Theme-Based Instruction in Chinese College English Listening Teaching: An Empirical Study

Abstract

As for college English teaching in China, students’ listening performances tend to be inferior to their reading and writing skills in many cases. Student’s listening competence attracts more attentions accordingly. Theme-Based Instruction (TBI) stresses that language course should be organized based on themes and topics, many studies have shown its effectiveness on English teaching to some extent. However, there is no sufficient quantitative evidence to show its effectiveness for Chinese students. This study has been conducted in a university in Zhengzhou, in which two parallel English classes are chosen. One is the control group and the other is the experimental group. The control group has received traditional instruction, while the experimental group received TBI. The results show that, after 16 weeks of experiment, the listening comprehension of the experimental group is significantly improved compared with that of the control group. Moreover, TBI has a positive impact on students’ English reading ability and learning motivation. The study indicates that TBI, if combined with well-designed content and effective practice, can help Chinese students improve their English listening competence.