A Study of English Major’s Curriculum Reform Constraints and Future Directions Based on the Students’ Workload-Based Perceptions at Three Chinese Universities
Abstract：Abstract: In the last twenty years, China’s English language education has been rife with criticisms for lack of critical thinking ability or even lack of thinking skills because of the concentration on the language skill training. Therefore, universities and colleges of different levels tried to reform their curriculum by adding new subjects or professional orientations to the existing programs. The current study reports a two year-long investigation of three universities at three tiers in the eastern part of China. The study, based on the student’s perceptions of curriculum challenges, and gains, suggests that the so called “lack of thinking skills” is a misfire, and the specialty component added to the existing curriculum could be a possible solution for some universities, but probably a misguided fad for others which may hurt student’s motivation of learning. With different types of students, each university should build up its own curriculum based on the best configuration of the three components: language skill training, liberal arts education and training in specialty.
Key words: English major; curriculum reform; critical thinking
