Author: Zhenhui Rao Student: 范明麗 Olivia I D:

Introduction  Recent attempts to introduce CLT into EFL teaching in China have provoked a great deal of comment and debate. The majority of accounts have focused on the need to adapt CLT to the demands and conditions for language learning and teaching in China.  Within this heated debate on English teaching methodology, the study of Chinese students’ response to CLT deserves particular attention.

Introduction  With these questions, researchers and English teachers have conducted extensive studies on Chinese students’ learning strategies.  Asian students as ‘obedient listeners’—whether or not it is a reflection of their actual behaviour in class—does not reflect the role they would like to adopt in class’’ (Littlewood, 2000, p. 33).

 Recent researches have shown that the perceptions of teachers and their students do not always match.

Defining characteristics of CLT  CLT starts with a theory of language as communication, and its goal is to develop learners’ communicative competence.  In CLT, meaning is paramount. There are a variety of communicative activities.  Another characteristic of CLT is that ‘‘activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by students in small groups’’

Defining characteristics of CLT  It is considered desirable to give learners the opportunity to develop strategies for understanding language as it is actually used by native speakers.  The final characteristic of CLT is ‘‘its learner- centered and experience-based view of second language teaching’’

The study  The study reported here used a case study approach to investigate Chinese students’ perceptions of communicative and non- communicative activities in EFL classroom.

Background: CLT in China  students did not like to participate in communicative-type activities and preferred more traditional classroom work; on the other hand, teachers felt discouraged from continuing with CLT.  both because of students’ negative responses and because of their lack of training in using CLT and low English proficiency.

Background: CLT in China  1. What are the students’ perceptions of communicative and non-communicative activities in the EFL classroom; and  2. What are their perceived difficulties in an EFL class exclusively conducted by a teacher using CLT?

Subjects  Survey subjects  The participants in the formal questionnaire were 30 Chinese university students majoring in English in Jiangxi Normal University, China.  All the subjects had been exposed to CLT both in secondary school and in university, and were therefore familiar with the terminology applied in the investigation.

 Interview subjects  Instruments  (1.) Questionnaire:  Part A concerns the subjects’ personal details, Part B involving communicative and real use of language included activities characterized by student-to-student interaction with little or no monitoring of student output by the teacher. Part C consists of some difficulties that Chinese EFL students may have in using communicative activities in the EFL classroom.  (2) Semiconstructed interview

Data analysis  Data analysis is not a simple description of the data collected but a process by which the researcher can bring interpretation to the data.  I discovered the students’ perceptions of communicative and non-communicative activities and identified the recurrent themes and salient comments in regard to the constraints that Chinese students had encountered in using communicative activities

Results  Reported difficulties caused by communicative activities in EFL classroom:  Lack of motivation for developing communicative competence  Traditional leaning styles and habits  EFL learning situations  Lack of funding

Implication of the study  All these examples illustrate that Chinese students’ English learning can be facilitated if teachers can develop their own ‘‘locally appropriate version of the communicative approach’’

Implication of the study  (1.)Avoiding students’ misconceptions of CLT While trying to introduce CLT, teachers need to consciously reorientate students to ‘‘the basic function of the classroom, the role of the student and the nature of language’’ (Deckert, 1987, p. 20). They should make their students fully understand the features of CLT.

Implication of the study  (2.)Balancing the relationship between linguistic competence and communicative competence  Linguistic competence is the basis of communicative competence. Without linguistic competence, there is no communicative competence to speak of.

 (3.) Creating authentic communicative scenarios for the real use of the language.  Because students in EFL situations do not have many chances to be involved in the real use of the language, it is of vital importance for the teacher to provide them with such an opportunity.

 (4.) Making full use of any materials available.  The study shows that lack of materials prevents students in EFL situations from getting exposed to the authentic English language..

Conclusion  Teachers, curriculum planners, and others who want to be sensitive to the needs of the students they serve cannot always rely on their unaided intuitions.They need to realize the students expressed their personal opinions about communicative and non- communicative activities, the

 researcher has discovered whether the subjects see certain kinds of activities as more effective than others, and whether they are likely to be open to techniques and practices not previously.  Giving this type of survey to the students has also helped the researcher identify their difficulties in using communicative activities in classroom.

 It would contribute to our knowledge about learners and learner variables to know whether and how student perceptions of various kinds of teaching and learning would vary with different variables such as age, gender, personality, learning style, education level, or proficiency level in the target language.

 EFL students in these countries share much of the same perception with regard to their classroom teaching activities. In addition, information from this kind of survey is also crucial for teachers to develop their teaching methods appropriate to their learner, their colleagues and their societies.