1. Issues and projects of Research for Basic English Education in China
Zhang Lianzhong
National Basic Foreign Language
Research and Training Centre

2. The general situation and scenario
English education reform being implemented and promoted：
---designing， experimenting，implementing and revising of National English Curriculum Standard for Basic Education；
---fast development of primary English ；
--- new curriculum standard implemented in the
junior high schools;
--- experiment of new curriculum in senior high schools of 15 provinces；

3. --- new sets and series of textbooks and other resources for primary to senior high students;
---Reform of college students enrolling system and NMET test design;
---Unprecedented teacher training and teacher education campaign;

4. ---Active involvement of educational institutions and educational media;
---More international communication and cooperation in terms of academic exchange，material and resource development and teacher training;
---Improvement of government administrative and financial support;

5. Challenges
Theoretical research to back up decision making and teaching practice
It is commonly accepted that, compared with the importance and development of the reform in schools, theoretical research and empirical study on many aspects of the reform is still relatively weak:
---At the practical end: many of the fundamental concepts and principles of the new curriculum need to be introduced,studied,clarified,modified,
exemplified, verified, localized and popularized to make them more familiar, practical to actual classroom practice;

6. ---At the academic end: standardization and enrichment of
---At the academic end: standardization and enrichment of terminology to ensure that everyone is talking in the same “language”, and researchers can communicate with the international academic world well enough to share and compare, to learn from each other.

7. Classroom Practice
Constraints and variables in reality to obstruct the implementation of the new curriculum:
--- class size
---- limited resource and learning time
---- discrepancy between desired or required language level and the actual language level of the learners, especially in the rural areas, or the documented learning objectives and the perceived learning goals on the part of the teachers and students
---- students learning habits and expectations
---- testing orientation of teaching practice

8. Social and parental understanding and expectation of language learning objectives and outcome;
Assessment and evaluation criterion and practice;
Far reaching learning goals and the need or pressure for “immediate achievement”;

9. Teachers beliefs and pressure
Lack of context for language use (living with the language) makes it necessary and realistic to focus on the “basics or fundamentals of language”
Learning can only take place in well structured and controlled class teaching
More exercise means more practice,which leads to mastering of the language
Teachers as “the weaker voice” and the habitual passiveness in decision making
The unbalanced and UNFAIR evaluation system of teaching and teacher performance

10. Test, testing and assessment
It is necessary to prepare the students as early as possible for the NMET or other important, high stake tests,
Teaching for the test, through testing,
Students will learn, or learn more and better with pressure from constant testing along the teaching process;
Formative testing is for show only

11. Issues at debate EFL or ESL? Contextualisation and the lack of context
Task Based, or task supported Language Learning/teaching
The aim of language learning: develop the learner’s general/integrated language ability: to do things with language? Or to prepare them with knowledge for later development of competence
Knowledge(knowing how?) vs knowledge (knowing what?)

12. Issues at debate
Material development: balance between information and language, knowledge or skill based?
learner centred or learning centred?
Teacher’s role in activity filled, task based learning situation?
Should teachers of English be “mastermind” in every subject?

13. How to measure progress and achievement?
Formative assessment, is it applicable? Is it for fun or show only?
Large scale, standardised testing, the only and necessary evil?

14. Something can be done
Introduction and implementation of basic education reform demands study and active practice of the rationale, concepts and requirements coded in the National English Curriculum Standard;
With all the challenges, it is better to adopt the more realistic and positive attitude: to do research and to find a way out;
Examination, verification, exemplification and integration of learning approaches and learning models;

15. Research funding of China BFLE
To encourage teachers to do work /job related research
To support serious effort and attempt to improve language teaching in Chinese schools
To clarify on points and issues of relevance for ELT
To develop scientific spirit and atmosphere among teachers and researchers
To promote research ability and develop overall quality of the Chinese teachers of English

16. Conditions for application
To be delivered by Mr. Wang Yong

17. Priority list
Study on the practicality and suitability of the National English Curriculum Standard
Effective and efficient classroom practice
Learners and learning variables
Context and creation of favourable learning situation
Validity and practicality of task based approach

18. Process vs product oriented language learning
Active and passive vocabulary
Grammar and grammaring, a more functional view
Teacher development along with implementation of new curriculum

19. Testing and assessment: general designing principles and techniques
More open and subjective test against multiple choice type of objective test
Proficiency vs achievement testing
Material development and integration of multi-media resources in language learning
Online learning, to supplement, support or to replace, to provide new channel for learning

20. Thanks lianzhong@vip.163.com