RECONCILING COMMUNICATIVE APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH WITH TRADITIONAL CHINESE METHODS

Chinese students experience many difficulties in developing communicat ive competence in English in their English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses in China. This essay provides cultural information that may b e useful for researchers and American EFL teachers of Chinese-born stu dents, in Chinese or American universities. It first reviews the pedag ogical approaches used by native Chinese-speaking teachers of English in an educational environment grounded in Confucian precepts for teach ing, learning, and educational roles and responsibilities. It suggest that many of the limitations on Chinese students' learning of English stem from a traditional teacher-centered classroom and the use of role -memory strategies. After noting the obstacles faced by Chinese EFL te achers who have tried to implement communicative approaches, this essa y offers guidelines for reconciling a communicative approach with trad itional Chinese methods.