A Study on Offering Chinese Culture Course for Non-English Major Students in China

Abstract

In an era when English is widespreadly used as the uncontested lingua franca, learning English is becoming an increasingly focal point in China. Realizing the fact that students’ cross-cultural communication skills hold such an important place in their language learning process, the college English language curriculum has been modified to better enhance students’ cross-cultural communication ability and indeed certain innovations can be identified. However, problems still exist especially for non-English major students. They are exposed to curriculum which is solely concerned with the understanding of ‘Anglo’ cultures and the shortage of Chinese culture in college English teaching can obstruct students' communication ability. The study explores the necessities of offering Chinese culture course in English language for non-native English major students. On the basis of the focused interview, the study focuses on students’ previous learning experience and demonstrates their expectations for this course. Combining students' responses and drawing on evidence from students’ expectations, the course is designed in detail and evaluated in terms of what is worthwhile and effective in enhancing students’ cross-cultural communication ability. It is argued that, such a course will make it possible for students to become successful cross-cultural communicators and eventually improve their English proficiency.