Factors Hindering Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching in Secondary Vocational Schools of Science and Engineering in China

Abstract

Without the pressure to help more students to be competitive in College Entrance Examinations, teachers in secondary vocational schools are supposed to spend more time improving students’ communicative competence in English which is more practical for students’ future career. Although communicative language teaching (CLT) approach has been added to the syllabus for over 30 years in China, however, the implication of it is hardly witnessed in English classes in secondary vocational schools of science and engineering (SVSSEs). By handing out questionaries to eight English teachers and over 300 students in my school, four restraints which prevent the application of CLT in SVSSEs have been concluded which are knowledge restraints, restraints related to the educational system, restraints by students and restraints related to teachers’ attitude and concerns.