An exploratory foreign language curriculum: The creative application of RICH in senior high school English instruction

Abstract

With the rapid development of globalization, foreign language learners are supposed to have the ability to use the language in intercultural communication accurately and appropriately. However, guided by the traditional teacher-centered language teaching and learning model, learners cannot meet the requirements of social development because the knowledge that students acquire is rather limited, let alone learning and applying abilities. Meanwhile, their interest in learning a foreign language cannot be fully stimulated. RICH, a creative curriculum concept, combines Research-based Learning, Integrated Curriculum, Cooperative Learning, and Humanistic Outcomes. The new curriculum concept aims to lead students to enter the language classroom as thinkers and researchers, developing their humanistic qualities and their abilities to use the English language in practice through interdisciplinary studies so as to promote their intercultural communicative ability eventually. To test the applicability of RICH in senior high English school instruction, qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed, including one academic year’s teaching experiment lasting from 2020 through 2021, video recordings of instructing cases, and semi-open interviews with some subjects. Research data has demonstrated that RICH can be of great help in creatively designing and implementing key competence cultivation-oriented English instructions in the context of the New Curriculum Standards for senior high school English instruction.