Localization of the English Public Speaking Course in China’s EFL Curriculum

Jiangbo Wan

doi:10.5539/ass.v9n1p94

Abstract

English Public Speaking has been introduced into China’s tertiary curriculum only very recently. Although similar to its Western counterpart in many ways, a number of crucial elements of this course have yet to be localized. Apart from being a communication course, it is intrinsically an EFL course which builds upon and extends other courses in the EFL curriculum. Accordingly, the teaching objectives and content should be localized and adapted to China’s status quo and students’ need. Then this article moves on suggesting some localized methods to instruct small classes as well as large classes. It suggests that the formative assessment be used to best elicit students’ reflection and progress and that a combined measure of quantitative-and-qualitative assessment, teacher-and-student assessment be used to achieve the best backwash. Last but not least, the article also introduces the potential research areas that can be explored in the years to come.

Highlights

The course of English Public Speaking has entered the arena of China’s tertiary education only very recently
It was recorded in year 1924’s “Curriculum Guidance” of the English Department, Peking University, that Professor Yang Yinqing taught “Debating” and “Public Speaking” to English majors (Xu, 1989, p. 52), but these courses vanished as fast as they appeared – ever since the English Public Speaking course has been absent from China’s EFL curriculum for over 70 years
In China’s current EFL curriculum, the English Public Speaking course is a new arrival compared to most other courses

Summary

Introduction

The course of English Public Speaking has entered the arena of China’s tertiary education only very recently. After teaching and researching in this field for 5 years, the author calls on localizing the course and reorienting its teaching objectives, course design and assessment. It was recorded in year 1924’s “Curriculum Guidance” of the English Department, Peking University, that Professor Yang Yinqing taught “Debating” and “Public Speaking” to English majors 52), but these courses vanished as fast as they appeared – ever since the English Public Speaking course has been absent from China’s EFL curriculum for over 70 years.

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion