A case study of EFL education in a Chinese independent college: How does the College English curriculum meet learners’ expressed needs?

Abstract

　　　This is a case study of EFL education in a Chinese independent college, which is a newly-established type of institution of higher education in China. The study focuses on how the College English curriculum meets the English learning needs expressed by the learners, as a basis for improving the curriculum.
　　　The empirical findings show that: 1) the English learning needs expressed by the learners can be identified as two types: their expressed target needs (their expressions of their desired learning outcomes) and their expressed learning needs (their expressions of what they think are the factors in the learning situation that affect their English learning). 2) The learners’ expressed needs – both target and learning – are generally insufficiently addressed in the CE curriculum by the curriculum designers, teachers, institution and other parties involved. This lack of accommodation of the learners’ expressed needs can, to a large extent, be related to over-emphasis on a product-oriented perspective, and particularly on testing, and neglect of a process-oriented perspective in the CE curriculum. 3) There are three relevant features in the learning environment that impact on the CE curriculum, and thus on the possibility of accommodating the learners’ expressed needs: the national curriculum, the physical environment, and cultural factors.
　　　The findings give valuable insights and have practical implications for EFL education at tertiary level, especially in the context of Chinese independent colleges.