1、1The Study on Innovative Education in University English TeachingAbstract. We proved that the integration of language skill training and humanity quality cultivating with English teaching as the platform contributed to the improvement of their knowledge and the elevation of their cognitive competenc
2、y and aesthetic response. It also demonstrated the introduction of quality education in language teaching had brought forth evident effect， contributing to the wide reorganization of the importance of traditional cultural education， which attained our goal of arousing the subjects cultural awareness
3、 by discussing and exploring. Besides， the amplification of comprehensible input boosted the improvement of their output competency and strengthened their pragmatic awareness， hence， effectively achieve the purpose of reforming college English education. However， in contrast with the enhancement of
4、morality values of college students， the indifferent morality and social values in the society is presently being still a serious problem well worth concern. Key words： Innovative Education； English Teaching； 2University 1 Introduction Presently， professional knowledge and skill training rather than
5、 humanistic education is taken as a major concern of schools of science and technology in China since they are targeted at making high-tech intellects out of the students. However， the development of a modern economy and society appeals for innovative intellects with comprehensive knowledge and heal
6、thy personality， which requires the integration of natural sciences， engineering techniques with humanities and social sciences. Thus， advocating humanistic education while offering professional training， cultivating humanistic awareness and broadening the horizon of the students have become one of
7、the essential part in education reformation in schools of science and technology， and it has become one of the indispensable aspect in the assessment of higher education. Economic globalization and scientific integration have so far witnessed the unelectable position of language as the carrier of hu
8、manistic spirits and the tool of cross-cultural communication. As is clearly pointed out in College English Curriculum Requirements issued by the Higher Education Department of Ministry of Education in China， “College 3English， an integral part of higher learning， is a required basic course for unde
9、rgraduate students. College English has as its main components knowledge and practical skills of the English language， learning strategies and intercultural communication.” The objective of College English is to enhance the students autonomous ability， to improve their cultural awareness so as to me
10、et the needs of social development and international exchanges. As to the course design， “College English is not only a language course that provides basic knowledge about English， but also a capacity enhancement course that helps students to broaden their horizons and learn about different cultures
11、 in the world. It not only serves as a tool， but also has humanistic value.” 1 On the ground of this， College English teaching should also take full consideration of the development and cultivation of the students cultural awareness and broad outlook， to enhance their humanistic quality， by taking l
12、anguage as the carrier of culture. Thus， presently， how to adjust teaching modes to eradicate traditional utilitarianism of College English teaching and return to its human nature has become urgent 2. And how to reform systematically the objective， function， and approaches of humanistic education ha
13、s risen to be a tough 4problem to be solved. On this lays the base of practical and feasible College English education reformation as well as effective execution of quality education. 2 Basic Hypothesis and the Theoretical Foundation Constructivist theory is a student-orientated learning theory， emp
14、hasizing the students exploration of knowledge， discovery and active construction. The learning process is in essence of the process of construction， the construction of meaning as well as the reformation and reconstruction of past experiences. Learners are the subjects of cognition and the active c
15、onstructors of meaning rather than the passive receptors of information. Factors influencing learning are various， involving both physical world and social context， i.e.， The interaction between individuals and the environment， and that among the individuals themselves 3. Such constructivism regards
16、 interactivity as the major means in meaning construction， and teacher-student relationship collaborative. Constructive learning methodology advocates learners active construction of meaning by interpersonal collaboration in a certain social and cultural background. Social cognitive theory 4 provide
17、s a conceptual framework within which to analyze the determinants and psychosocial 5mechanisms through which symbolic communication influences human thoughts， affection， and action. Banduras interacting determinism theory explains the psychological functioning in terms of triadic reciprocal causatio
18、n. In this transitional view of self and society， the three types of determinants， personal （in forms of cognition， affective， and biological events） ， behavioral and environmental， all operate as interacting determinants that influence each other bi-directionally. His self-regulatory theory holds t
19、hat people are self-reactors with a capacity for direction as well. In light of that， the learners flexible application of cognitive learning strategies has significant value to invent their motivation and promote active self-observation， self-evaluation and self-reflection. Krashen 5 holds that lea
20、rning and acquisition are different in that the former refers to learning languages consciously by teaching and learning， while the latter is characterized by grasping a language unconsciously by being exposed to the language via communication. Besides， acquisition is premised by adequate comprehens
21、ible input. What counts is practiced in communication rather than repetitive drilling of language skills and knowledge. To be more specific， language can only be acquired 6by conversational interaction， and the indispensable mechanism of language acquisition is modified interaction. So what the stud
22、ents need is opportunities of input and output rather than language forms. Contrastively， Swain 7 argues that what is needed in language acquisition is more of comprehensible output than of comprehensible input. Output strengthens the comprehensibility of input， the fluency and accuracy of language
23、application. In light of the above， College English teaching should be based on constructivism theory and input-output theory to provide a feasible quality-oriented education. 3 Non-pedagogical Factors The last 20 years see a steady increase in the number of people learning English， so much so that
24、people refer to it an “English frenzy”. Naturally， alongside with the frenzy comes a mountain of complaints from various perspectives. While most people are aware of the growing importance of English as an international language， many regard it as a “tumor of the society” as a whole， and still other
25、s take it as a “chicken rib” （with the connotative meaning of “something of little value or use but discarding it would make one feel somewhat pitiful”） ， mostly because English proficiency has been much abused as a touchstone for almost every corner of the academic 7world as well as the job market.
26、 Ironically， there seem to be relatively few complaints about the difficulty in learning the language per se. This section focuses on the non-pedagogical factors that hinder English learners motivation and the reorientation of English education in China as a whole. While its certainly true that some
27、 learners have taken special interest in the language itself， theres no denying that a lot more people are forced to learn English under the pressure of the present educational system. For high school students， they have to pass not only the final exams but much more importantly， the entrance exam f
28、or high schools and for colleges and universities. And they need to achieve real high scores in English in order to compete for the rare opportunities of entering key high schools or universities. As for a college student， higher scores in English may mean a higher GPA for going abroad， a better cha
29、nce to further study in graduate school or a better job when they leave school. While a chosen few students do fulfill their dream as a result of this external pressure， the inadequate exertion of most students inner motivation has actually offset the effects of the former. Its all very well if the
30、teaching syllabuses meet the differing needs for different phases of schooling， but as 8a matter of fact， its general English throughout. As Jiangs previous estimation （2010） shows， by the time a PhD candidate gets a degree， he/she will have spent six whole years learning general English alone， acco
31、unting for one third of the total 18 school years. Owing to lack of data， this calculation does not yet include the opportunity costs thus incurred. Then whats the efficiency of learning under such circumstances？ Studies show that the whole process of non-major English learning in China takes on an
32、inverted U-shaped curve on the coordinate. This， of course， doesnt take into account the frequency of using English after leaving school for work. To illustrate， lets consider College English education to epitomize the overall panorama. In recent years， in order to match students growing English pro
33、ficiency and meet the practical needs of the professional world， CE in its broad sense has undergone a series of reforms. Among the measures for enhancing undergraduate teaching as stipulated by the MOE in 2001， one requires that all universities develop 5-10% “bilingual （shuangyu） courses （BC） ” fo
34、r non-English majors， a rough counterpart for language-across-curriculum courses （LAC） as adopted in American universities. By “rough”， I mean the courses are actually oriented towards 9different purposes. Whereas LAC focuses on learning the targeted second language or foreign language within the di
35、sciplinary materials， BC places its stress on studying academic disciplines in the English setting. The difference hence leads to the succeeding discrepancies in the teachers background （whether they are English-based or specialty-based） ，course design， teaching materials and class organization， etc
36、. This is often considered too obvious a question to require an answer. With the popularization of computer in our life， English is no doubt becoming an indispensable channel through which people interact with the world. Yet this doesnt mean that everyone should learn general English by similar teac
37、hing methods and in the same classroom settings from primary school to graduate school！ It would be much more sensible to make out the reasons for different people learning English and to take correspondingly differential teaching methodologies as well as a means of proficiency measurement. Compared
38、 with the American high school students who could choose to drop out of foreign language courses for the simple reason that “I dont need it” （qtd from Zeldner 1996） ， it may certainly be rather frustrating that even PhD candidates in China are still required to take general English courses. Instead
39、of promoting 10the nationalization of English education， China should specialize English education in some particular fields and at different stages of schooling. This means to have a good timing for students to start learning English. Researches show that learning English in early age does not guar
40、antee better proficiency for students in their later schooling years. As a survey done by the author in several junior high schools shows， students who learnt English in primary school appear much more active in the class in the first semester， and they generally get much higher score in the first y
41、ear. But they soon lose interest in it because lots of the teaching. 4 Research Design and Case Study In the present study， the authors combine the quantitative （pre-and-post tests of the experimental students） with the qualitative （students reflections after the practice of service learning） study
42、to probe into potentialities of application of Service Learning to the supplement and improvement of CET education. Here a ten-week long experimental study is undertaken. Two classes of sophomore students join the experiment as the samples to achieve our target. The pre-and-post tests and reflections respectively provide quantitative and qualitative evidences of effectiveness of the new pedagogy.
