Current Challenges in learnning English for EFL learners： The case of junior high school and senior high school in China

In the past several decades，through the lasting effort of several generations，the English teaching and learning in China has achieved great achievements， but there is still existing problems.

The problems mainly exists in the following.

parts： learners， teachers， teaching methods and materials.

1. Problems on the part of learners

It is self-evident for language learners to communicate in the process of learning， and English learning is no exception.However， in China， it’s pity that there is seldom environment that makes students familiar with the native English .Many schools may organize associations in the aspect of English speaking for students.

To acquire the English test scores effectively， students only focus on reading and writing. Generally speaking， the motivation of students for English learning is same. Most students regard English just as a course that should be passed and do not understand its importance as a means of communication.To be successful in some important examinations， for example college entrance examination， students only have a good mastery of vocabulary， grammatical rules， and reading comprehension， they pay little attention to speaking.

2. Problems on the part of teachers

As the main person who imparts English， teachers play an important role in the process of teaching.However， most teachers judge their students by students’ examination grades. In the eyes of most teachers， a good student is the one who do well in his academic performance. Most teachers help students cope with examination in order to get or keep a good reputation as good teachers.

China has a vast territory， with the rapid development of market economy， the development of society， culture and education is not balanced. The uneven distribution of educational resources is not an exception. As one of teaching resources——teachers， the level of them is also uneven. Most teachers are willing to go to big cities for their later life development. As a result， teacher resources in backward areas cannot meet the needs of development. Therefore， qualified families sent their children to school in big cities. It also aggravates the loss of teacher resources go further.

3. Problems on part of teaching methods

For a long time， primary schools’ English teaching is the teacher-centered. In class， the teacher explains the meaning and grammar of the text. While students sit there passively receive them. With the increasing number of students， this old teaching equipment conditions have become difficult to catch up.

Some teachers can’t keep pace with the time in teaching methods. Although teachers are encouraged to use different assessments. During the school year， they seldom use these new qualified assessments.

4. Problems on part of teaching materials

For chinese students，the main materials of English laeaning is textbooks.In China， theory are accounted for a large proportion in textbooks.Besides，a big problem in English learning which students encounter is that the tasks included in their textbooks is not authentic. The tasks don’t give them enough practice in the skills they will need.

Another problem of materials is lack of coherence between junior and senior middle school ， there are too much unnecessary repetition in the textbooks. Due to the different teaching focus in each stage， English learning in junior and senior school is mainly based on a few teaching books and focused on the teaching of grammar. Therefore， students’ vocabulary and reading ability are relatively small and their language application ability is poor. In senior school， English is focused on mastering the usage of vocabulary and fixed expressions rather than unreasonable division of lobor， which cause negative consequence.

The examination reforms plan has been announced， which highlights the continuous importance of English and implicates that our society is still is urgent need of graduates with qualified command of English language competence， especially the communicate competence， so a higher requirement for much more efficient and effective English classroom teaching is called upon .We need to improve students’ learning from these 4 main parts.

References：

[1]Aliakbari，M.The place of culture in the Iranian English textbook in high school level.Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics[J].2005，9（1）：163-179.

[2]Amatobi，V.E.，&Amatobi，D.A.The influences of gender and attitude differences to students’achievement.American Journal of Research Communication[J].2013.

[3]Ellis，R.The study of second language acquisition[M].Oxford： Oxford University Press，1994.

【作者簡介】褚中胜，延安大学外国语学院。