Zhang Shiyi’s Foreign Language Education

Topic:

A Study on the Thought and Practice of Zhang Shiyi’s Foreign Language Education

Introduction:

Zhang Shiyi(1886-1969) was a famous foreign language educator in modern China.

He was the  earliest  and  most  influential  expert  in  introducing  direct  teaching  method. 

He  innovated  the  first  foreign language situation teaching theory, developed the junior middle school  English  textbooks,  the direct  method, the  combination of English  conversation and other influential  foreign language  textbooks, trained  a  large  number  of  talents  of  foreign  language  teaching.

What:

First,  through  the  collection  and  interpretation  of  relevant  literature,  this  paper  analyzes  the  formation  process  and origin  of  foreign language education thought.

Second, the main content  and practice of  Zhang  Shiyi's  thought  on foreign language  education.  

Zhang  shiyi's  thoughts  on  foreign  language  education  mainly  include  college  talent  view,  foreign  language  teaching  theory,  and  teacher  education  view. 

Thirdly, summarize the  characteristics and  enlightenment  of  Zhang Shiyi's  thought  and practice  of  foreign  language  education. 

Through  a  deep  analysis  of  Zhang  Shiyi's  thought  and  practice  in  foreign  language  education,  it  is  concluded  that  the  characteristics  of  Zhang  Shiyi's  thought  and  practice in foreign language education mainly include the following:

 (1) emphasizing situational  teaching  and  creating  a  good  foreign  language  learning  environment;

 (2)  the  combination  of  introduction and transformation, and the pursuit of localized teaching methods;

(3) pay attention to  observation and practice, and emphasize the accumulation of teaching experience in the process of  teacher  cultivation. 

Importance:

Its  implications  for  the  reform  of  foreign  language  education  in  China  are  as  follows  :

(1)  to  clarify  the  purpose  of  foreign  language  teaching  is  an  important  prerequisite  for  cultivating  high-quality  foreign  language  talents; 

(2)  highlighting  the  combination  of  theory  and  practice  in  foreign  language  education  is  an  important  way  to  cultivate  high-quality  foreign  language talents;

(3) improving the teaching methods of foreign language majors is an effective way  to  improve  the  cultivation  of  foreign  language  talents; 

(4)  the  improvement  of  foreign  language  teachers is an important guarantee for the cultivation of high-quality foreign language talents.  

参考资料来源：李家艳   张士一外语教育思想与实践研究