Enlightenment of Non-directive Teaching in Bilingual

Enlightenment of Non-directive Teaching in Bilingual
Teaching-----Take Bilingual Teaching of Tourism Management as an
Example
ZHANG Chunmei1, ZOU Dewen2
1. School of Business Management, Hebei Normal University of Science & Technology, P.R.China,
066004
2. Dept. of Science & Research, Hebei Normal University of Science & Technology, P.R.China, 066004
[email protected]
Abstract: As a means of improving teaching quality, bilingual teaching has being promoted and
popularized gradually in a number of institutions. Being a kind of humanistic teaching theories,
“non-directive teaching” has unique theories content in teaching objectives, teaching modes and other
aspects, which deserve us to learn from. To improve the effectiveness of bilingual teaching, and better to
achieve the goal of bilingual education, valuable theoretical content of “non-directive teaching” can be
used in bilingual teaching. In this article, we take bilingual teaching in tourism management as an
example, propose to apply theoretical content of “non-directive teaching” in bilingual teaching of
tourism management and try to drive the feasibility of a combination of both.
Keywords: non-directive teaching, bilingual teaching, tourism management
1 Introduction
As a sunrise industry in the new century, tourism occupies a pivotal position in economic development
in China. After 20 years of development, China's tourism industry has been gradually in line with world
tourism, but also is facing with newer opportunities and challenges. The key competitive factor in the
future tourism industry will be the talent competition. Talent quality not only affects the development
level of enterprises, but also restricts the development potential of the industry. In order to obtain a more
prominent competitive advantage, China's tourism industry chain has been stretched and extended to the
area of tourist education [1]. And new bilingual talents with good expertise in architecture, good language
base and the ability of cross-cultural tourism will develop a competitive force in the new competitive
environment of tourism [2]. The emergence of bilingual education has its unique historical background,
since the Ministry of Education promulgated the “On a Number of Opinions of Strengthening
Undergraduate Education to Improve Teaching Quality”; bilingual teaching has been promoted and
popularized in higher education institutions continually. Bilingual teaching takes the application of
foreign languages as the target to implement the unity of language form and professional content, which
teaches both language and professional content [3]. And because of the strong social and foreign-related
nature of tourism industry, bilingual teaching of tourism management plays a vital role in personnel
training of higher tourism education. Bilingual teaching of tourism management is not only the need of
tourism subject and tourism education development, but also the need of promoting students to adapt to
social development and cultivating compound tourist talents. But bilingual talents in higher education of
tourism are clearly insufficient and the teaching effects are not remarkable. In this article, “non-directive
teaching” theories was introduced into bilingual teaching of tourism management in order to find a
better way to promote bilingual teaching effectiveness tourism management.
2 The Main Contents and Evaluation of “Non-directive Teaching” Theories
“Non-directive teaching” theories is also known as humanistic teaching theories and it was created in
the 1960s in the United States. It was formed by Rogers, an American humanistic psychologist. He
applied his accumulated experience of a long-term psychological treatment into the field of teaching and
formed the “Non-directive teaching” theories. “Non-directive teaching” theories not only had a
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significant impact of educational practice and educational theories in the 1970s in the United States, but
also played a positive role in promoting the development of education in other countries. The main
contents of his teaching theories mainly reflect in the following areas:
2.1 The core of teaching is human-centered teaching [4]
In the traditional teaching model, the teaching is teacher-centered. While Rogers stressed
“patient-centered” idea from the perspective of a psychological consultant, and take a warm, positive
attitude and establish trust with the patients to treat patients and help them solve their daily problems.
He moved his psychological insight and ideas in the treatment, and put forward “student-centered”
teaching theories, and in the “non-directive teaching” teachers are listeners and promoters of learning.
2.2 Educational goal is to foster the new students with creation, an independent personality and
ability to adapt to the changing times [4]
The contemporary world is a world full of changes, contradictions and crisis. If we want to adapt to
these changes, we must learn how to learn and how to adapt to these changes. In the “non-directive
teaching”, teachers should emphasize “student-centered” idea and place the students in the center of
teaching. Such education can cultivate students adaptable to social changes. Students will go into the
society; therefore, they must develop a positive self-concept and an independent personality in the
school in order that they can become positive, confident person adaptable for the society.
2.3 The relation between teacher and students is a relationship of equal partners
In traditional teaching, teachers usually teach students with command, control and an extreme pressure
way. Such teaching is conducted usually in the restrained and non-free atmosphere. And in this kind of
teaching, students are often being dominated and are even filled with fear for teachers.
“Non-directive teaching” requires teachers to cope with students with a genuine and honest attitude and
create a sincere, acceptable and understandable atmosphere [4], so that students can be free and
unrestrained, fully aware of their own value and play their potential.
2.4 The learning process is a process of real learning
Rogers thought that the real learning was a learning process in which the knowledge learned could cause
changes and penetrate into humans’ personalities and behaviors comprehensively [4]. This study is
different from simple accumulation of knowledge, this study assumes that students have the intrinsic
motivation for learning, which everyone has the motivation to learn, no outside force is needed to
control and enforce. Therefore, the students are willing to learn, eager to create, and participate in the
learning process consciously and responsibly to match with the teachers. The studying effectiveness in
this assumption should be the best.
2.5 The teaching mode is an open mode of teaching
Compared with the traditional way of teaching, “non-directive teaching” is non-manipulative teaching,
teachers don’t teach students directly or tell the students how to learn, instead standing perspective of
our students, to provide students with learning tools required and ask the students to decide how to learn.
Teachers, however, create an open atmosphere; students can freely exchange their ideas, questions,
discussions and express their points of view with impunity.
2.6 The teaching evaluation is self-evaluation by students
This is an important feature of Rogers’ “non-directive teaching”. Self-evaluation by students is the most
desirable method of evaluation in student-centered curriculums, and students who have been
experiencing a self-evaluation work have more opportunities for growth [5]. In the self-evaluation,
students can make up evaluation projects, evaluation problems and set the evaluation level and so on
themselves and discuss with the teachers to determine the final evaluation grades and scores. In the
entire process of “non-directive teaching”, the students and teachers must have a certain educational
goals as the criterion, and students’ learning, teaching design and the handling of teacher-student
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relationship should revolve around a teaching core, eventually teaching evaluation will embody the
teaching effects. The results of the evaluation of teaching can also be fed back to the goals of education
as a new round instruction of “non-directive teaching”.
3 Enlightenment of “Non-directive Teaching” in Bilingual Teaching
3.1 The core of bilingual teaching is student-centered
According to the “people-centered” core in the “non-directive teaching”, we come to a conclusion that
bilingual teaching should be student-centered. In traditional teaching, teachers are usually the core of
teaching; teachers organize classes according to their own wishes and plans and often overlooked the
main target - the students in the teaching process. For schools and teachers, the purpose of bilingual
teaching is to enable students to master the non-native and non-second language courses through this
form of bilingual instruction. However, the bilingual levels of the students determine what they learn
and how much they master. Therefore, in the bilingual teaching, the teachers should put the students in
the center position, keep in mind the understanding level of language of students and the degree of
difficulty that the students understand at any time in order to enable them to better study the
non-language courses. For example, in bilingual teaching of tourism management, due to tourism
management is a stronger social, practical and highly targeted major and therefore the core of teaching
in bilingual teaching of tourism management should be students. Bilingual teaching of tourism
management should determine teaching contents based on the needs of students, and such teaching can
meet the needs of students. By this way of teaching, students will learn according to their interests and
control the learning progress according to their own standards. In this way, students will match teachers
more proactively and positively and there will be better teaching effects.
3.2 The goal of bilingual teaching is to cultivate bilingual compound talents
The goal of bilingual teaching is not simply to enable students to master both languages and, more
importantly, through bilingual teaching to enable students to master other professional courses which
has nothing to do with bilingual languages and ensure that students can learn the cutting edge
knowledge related to professional courses with bilingual languages at home and abroad. Only this kind
of bilingual compound talents will be able to learn, use and innovative knowledge better. Cultivating
excellent versatile talents is the starting point of bilingual education and the ultimate goal of bilingual
education. While the goal of bilingual teaching of tourism management is not single, its goal is not only
to train students with the expertise and knowledge of foreign languages and professional courses, but
also to improve their own qualities and abilities. As the professional specificity of tourism management,
learning professional courses is an important teaching objective. At the same, to develop applicable
talents with the well-grounded theories, professional skills, strong, and the overall qualities and able to
engage in basic management work in tourism industry is also an important goal.
Only such students easy to acquire the latest cutting-edge theories, with pioneering and creative spirit,
with two-way communication skills between native language and English and integral capabilities of
bilingual language and tourism subjects can become real bilingual compound talents. In this way,
students can become newcomers to adapt to the changing times in “non-directive teaching” targets.
3.3 Teachers and students should communicate in bilingual teaching
Bilingual teaching in China is in the pilot phase and not yet mature, teachers and students are still
groping ahead. Many teachers still apply the traditional teaching methods and theories into bilingual
teaching, and the dominant, high-pressure way in the traditional teaching will be inevitably brought in a
bilingual classroom, coupled with many problems in languages and professional knowledge issues, if
the relationship is alien between teachers and students, students will be more ill at ease and fear and this
is not conducive to the understanding and grasp of classroom knowledge and the follow-up teaching.
Therefore, it is usual to encounter many problems in the process of bilingual teaching of tourism
management waiting teachers and students to explore and solve together. Therefore, in bilingual
teaching of tourism management, teachers and students should communicate continuously in order to
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better solve the problems of teaching and achieve better teaching effects. In the teaching process,
teachers can carefully listen to the students, concern about the students’ emotions and feelings, inspire
and guide students patiently, move the students with sincere emotions, console students using the sincere
language, enhance understanding between teachers and students with enjoyable activities so as to build a
good teacher-student relationship and develop teaching smoothly.
3.4 It is necessary to stimulate students’ interests in learning and foster students’ learning
initiative in bilingual teaching
“Non-directive teaching” theories tell that students have intrinsic driving force to learn and do not need
to be enforced and controlled by outside forces. However, this is usually the assumption that conditions
exist. People are often lazy mentally, many people's self-discipline is poor, in which case the intrinsic
driving force of students will not be able to play a role and the students can hardly carry out real
learning actively and positively. Therefore, teachers should make every effort to stimulate students’
interests in learning and foster students’ learning initiative. Teachers can take a variety of teaching
methods, enrich the teaching content; or before class the students can have some little stories, small
jokes in English to enhance students’ self-confidence. It is especially true for students of tourism
management. Teachers teach tourism courses with two languages, and students have a certain degree of
difficulty to understand. If foreign languages of some students are not very good, then bilingual teaching
is more likely to cause the negative nature of learning. Thus, in bilingual teaching of tourism
management, teachers can introduce a number of tourism professionals and their successful cases with
two languages, play a number of videos of tourism-related staff using foreign language to work
successfully to make the curriculum close to real life, so that students feel that learning the bilingual
programs is really useful and practical; teachers can also allow students to demonstrate their knowledge
learned in the class and practice in the internship sites to enhance the sense of achievement of students
and gradually develop their learning initiative.
3.5 The modes of bilingual teaching is combination of an open mode of teaching and
scenario-based instruction
Bilingual teaching must adopt an open style of teaching to stimulate vitality of students, and constantly
stir up the students’ exploration, discovery, imagination and performance of desire, so that the students’
thinking is open. At the same time teachers should create an open scenario and learning space conducive
to students’ development in order to stimulate students’ learning vitality. The open teaching is also
reflected in the non-stick materials, lesson plans and full consideration of the diversity and variability of
learning activities. Through students’ feedback of a variety of information, teachers can adjust teaching
process and promote students to develop healthily and harmoniously [6]. The scenario-based learning is a
mode to be taken in bilingual teaching, teachers can use this kind of teaching mode to create a specific
atmosphere with a emotional, beautiful, live image and abundant of philosophies [6]. This scenario will
affect the mood of learning and motivation of learning, influence students’ enthusiasm to participate in
learning activities and create a good learning atmosphere. So it’s necessary to adopt the open teaching
mode and the scenario-based teaching mode in bilingual teaching of tourism management. In bilingual
teaching of tourism management, the teaching subjects are not limited to textbooks and can be from the
practice of life and can be derived from the needs of students, such as tourism employment, practical
problems encountered in tourism activities, and teachers can guide the students to take the initiative to
explore, research to acquire knowledge; at the same time teachers can also create appropriate learning
contexts for students, for example, to create situations for students to be tour guides; to provide
situations for students to cope with the travel accidents; to help students create situations to receive
foreign guests. In these scenarios, students can apply and master what they learn in practice, and all the
students will have more opportunities for participation and the chances of success and develop in
participating.
3.6 Student practice evaluation and teaching evaluation are combined in bilingual teaching
evaluation
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Bilingual teaching evaluation have taken the majority of traditional teaching evaluation methods,
primary and secondary schools primarily use more scores as the rate of teaching evaluations, while the
assessment of bilingual teaching in colleges and universities are mostly through web-based assessment
system for students. Such teaching evaluation has its rational and scientific nature, but also there are
some problems inevitably. For example, some performance of students who are unlikely to learn and
don’t match teachers will affect teaching evaluation, there are some students will give a malicious low
scores or intentional high scores because of their impressions of teachers and relations with teachers, or
cope with teaching evaluation for the sake of electing courses. Therefore, evaluation of bilingual
teaching should take a combination method of student practice evaluation and teaching evaluation. That
is to say, students not only evaluate for teachers, but also evaluate their own learning effects, and
students should evaluate each other. If possible, it’s better for students to evaluate their own effects in
practice. For bilingual teaching of tourism management, this kind of teaching evaluation is
comparatively practical. There are many practical skills and a variety of internships, and these
internships and the real environment may well provide students with opportunities to apply knowledge,
such as offering services to foreign friends in the hotel and introducing the tourism resources and
tourism cultural knowledge and so on. In this way, students can evaluate their practical abilities and
clients can also participate in the evaluation of students. Only such kind of integral evaluation can
objectively embody bilingual teaching evaluation of tourism management.
4 Conclusion
“Non-directive teaching” gives us some enlightenment on bilingual teaching, but the use of bilingual
teaching in tourism management and what effects will be in the end will take time to test. We should
calmly look at bilingual teaching and should not make excessive and unrealistic demands of bilingual
teaching. As for the “non-directive teaching” application in tourism management, it’s necessary to
consider teaching syllabus and professional and social characteristics of tourism management and
evaluate bilingual teaching from many perspectives of classroom teaching, students’ learning attitudes,
and teachers’ level, then further feedback the effects and information of bilingual teaching through
practical application abilities of students in the society. Only the constant testing, feedback, summing up,
evaluation, the objectives of bilingual teaching can be better achieved.
Acknowledgements:
A mandatory item of Hebei Normal University of Science & Technology finances the research in 2008.
The title is Research and Practice of Bilingual Teaching of Tourism Management Based on ESP
Theories. The item number is 0808.
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