The Development of Intercultural Perspective in English Language Education in China —Evidence from the Literature

by Xiaoqiu Fu & Keli Liu
School of Foreign Studies of Yangtze University, China.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21013/97881940692258

Abstract

The acceleration of China’s involvement in globalization has propelled the development of internationally competent people through school education. The English language education in China has undergone the change towards integrating intercultural perspective in both of its content and goals throughout the years. This study reviews three prestigious journals concerning language and education. It sorts and analyzes 118 articles selected from the three journals after three steps of coding. The findings indicate a shift of culture teaching in both the content and goal for English language education in China, with intercultural communicative competence set as the humanistic goal at present. And such a shift can be reflected from the changes of all the pedagogical experiences and theories, language education policies, and textbook development. As to the state of research in this field, the major concern of Chinese researchers is intercultural/cross-cultural perspective in pedagogical practice or theories. The mixed-method approach is the most preferred method in their data collection and analysis and on-campus Chinese students the most favourable target population. The findings of this review also imply limitations of research in China in this field and provide future prospects for research direction.

Keywords: English Language Education, ELT, Literature Studies

This chapter is a part of: Contemporary Advances in Education | Edition (2019) (Eds. Sunil Sharma, FCS & Tian Chuanmao, PhD)

© 2020, CSMFL Publications & its authors.


[email protected]

Follow us @