THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

2005

Abstract of thesis entitled

Pedagogy and Pragmatism: Secondary English Language Teaching in the
Peoples Republic of China
submitted by
ZHENG Xinmin ( )
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Hong Kong, in February, 2005

A review of the research literature shows that the implemented pedagogy of English
language teachers in secondary schools in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is neither
widely nor well studied. By tracing innovation and change of English Language Teaching
(ELT) in China and internationally, this thesis attempts to explore the implicit, complex,
and dynamic dimensions of implemented pedagogy, which is viewed as an internal,
personal construct in contrast with promoted methods, which are viewed as external and
generalized. This study is considered to be significant because it provides insights into the
complexity of the genesis, nature and impact of implemented pedagogy and challenges the
stereotypical portrayals of English Language teachers in the PRC in the literature.

This thesis investigates the contrasting pedagogy of Mr Yang, Miss Wu, and Ms Ma (all
pseudonyms), three secondary school teachers of English in Fuzhou, the capital city of
Fujian Province, PRC. Through an exploration of the teachers beliefs, designs and
practices, this thesis examines how the teachers reconciled changes in the intended
curriculum (e.g., the 1993 English Curriculum and the revised 2000 English Curriculum)
and promoted methods (e.g., communicative language teaching and task-based learning),

with unchanged assessment expectations (e.g., the rigid national college entrance
examination) and the complex and highly situated demands of the contexts in which they
worked. The findings show that English language teachers in the PRC are open to new
teaching methods. However, the process of their pedagogical change is not radical, but
incremental and pragmatic, constrained by internal, external and situated forces.

Tentative explanations for the results are given in the discussion chapter, which addresses
the dynamic entities of implemented pedagogy theoretically and practically. The thesis
proposes that a comprehensive understanding of the implemented pedagogy of secondary
school teachers of English can enhance the understanding of ELT pedagogical change and
implementation in the PRC, give assistance to teacher educators and publishers in
providing teacher support, and provide curriculum planners with information in designing
future curricular reform. Moreover, a better understanding of the implemented pedagogy of
secondary school teachers should facilitate the proposed reform of the national assessment
system to complement the curriculum reform in a more coherent and harmonious way. (361
words)

PEDAGOGY AND PRAGMATISM: SECONDARY ENGLISH

LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

ZHENG Xinmin

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
at The University of Hong Kong
February, 2005

Declaration

I declare that this thesis represents my own work, except where due
acknowledgement is made, and that it has not been previously included in a
thesis, dissertation or report submitted to this University or to any other
institution for a degree, diploma or other qualifications.

Signed________________________

ZHENG Xinmin ()

Acknowledgements
This dissertation would never have been completed without the support and assistance of
many dedicated individuals and organizations.

First of all, I should like to acknowledge my deepest sense of personal and professional
gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Chris Davison and Dr. Bob Adamson, whose enthusiasm,
ideas, encouragement and critical reading have been especially important in the course of
this study. I should like to express my particular thanks to Dr. Adamson for his great
support in enabling me to study in the University of Hong Kong.

I extend my great appreciation to three secondary school teachers of English in Fuzhou,

the capital of Fujian Province for their unselfish cooperation in this study, and also to the
three schools where they worked, for giving me permission to enter and explore such a
dynamic pedagogical entity.

I am much obliged to Prof. Cheng Kai Ming, Prof. Mark Bray, Prof. Amy Tsui, Dr.
Stephen Andrews, Dr. David Bunton, and Mr Gwyn Edwards, for their valuable advice,
and to Prof. Colin Evers, Dean of Office of Research, and his colleagues for supporting
my research. Special thanks go to my research fellows for their encouragement.

Finally, I am forever grateful to my dear wife, Zhu Zhilin, and our dear daughter, Zheng
Dan. My wife overcame many difficulties in taking sole care of our daughter. To our great
pride, our daughter was admitted to the University of Nanjing, one of the five top
universities in the PRC in 2003. This gave me even greater encouragement to complete
my study. I also thank my sister, Zheng Jinping, who shouldered the heavy responsibilities
of attending to my paralyzed father during the three years of my study.

I wish to dedicate dissertation to my mother, Chen Shengwang (1928-2000), and my father,

Zheng Tanfu (1924-2004), both of whom were, sadly, unable to witness my success.

ii

Contents
Declaration ........................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ii
Contents.............................................................................................................................. iii
List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii
List of Tables .................................................................................................................... viii
Chapter 1 Introduction.....
1.1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................
1.2 PERSONAL MOTIVATION ...........................................................................................
1.3 THE BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF THIS STUDY ..................................................
1.3.1 The Soviet influence (1949-60).........................................................................
1.3.2 The First Renaissance (1960-1966)...................................................................
1.3.3 The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) ...............................................................
1.3.4 Opening to the outside world (1978-1993) .......................................................
1.3.5 Globalization (1993 onward).........................................................................
1.4 THE AIM, SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY ...........................................
1.5 OVERVIEW OF THIS THESIS ..................................................................................
Chapter 2 ELT as Methodology...
2.1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................
2.2 WHAT IS METHODOLOGY? ...................................................................................
2.3 BRIEF HISTORY OF METHODS IN ELT ..................................................................
2.3.1 The Grammar-Translation Method................................................................
2.3.2 The Audiolingual Method..............................................................................
2.3.3 Communicative Language Teaching .............................................................
2.3.4 Task-based Learning......................................................................................
2.4 CRITIQUE OF METHODS AS UNIVERSAL AND CONTEXT-FREE ..............................
2.5 THE TRANSFORMATION OF METHODS IN ELT IN THE PRC ................................
2.5.1 The Grammar-Translation Method................................................................
2.5.2 The Audiolingual Method..............................................................................

iii

2.5.3 Communicative Language Teaching .............................................................

2.5.4 Task-based learning .......................................................................................
2.5.5 Implications for this research study...............................................................
2.6 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................
Chapter 3 Pedagogy in ELT.
3.1 INTRODUCTION.....
3.2 PEDAGOGY: AN ALTERNATIVE TO METHODOLOGY .............................................
3.2.1 The definition of teachers theories ..........................................................
3.2.2 The nature of teachers beliefs.......................................................................
3.2.3 The relationship between teachers beliefs and practices..............................
3.3 PEDAGOGY AND CHANGE .....................................................................................
3.3.1 The nature of change .....................................................................................
3.3.2.The process of change ...................................................................................
3.3.3 The role of external and situational factors in change...................................
3.3.4 The role of the individual experience............................................................
3.3.5 The level of adaptation to change..................................................................
3.4 INFLUENCES ON ELT PEDAGOGY IN CHINA ........................................................
3.5 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................
Chapter 4 Research Approach.....
4.1 INTROUCTION
4.2. THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH ...................................................................
4.3 SELECTION OF CASE STUDIES ...............................................................................
4.3.1 Identification of informants...........................................................................
4.3.2 Description of informants and schools..........................................................
4.4 DATA COLLECTION ...............................................................................................
4.4.1 Overview of data collection ..........................................................................
4.4.2 Interviews ......................................................................................................
4.4.3 Classroom observation ..................................................................................
4.4.4 Documentary analysis ...................................................................................
4.5 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ............................................................
iv

4.5.1 Overview of data analysis .........................................................................

4.5.2 Analysis of interview data .........................................................................
4.5.3 Analysis of videotaped observations .........................................................
4.5.4 Analysis of documents...............................................................................
4.6 CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY .........................
4.7 METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS ....................................................................
4.8 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................
Chapter 5 Mr Yangs Pedagogy
5.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................
5.2 MR YANGS BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE ..............................................................
5.3 MR YANGS PRACTICE......................................................................................
5.3.1 Processes of teaching and learning............................................................
5.3.2 Content and focus......................................................................................
5.3.3 Teachers roles...........................................................................................
5.3.4 Students roles ...........................................................................................
5.3.5 Organization ..............................................................................................
5.3.6 Activities....................................................................................................
5.3.7 Materials....................................................................................................
5.3.8 Summary ...................................................................................................
5.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MR YANGS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES ....................
5.5 DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY .............................................................................
Chapter 6 Miss Wus Pedagogy
6.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................
6.2 MISS WUS BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE ...............................................................
6.3 MISS WUS PRACTICE ......................................................................................
6.3.1 Processes of teaching and learning............................................................
6.3.2 Content and focus......................................................................................
6.3.3 Teachers roles...........................................................................................
6.3.4 Students roles ...........................................................................................
6.3.5 Organization ..............................................................................................
v

6.3.6 Activities....................................................................................................
6.3.7 Materials....................................................................................................
6.3.8 Summary ...................................................................................................
6.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MISS WUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES .....................
6.5 DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY .............................................................................
Chapter 7 Ms Mas Pedagogy..
7.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................
7.2 MS MAS BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE ..................................................................
7.3 MS MAS PRACTICE ..........................................................................................
7.3.1 Processes of teaching and learning............................................................
7.3.2 Content and focus......................................................................................
7.3.3 Teachers roles...........................................................................................
7.3.4 Students roles ...........................................................................................
7.3.5 Organization ..............................................................................................
7.3.6 Activities....................................................................................................
7.3.7 Materials....................................................................................................
7.3.8 Summary ...................................................................................................
7.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MS MAS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES ........................
7.5 DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY .............................................................................
Chapter 8 Discussion.
8.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................
8.2 GENERAL IMPRESSIONS....................................................................................
8.3 EXTERNAL FORCES ...........................................................................................
8.4 INTERNAL FORCES ............................................................................................
8.5 SITUATED FORCES ............................................................................................
8.6 A MODEL OF PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION AND CHANGE IN THE PRC..............
8.7 SUMMARY .........................................................................................................
Chapter 9 Conclusions and Implications
9.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................
9.2 THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THIS THESIS .............................................................
vi

9.3 THE MAJOR THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION OF THIS THESIS ...........................

9.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE .........................................................................
9.5 IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ...........................................................
References .................................................................................................................
Appendices ................................................................................................................
Appendix A: Questionnaires....................................................................................
Appendix B: Interview questions ............................................................................
Appendix C: Sample transcription of interview....................................................
Appendix D: Sample transcription of class observation.......................................
Appendix E: A teachers lesson plan.......................................................................
Appendix F: Textbook lessons and teachers references .......................................

vii

List of Figures
Figure 1.1 The scope of this study...
Figure 2.1 Language teaching methodology...
Figure 2.2 Three levels of methods: theory, design and procedure................................
Figure 2.3 Factors that influence methodological innovation and change in ELT.........
Figure 2.4 Factors that influence methodological innovation and change in ELT in
China......................................................................................................................
Figure 3.1 Three interlinked levels of pedagogy: teachers theory, teachers design and
teachers practice....................................................................................................
Figure 3.2 Conceptual framework of teachers theories.................................................
Figure 3.3 A simplified overview of the change process ...............................................
Figure 3.4 Considerations in planning for adoption of change ......................................
Figure 3.5 Interactive factors affecting the implementation of change..........................
Figure 3.6 A framework for teacher change ...................................................................
Figure 3.7 A tentative theoretical framework for this research study.............................
Figure 4.1 The development of research design for this research study ........................
Figure 8.1 The conceptual framework for implemented ELT pedagogical innovation
and change in the PRC.......................................................................................

List of Tables
Table 1.1 Periodization of ELT in the PRC ........................................................................
Table 2.1 Method, design and procedure........................................................................
Table 2.2 Distinction between focus on form, focus on formS, and focus on
meaning..
Table 2.3 Procedures for task-based learning.................................................................
Table 2.4 Task workprior to the task, during the task and after the task ....................
Table 2.5 Key features of some major ELT methods .....................................................
Table 2.6 Promoted methods in ELT in the PRC.
Table 3.1 The differences between methodology and pedagogy....................................

viii

Table 3.2 A comparison of methodology and pedagogy ................................................

Table 3.3 The three principal diagnostic dimensions of the Concerns-Based Adoption
Model..
Table 3.4 Innovation stages of concerns..
Table 3.5 Innovation levels of use..................................................................................
Table 4.1 Biographic details of informants of this research study .................................
Table 4.2 Details of time line of data collection.............................................................
Table 4.3 Summary of data collection........................................................................
Table 5.1 Sequencing of Lesson 37............................................................................
Table 5.2 Sequencing of Lesson 38 and Lesson 39....................................................
Table 5.3 Sequencing of Lesson 40............................................................................
Table 5.4 Mr Yangs major foci and content in practice.............................................
Table 5.5 The teachers role in Mr Yangs class .........................................................
Table 5.6 The students roles in Mr Yangs class........................................................
Table 5.7 Mr Yangs teaching organization in practice ..............................................
Table 5.8 A listening comprehension form in Mr Yangs lesson ................................
Table 5.9 Different kinds of activities Mr Yang employed in his class......................
Table 5.10 The materials Mr Yang used in practice ...................................................
Table 5.11 Prominent features of Mr Yangs seven lessons .......................................
Table 6.1 Sequencing of Lesson 29dialogue ..........................................................
Table 6.2 Sequencing of Lesson 30reading: Food Around The World...................
Table 6.3 Sequencing of Lesson 31grammar: revision of attributive clause..........
Table 6.4 Sequencing of Lesson 32listening, word study and writing...................
Table 6.5 Miss Wus major focus and content in practice:.........................................
Table 6.6 The teachers role in Miss Wus class.........................................................
Table 6.7 The students major roles in Miss Wus practice ........................................
Table 6.8 Miss Wus teaching organization in practice ..............................................
Table 6.9 Different types of activities Miss Wu used in practice ...............................
Table 6.10 The materials Miss Wu used in practice ...................................................
Table 6.11 Miss Wus main teaching features ............................................................
ix

Table 7.1 Sequencing of Lesson 29dialogue ..........................................................

Table 7.2 Sequencing of Lesson 30reading: Food Around The World...................
Table 7.3 Sequencing of Lesson 31grammar: revision of attributive clause..........
Table 7.4 Sequencing of Lesson 32listening, word study and writing...................
Table 7.5 Ms Mas major foci and content in practice ...............................................
Table 7.6 The teachers role in Ms Mas class............................................................
Table 7.7 The students roles in Ms Mas class ..........................................................
Table 7.8 Ms Mas teaching organization in practice.................................................
Table 7.9 The types of activities Ms Ma used in practice ..........................................
Table 7.10 The materials Ms Ma used in practice......................................................
Table 7.11 The salient features of Ms Mas teaching .................................................
Table 8.1 The three case study teachers beliefs.........................................................
Table 8.2 The three case study teachers designs .......................................................
Table 8.3 The three case study teachers practices .....................................................

Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Introduction
A review of the research literature demonstrates that implemented pedagogy of English
teachers in secondary schools in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is neither widely nor
well studied. This study attempts to fill in this gap by exploring the nature of the
implemented English language curriculum in secondary schools in Fujian Province, PRC,
with a particular focus on the pedagogy of three secondary school teachers with different
backgrounds and life experiences. This chapter first describes the researchers personal
motivation for carrying out this research study. Next, this chapter describes the background
and context of this study and highlights the gap in our understanding of pedagogy and
change in the PRC. Finally, this chapter outlines the structure and content of the rest of the
thesis.

1.2 Personal motivation

This study originates from my twenty years of personal experience in the field of English
Language Teaching (ELT) in the PRC. After I graduated from Fuzhou Teachers College in
1981, I started to teach at the No.3 Middle School of Fuzhou, a key secondary school in
Fujian Province. During that period of time, China began to open up to the outside world.
English, as an international language, was given priority, being regarded as an essential tool
for international trade, scientific and technological exchange, modernization and progress. A
sustained effort was made to improve ELT in China in a systematic and scientific way
(Abelson, 1979; Dzau, 1990). With overseas scholars coming back from Great Britain, the
USA, Canada, and Australia, the latest developments in ELT theory and practice in the world
were introduced to the ELT circle and this had great impact on ELT in China (Liu, 1995).
Throughout the country, but in the coastal cities in particular, teachers re-evaluated their
instruction of ELT and began to realize the importance of updating their pedagogical content
knowledge, enriching their subject matter knowledge, and improving their teaching

pedagogies. In this kind of reflective atmosphere, some keen teachers, for example, in
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and Fuzhou, set out to challenge the predominant teaching
method, i.e. grammar-translation approach.

Coincidentally, at that time an innovation in the school English curriculum was under
consideration by the authorities of No. 3 Middle School of Fuzhou where I worked. The
main purpose of this innovation was to cultivate and enhance the students comprehensive
abilities in language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). New Concept English, a
series of communicative English textbooks compiled by L.G. Alexander, was adopted in the
hope of nurturing more students with better language speaking and listening competence and
proficiency when they left school. I was involved in the whole process of the innovation
which lasted for six years. In order to borrow some experiences from Shanghai colleagues, I
had a chance to go to the Middle School affiliated with East China Normal University in
Shanghai to observe their instruction in English. At the end of the six years of the experiment,
the teaching outcomes were very positive with students gaining strength in speaking and
listening. Dr. Baker, an American teacher, visited No.3 Middle School in the late spring of
1985. After having a one-hour talk in English with my students, Dr. Baker told me that he
was much impressed by their fluent English, their good pronunciation and the zest that they
showed to communicate in English. Furthermore, the results of my students in the public
examinations were also very encouraging. This initial experience of curriculum innovation
and change gave me a tremendous boost in terms of professional growth, and had significant
implications for my later teaching and research career with in-service teacher training in the
Fujian Institute of Education.

In 1991, I transferred to work in the Department of Foreign Languages, the Fujian Institute
of Education, where I started to work with in-service teachers from all over the province. My
new role demanded that I know more about the actual ELT situation in the province as well
as in the country, and I became an instructor rather than just an innovator. In order to provide
in-service teachers with more concrete ideas and techniques, my colleagues and I conducted
some surveys and research on the ELT classroom pedagogy in Fuzhou. The reason we did so

was that the teacher can never take a back seat. He or she is always the driverthe final
arbiter of what is taught and how it is taught. In 1993 a new English language curriculum for
secondary schools in China was introduced as part of the national move towards nine years
compulsory education. The 1993 English Curriculum focused on communicative
competence and was based on a five-step teaching method (i.e. revision, presentation,
drilling, practice and consolidation), which provided the underlying pattern for classroom
activities, ensuring that students received a balance of activities in language study, and more
importantly, in language use (Liu, 1996). My institute accredited me to teach in a secondary
school in Fuzhou, where I prepared lessons with my co-teachers, attended meetings of their
teaching and research group, and sat in to observe their teaching activities. I wrote some
reflective articles that were published in local journals to voice my ideas about the results
and constraints of the 1993 English Curriculum and the real problems that the grassroots
teachers were experiencing. In the course of my work with Fuzhou, I made contact with a
number of the provincial leading scholars in ELT as well as many ordinary secondary school
teachers of English. I noticed a growing number of teachers of English in secondary schools
were reviewing their teaching practices and stressing the vital importance of communication
in the acquisition of the English language teaching and learning. However, they also had
enormous difficulties in handling the new curriculum.

My interest in furthering research into this area grew further when I came to the University
of Hong Kong as a K.P. Tin visiting fellow in October 1999. At the University of Hong Kong
I gained access to western literature on ELT and research, I had plenty of opportunities to
attend international seminars, and I met some international scholars, from whom I received
some valuable advice and warm encouragement on how to carry out this study. In 2000, with
some staff at the University of Hong Kong and colleagues from Shanxi Teachers College I
co-conducted a joint project entitled, Changing Secondary School English in China:
Experiences of the 1993 English Curriculum. This experience helped to broaden my
academic insight, to improve my ability to analyze problems and solve problems, and
provided the final impetus for this study.