Cover not available
Part of
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching: Historical perspectives
Edited by Richard Smith and Tim Giesler
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 20] 2023
► pp. 180–198

Chapter 10
Curriculum innovation
through concept borrowing

The case of “learner autonomy” in English language education in Chinese universities (1978–2007)

| Beijing Foreign Studies University

This chapter analyses how the concept of learner autonomy was incorporated into the national college English curricula in China between 1978 and 2007. Adopting Quentin Skinner’s intentionalist approach, it examines this concept in relation to linguistic convention and practical context in China, discussing its meaning in the Chinese context and the intentionality of promoting this concept for curriculum innovation. The findings reveal that learner autonomy was taken to refer mainly to students’ ability to learn on their own outside the classroom. The importation of this concept has pushed teachers and policy makers to attend to students’ individual needs, but it has also manipulated dominant academic and pedagogical discourse in China in a way that steered curriculum innovation away from its original aim.

Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Learner autonomy: A borrowed concept
  • Analysing concept borrowing: An intentionalist approach
  • Defining key terms
  • Analytical procedure
  • The concept of learner autonomy in the Chinese context: Meaning and intentionality
    • Recovery from the Cultural Revolution (1978–1986)
    • Stable development (1987–2001)
    • Educational reform (2002–2007)
    • From 2007 onwards …
  • Conclusion and implications
  • Acknowledgement
  • Note
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References

Primary sources

Cao, R.
(2000) Jiaqiang daxue yingyu jiaoxue zhuanyehua, zou xuexizhe zizhu zhilu [Professionalization of college English education through developing learner autonomy]. Journal of Beijing Forestry University, (Sup.), 100–102.Google Scholar
Cheng, X.
(1999) Lun zizhu xuexi [On autonomous learning]. Subject Education, (9), 32–35, 39.Google Scholar
Curriculum Design Group (CDG)
(1986) College English curriculum (for undergraduates in arts and Science). Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Google Scholar
(1999) College English curriculum (for undergraduates). Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Google Scholar
Dong, L.
(2002) 21 shiji daxue yingyu jiaoxue gaige de zhanwang [Perspective for college English education in the 21st century]. Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 31(Sup.), 296–299.Google Scholar
He, L.
(2003) Zizhu xuexi jiqi nengli de peiyang [The ability for autonomous learning and its development]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 7, 287–289.Google Scholar
Hua, W.
(2001) Zizhu xuexi zhongxin – yizhong xinxing de yuyan xuexi huanjing (Self-access centres: A new environment for language learning). Foreign Language World, 5, 41–45.Google Scholar
(2002) Xuexizhe zizhu tanxi [On learner autonomy]. Shenzhen University Journal, 2, 107–112.Google Scholar
Jiang, C., & Tian, H.
(2003) Daxue yingyu jiaoxue mianlin de yali he gaige [Challenges to the College English education reform]. Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 32(Sup.), 29–32.Google Scholar
Lan, C., & Zeng, J.
(2004) Dui peiyang woguo waiyu xuexizhe xuexi zizhuxing de sikao [Developing learner autonomy among Chinese foreign language learners]. Foreign Language World, 4, 24–30.Google Scholar
Li, H.
(1998) Xuexi zihuxing yu zhongguo yingyu jiaoxue [Autonomy in learning and English teaching in China]. Foreign Languages and Their Teaching, 10, 24–26.Google Scholar
Li, S.
(2003) Daxue yingyu jiaoxue gaige huhuan guannian gengxin [College English education reform calls for changes in educational beliefs]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 3, 228–230.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (MOE)
(2007) College English Curriculum Requirements. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Google Scholar
Shi, B.
(2003) Lengjing de jinxing daxue yingyu jiaoxue gaige [Reforming college English education with rationality]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 5, 384–385.Google Scholar
Wei, Y.
(2002) Cujin xuexizhe zizhuxing: waiyu jiaoxue xingainian [Developing learner autonomy: A new concept in foreign language education]. Foreign Language World, 3, 8–14.Google Scholar
Zhang, R.
(2003) Guanyu daxue benke gonggong yingyu jiaoxue gaige de zaisikao [Reflection upon reforms in English language education for undergraduate students]. China Higher Education, 12, 19–21.Google Scholar

Secondary sources

Benson, P.
(2001) Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. Longman.Google Scholar
(2013) Learner autonomy. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 839–843. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Esch, E.
(2009) Crash or clash? Autonomy 10 years on. In R. Pemberton, S. Toogood, & A. Barfield (Eds.), Maintaining control: Autonomy and language learning (pp. 27–44). Hong Kong University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gremmo, M.-J., & Riley, P.
(1995) Autonomy, self-direction and self access in language teaching and learning: The history of an idea. System, 23(2), 151–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ha, P. L., McPherrson, P., & Van Que, P.
(2011) English language teachers as moral guides in Vietnam and China: Maintaining and re-traditionalizing morality. In J. Ryan (Ed.) Education reform in China: Changing concepts, contexts and practices (pp. 132–157). Routledge.Google Scholar
Holec, H.
(1981) Autonomy and foreign language learning. Pergamon.Google Scholar
Howlett, J. & McDonald, P. J.
(2011) Quentin Skinner, intentionality and the history of education. Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, 47(3), 415–433. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hu, G.
(2002) Potential cultural resistance to pedagogical imports: The case of communicative language teaching in China. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 15(2), 93–105. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kormos, J., & Csizér, K.
(2014) The interaction of motivation, self-regulation strategies, and autonomous learning behavior in different learner groups. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2), 275–299. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lieberman, R. C.
(2002) Ideas, institutions, and political order: Explaining political change. American Political Science Review, 96(4), 697–712. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Little, D.
(1991) Learner autonomy, 1: Definitions, issues and problems. Authentik.Google Scholar
(2009) Language learner autonomy and the European Language Portfolio: Two L2 English examples. Language Teaching, 42(2), 222–233. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Little, D., & Singleton, D.
(1989) Setting the context: Language learning, self-instruction and autonomy. In D. Little (Ed.), Self-access systems for language learning (pp. 1–31). Authentik.Google Scholar
Liu, X.
(2013) Lun daxue yingyu jiaoxue sibian nengli peiyang moshi jiangou [Constructing an educational model for cultivating critical thinking skills in university English courses]. Foreign Language World, (5), 59–66.Google Scholar
Lu, Z.
(2018) Chuangxinxing waiyu rencai peiyang de linian yu shijian [Innovative education for cultivating foreign language talents: theory and practice]. Foreign Language Education, 39(1), 50–54.Google Scholar
Oxford, R. L.
(2015) Expanded perspectives on autonomous learners. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 9(1), 58–71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phillips, D., & Ochs, K.
(2003) Processes of policy borrowing in education: Some explanatory and analytical devices. Comparative Education, 39(4), 451–461. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pu, S.
(2020) Learner autonomy in the national English language curricula for Chinese universities 1978–2007: A historical analysis. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics 43(1): 83–104. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Qu, X., Zhang, F., & Wang, X.
(2013) ‘Bajian shiyan ban’ de daxue waiyu peiyang moshi tansuo he jiaoxue xiaoguo yanjiu [Exploring the elite program of college English teaching: Model and effectiveness]. Foreign Languages in China, 10(5), 13–18.Google Scholar
Saeed, J.
(1997) Semantics. Blackwell.Google Scholar
Schmenk, B.
(2005) Globalizing learner autonomy. TESOL Quarterly, 39(1), 107–118. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schriewer, J.
(2012) Meaning constellations in the world society. Comparative Education, 48(4), 411–422. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Skinner, Q.
(1978) The foundations of modern political thought (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tan, C.
(2015) Education policy borrowing and cultural scripts for teaching in China. Comparative Education, 51(2), 196–211. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tu, G., Hu, D., & Fan, L.
(2016) Chuancheng, fazhan, and chuangxin: Daxue yingyu kecheng shezhi xintixi goujian zhi sikao [Inheritance, development and innovation: Reflections on the construction of new college English curriculum setting system]. Foreign Languages in China, 13(6), 4–9.Google Scholar
Tully, J.
(1988) The pen is a mighty sword: Quentin Skinner’s analysis of politics. In J. Tully (Ed.), Meaning and context: Quentin Skinner and his critics (pp. 7–25). Polity Press.Google Scholar
Vogel, E. F.
(2011) Deng Xiaoping and the transformation of China. Harvard University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, S., Wu, D., Liu, C., Jia, G., Zhao, W., Jin, Y., … Xin, H.
(2009) Daxue yingyu jiaoyu fazhan yanjiu [Research on the development of college English language education]. In W. Dai & W. Hu (Eds.), Development of Chinese foreign language education: 1949–2009 (pp. 445–570). Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, W., Zhang, W., & Liu, M.
(2015) Yanjiuxing daxue yingyu jiaoyu tixi de goujian yu tansuo: Yi Tsinghua daxue weili [Constructing an integrated English education system at a Chinese research-oriented university: the case of Tsinghua University]. Modern Foreign Languages, 38(1), 93–101.Google Scholar
Zhu, X., & Ma, W.
(2014) Kecheng shezhi de xuexizhe xuqiu fenxi: Jiyu daxue gonggong yingyu kecheng de yanjiu [Analysing learners’ needs for curriculum design: A study on college English curriculum]. Foreign Language World, (6), 48–56.Google Scholar
Zou, X.
(2011) What happens in different contexts and how to do learner autonomy better? Teacher Development, 15(4), 421–433. DOI logoGoogle Scholar