different. My findings also suggest that the changing of teachers’ pedagogy played a very important role in changing pupils’ beliefs and their learning outcomes. The case study approach of this research has revealed very different relationships between the beliefs and practices of each teacher and their impact on the children. This research has contributed to the under-researched area of the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in a modern foreign language by providing a thorough and holistic investigation of the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in a modern foreign language in Chinese and English secondary schools and is, as far as I can tell, the only research so far in this area.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:582371 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Song, Min |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/57259/ |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds