Situation, problems and approaches to medical English teaching

Transcription

1 Feb. 2010, Volume 7, No.2 (Serial No.74) Sino-US English Teaching, ISSN , USA Situation, problems and approaches to medical English teaching CAI Yu, WANG Yuan, PANG Wei, XUE Yan (Foreign Language Department, Anhui Medical University, Hefei , China) Abstract: With a brief review of the ESP (English for Special Purpose) teaching in Medical Schools over the past 30 years, this paper elaborates on the changes and situation of English teaching and learning in some Medical Schools. Through a survey which throws light on the importance of ESP, the paper analyzes the problems facing Medical Schools, such as materials suitable for medical students who want to cultivate their ability in listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating in their own field and teachers who are supposed to be qualified for medical English teaching, and then discusses the top priorities in these Medical Schools and examines what has been done and will be done in order to work out practicable approaches to meet the requirements of medical students. Key words: ESP in Medical School; situation and consequence; approaches to problems 1. Introduction 1.1 Retrospect The past 30 years has seen great changes in English teaching approaches and contents in Medical Universities and Colleges in China. During the period from 1978 to 1987, medical English was taught with the textbooks compiled by Professor XIE Da-ren, a well-known medical English specialist, Shanghai Second Medical College, China and later by Professor SHAO Xun-dao, another renowned medical English expert in Xi an Medical College, China. Reading and translation approach was at center stage. Because at that time, English teaching in Middle Schools in China was just restored, the newly enrolled students of Medical Schools hardly had a solid grounding in English. Generally speaking, students learned the language from the very beginning through medical English. When an English major graduate went to Medical Schools as an English teacher, he/she virtually had to attend medical lectures with students to learn something about medicine in order to be a qualified teacher of medical English. It was in this way that a lot of medical students learnt English and gained access to working abroad. In 1987, when College English and College English Test Band 4/6 were introduced into every university or college, the English teaching contents in Medical Schools switched to general English, with work focusing on the training of students listening, speaking, reading and writing for the clear purpose of preparing non-english majors for the effective learning of medical English in later periods. At that time, this change instilled life in English teaching for non-english majors and greatly improved the quality of English teaching in tertiary education. 1.2 Problems CAI Yu, female, associate professor of Foreign Language Department, Anhui Medical University; research field: teaching methodology and translation. WANG Yuan, female, M.A., lecturer of Foreign Language Department, Anhui Medical University; research field: teaching methodology and linguistics. PANG Wei, female, M.A., lecturer of Foreign Language Department, Anhui Medical University; research field: College English teaching methodology. XUE Yan, female, M.A., teaching assistant of Foreign Language Department, Anhui Medical University; research field: linguistics. 7

2 However, as WANG Zhi-cheng (2006, p. 90) pointed out, Every university or college attaches much importance to this subject. The passing rate of CET-4/CET-6 is used as the sole criterion to evaluate students learning and teachers work. Under such circumstances, what was designed to develop students language ability in order for them to have a smooth shift to medical English learning turns out to be an exam-oriented language education, taking passing CET-4/CET-6 as the ultimate aim, thus leading to deliberate contests of the passing rate among universities and colleges. Students with the help of their teachers paid much more attention to the skills of examination and doing over and over again the simulated test papers rather than the use of the language in real situation. As a result, their ability to use the language in their own field is far from satisfactory. That is why during the period of , medical English wore off from the language class of Medical Schools. Medical majors are not good at the language used in their own field. Most of the English teachers, especially those young teachers who are practically ignorant of even basic medical English, see medical English as a task of medical teachers. All these gave rise to a serious outcome as NING Jing (2004, p. 96) described, The fact that students medical English is not so good as their general English can be clearly seen in their lack of medical vocabularies as well as their slow reading of English medical literatures. Some of the doctors are unable to examine or treat foreign patients in English, and they also have difficulty in writing English papers. Later in 1990s, according to the requirements of the College English Syllabus issued then, some of the Medical Schools began to resume the teaching of medical English. But as the teaching hours vary from 36 or 45 to 50 in different schools and without standard requirements and evaluation system, this course fails to live up to the students expectations. 1.3 Situation At present, the acceleration of the economic development of China and the increase of international exchanges in the medical field will test the language ability of medical students today. The College English Curriculum Requirements issued by the Education Ministry in 2007 points out, The objective of College English is to develop students ability to use English in an all-round way, especially in listening and speaking, so that in their future work and social interactions they will be able to exchange information effectively through both spoken and written channels, and at the same time, they will be able to enhance their ability to study independently and improve their cultural quality so as to meet the needs of China s social development and international exchanges. It also requires colleges and universities to work out English course systems based on the conditions and characteristics of their own schools in order to cater to the students needs. Over the past 30 years, English education in China, whether in Middle Schools or in colleges and universities, has made remarkable progress. The requirements in The High School English Curriculum Criterion newly issued by the Education Ministry are almost the same as the basic requirements in College English Curriculum Requirements, which, as CAI Ji-gang sees it, indicates that the focus of College English will be gradually oriented to ESP teaching (2004, p. 23). 2. Investigation 2.1 Theory Medical English is a branch of ESP influenced by systematic functional linguistics. Since it came into being, ESP has experienced 5 phases of development: register analysis, rhetorical or discourse analysis, target situation analysis, skills and strategies and a learning-centered approach (Hutchinson & Waters, 2002, pp. 9-14), a process moving from the surface of analyzing rules of the language usage to the deep form of learner-centered approach. 8

3 Studies find that, The language we speak and write varies considerably, and in a number of different ways, from one context to another. If language varies from one situation of use to another, it should be possible to determine the features of specific situations and then make these features the basis of the learners course (Hutchinson & Waters, 2002, p. 7). The features of ESP are: (1) ESP courses are based on need analysis; (2) ESP learners have a distinctive aim; (3) ESP teaching activities have a clear purpose closely related to the practice in a specific field; (4) ESP teaching methodology is determined by learners need with specific content in a flexible way; and (5) ESP covers a far wider range than general English does, including specialist knowledge as well as that of general English (ZHANG Xue-ling, 2008, p. 15). So before conducting the ESP courses, we need to know what learners have already known so as to determine what they lack because the major concern of ESP is need analysis. Therefore, the following questions are what we have in mind in doing this research. 2.2 The questions concerned Do students need medical English after CET-4/CET-6? What do they want to learn? Are they satisfied with what they have learnt in English class? And which kind of teachers do they think will be qualified for medical English teaching, English or medical teachers? 2.3 Method In order to answer the questions above, a survey was conducted among 500 grade-three students from Anhui Medical University, using questionnaires designed by the research team. All the students have just finished their whole session of English learning at college, including general English, CET-4/CET-6, and 36-hour medical English. And the statistics was made through SPSS. 2.4 Findings Theme I Do students need medical English after CET-4/CET-6? The survey indicates that 82.5% of the students surveyed say that they are unable to use English efficiently in their own field even if they have passed CET-4/CET % of the students claim that they still need to learn English after they have passed the CET-4/CET-6. And 72.5% believe that learning medical English also can help them pass CET-4/CET-6. Theme II What do they want to learn? (Multiple choices) The students responses to the question are as follows (from high to low percentages): medical English listening and speaking (54.5%), medical English reading (53.2%), general English speaking (50%), the society and culture of USA and Britain, knowledge of cross-cultural interaction (49.9%), advanced general English listening and speaking (47.2%), medical English writing and translation (45.8%), reading of English magazines and newspapers (37.2%), appreciation of American or British literature (32.2%), advanced general English reading (23.3%) and advanced general English writing and translation (20.9%). Theme III Are they satisfied with what they have learnt in English class? 63% of the students feel unsatisfied with what they have learnt in English class because they think it has nothing to do with their specialty. 37% of them feel medical English and oral English are what they expect in their mind although they are satisfied with what they have learnt. 74.9% think that general English can be finished in three terms and then medical English should be provided. 86.3% of the students hold the view that the structure of English teaching in Medical Schools had better be general English+medical English, and 48.8% of them prefer general English+medical English+second foreign language. Theme IV Which kind of teachers do they think will be qualified for medical English teaching, English teachers or medical teachers? 9

4 The first question in this theme is You think medical English teaching is: A. English learning in the medical field; B. Medical knowledge learning through English. 50.5% of the students surveyed chose A, and 49.5% of them chose B. And the second question is Who do you think are qualified to teach medical English, English teachers or medical teachers? More than 60% (61.7%) say medical teachers, and only 38.3% stand by English teachers. This conflict highlights the confusion of medical English teaching in students mind. 3. Analysis and approaches 3.1 Analysis According to the findings of the survey, a conclusion can be reached that medical students are in great need of medical English after passing CET-4/CET-6 because medical students, Especially postgraduates, after their graduation, will do both clinic and research work, which is challenging, high-demanding and time-consuming, and calls for great efforts and a wide range of knowledge. Some tough problems will arise in their research field, which require them to solve by broadening their knowledge and quickly acquiring information by referring to the medical literatures in English or translating them into Chinese. And they may have more and more opportunities to participate in international medical exchanges and cooperation, such as attending a convention, making a presentation in a meeting, studying or working abroad, writing a paper and receiving a foreign specialist. So, medical graduates should aim at facility in both general English and medical English (LI Shou-wei, et al., 2007, p. 172). As a matter of fact, from primary school up to the second year of tertiary education, students in China today have learnt general English for 11 years. Their general English is far better than that of the students 30 years ago. Then, why do they still declare they are unable to use English efficiently in their own field? Why are they unsatisfied with what they have learnt in English class? What Professor ZHANG Zhen-bang said gives the answer, The present problem in our country is that specialist English has not got its right place, with the general English teaching stretching too long from primary to tertiary education? The so-called CET-4/CET-6 is both designed for the evaluation of general English level. If English teaching does not switch to the specialist English education as soon as possible, how can we help our graduates work efficiently in their future work involving specialist English? (ZHANG Zhen-bang, 2003, p. 3). Secondly, the survey also shows that the top subjects that students show great interest in are medical English reading as well as medical English listening and speaking. This is what the intermediate or higher requirements in The College English Curriculum Requirements call for and also conforms to the development of ESP. So, a proper and rewarding subject-specific text-book is needed to promote this job. The focus of the teaching at this stage is to set up a student-centered learning platform, in other words, to offer students more opportunities to increase their output in order to bring their previously-learnt language knowledge into full play in their own field. Thirdly, a kind of confusion in ESP teaching must be clarified, i.e., ESP teaching is the job of specialist teachers. And the conflicting answers students gave in the survey also show that they are puzzled about medical English teaching. To get rid of the confusion, we must make it clear that medical English teaching is still language teaching. It plays an important part of the College English teaching system, the aim of which is specialist-oriented language learning and practice. Therefore, it is still the job of language teachers. It should be guided by a standard syllabus with vocabulary requirements and sound evaluation system. It is highly required that language teachers working at medical colleges or universities learn some medical knowledge to serve medical students effectively. 3.2 Approaches As we have described above, it is high time for learners to do something to get ready for the change of 10

5 English teaching in Medical School in the near future Syllabus formulating Establish a standard medical English syllabus, which should include the criteria in reading, listening, speaking, writing and translation, etc., to guarantee the teaching work to be official, logical, systematical and scientific Text-book compiling Team up with the text-book writing. Material writing is one of the most important things in establishing the ESP course. Its materials should be diverse, rewarding and motivating. As Hutchinson pointed out, Materials provide a stimulus to learning. Good materials do not teach: They encourage learners to learn. Good materials will, therefore, contain: interesting texts; enjoyable activities which engage the learners thinking capacities; opportunities for learners to use their existing knowledge and skills; content which both learner and teacher can cope with (Hutchinson & Waters, 2002, p. 107). Of course, the presently-used books can still be used effectively if ESP teachers can create environment to encourage students to practice in listening and speaking besides reading Course designing Rearrange the College English teaching schedule in the light of the specific conditions of individual colleges and universities. At present, the arrangement of 3-term general English teaching with 2-term medical English is acceptable as is shown in the survey among the medical students. After that, students may enter into bilingual specialist studies, which make it possible for them to study English for four successive years Teachers training Place emphasis on teachers training. The priority at present is to help language teachers learn some medical knowledge. Each individual school can do what they can in this aspect. For example, holding medical lectures specially prepared for language teachers at regular times as we have been doing in the school, giving young English teachers a lecture every week on brief introductions to such subjects as anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacy, medical ethics, nursing and diagnostics, etc., which provides an opportunity for English teachers, who already carry heavy loads in general English teaching, to get ready for ESP work. 4. Conclusion 30-year-reform of China accelerates the improvement of the English teaching. And now the new era has put up the special demands of the teaching work and also filled it with new tasks. As English teachers in a Medical School, we should develop awareness of serving the medical students in English, and take the initiative in reconstructing the knowledge pattern, thus, adopting themselves to the changes of the teaching situation. References: CAI Ji-gang ESP and the direction of China s College English teaching. Journal of Foreign Language World, 2, 23. (in Chinese). Hutchinson, T & Waters, A English for specific purposes. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education Press, 7, 9-14 & 107. LI Shou-wei & JIANG Tao Teaching and learning of specific English for medical graduate students. Journal of Researches in Medical Education, 2, 172. (in Chinese). Ministry of Education of PRC College English Curriculum Requirements. Beijing: Higher Education Press. NING Jing Views on challenge and reform of medical English teaching. Journal of Guangdong Medical College, 4, 96. (in Chinese). WANG Zhi-cheng Discussion on medical English teaching. Journal of Mudangjiang Medical College, 4, 90. (in Chinese). ZHANG Xue-ling On the linking up of ESP with EGP in College English teaching. Journal of Guizhou Education Institute, 5, 15. (in Chinese). ZHANG Zhen-bang My views on English teaching reform in China. Journal of Foreign Languages, 4, 1-6. (in Chinese). (Edited by Cathy and Sunny) 11