College English Language Teaching Reform and EFL Lecturers' Teaching Practice: A Case Study in China

The rapid expansion and development of newly-upgraded undergraduate colleges and universities across China witnessed a corresponding demand for the teaching and learning of English as Foreign Language (EFL). Accordingly, the Ministry of Education of China implemented the College English Language Teaching Reform (CELTR) to improve the teaching and learning of English language at higher institutions in China. The aim of this paper was to investigate EFL lecturers' perspectives of the CELTR and to what extent the CELTR had enhanced the EFL lecturers' teaching practice, which on converse influenced the effect and implementation of the CELTR. The study involved a total of 92 EFL lecturers from a newly-upgraded university located in Nanyang City in China. Data for the study were collected by using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with eight EFL lecturers adopting purposive sampling. The findings indicated that on the whole the EFL lecturers had moderate level of understanding and knowledge of the CELTR, and the lecturers' teaching practice had been satisfactorily enhanced due to the implementation of the CELTR. The college EFL lecturers considered and constantly adjusted their teaching contents, modes, methods and strategies to meet the students' specific needs better, and they tried to motivate the students' interests and participation in the EFL classroom teaching.