Abstract.Higher vocational education is a necessary part in China’s higher education. The English major graduates play a great role in the primary and secondary schools personnel and they are affirmed with their professions while their scientific research ability blocks their own development. This article tries to train the students’ primary scientific research ability during their school studying on the basis of analyzing the characteristics of the major and the necessity and practicability of teaching development so as to improve their own comprehensive quality and competitiveness.
Key words: higher vocational education； English education major；primary scientific research ability；teaching reflection
1.The Orientation of Higher Vocational Education
As for higher vocational education, it is higher education in the first place, and then it is vocational education.
《CPC Central Committee and State Council on deepening the reform of the comprehensive promotion of quality education decision》 (announced in 13th, June, 1999) clearly stated that higher vocational education is an important composite part of the higher education. according to “Higher Education Law of the People"s Republic of China”, this Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution and the Education Law for the purposes of developing the cause of higher education, implementing the strategy of reinvigorating the country through science and education and promoting the building of socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization. Higher education must implement the educational policy of the state, serve socialist modernization, integrate itself with production and labor to train those educated to be builders and successors of the socialist cause with all-round development of morality, intelligence and physique. The task of higher education is to train senior specialized talents with innovative spirit and practical capability, develop science, technology and culture and promote socialist modernization. Institutions of higher learning should carry out teaching, scientific research and social services centring round training talents to guarantee that educational and teaching quality reaches standards prescribed by the state. Institutions of higher learning independently work out teaching plans, select and compile textbooks and organize activities of imparting teaching in accordance with the requirements of teaching. [1]
2.The Characteristics of English Education Major in Higher Vocational Colleges
Vocational education is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation. It is sometimes referred to as technical education as the trainee directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques. Vocational education may be classified as teaching procedural knowledge. This can be contrasted with declarative knowledge, as used in education in a usually broader scientific field, which might concentrate on theory and abstract conceptual knowledge, characteristic of tertiary education. Vocational education can be at the secondary or post-secondary level and can interact with the apprenticeship system. Increasingly, vocational education can be recognized in terms of recognition of prior learning. Institutions of higher learning independently conduct scientific research, technological development and social services in the light of their own conditions. It shall implement the line and policies of the Chinese Communist Party, adhere to the socialist orientation of running the institutions, exercise leadership over ideological and political work and work related to morality in the institutions, hold discussions and take decisions on the set-up of internal organizational structures and candidates for the persons-in-charge of internal organizational structures, hold discussions and take decisions on such major matters as the reform, development and basic administrative rules of the institutions to ensure the completion of various tasks centred round training of talents.
2.1.Professional
The setting of English education major in higher vocational college is directly concentrated on the society posts. Specialty education should enable students to master the basic theory and basic knowledge essential for the respective specialty and acquire the basic skills and initial capability for the practical work of the respective specialty. This kind of professionalism has reflected the essential characteristics of the cultivation goal of English major talents in higher vocational colleges.
2.2.Skillful
It should enable students to systematically master the basic theory and basic knowledge necessary for the respective discipline and specialty, master the basic skills, techniques and related know-how necessary for the respective specialty and acquire initial capability for the practical work and research work of the respective specialty. The higher vocational education should enable students to master firm basic theory of the respective discipline, systematic specialty knowledge, master corresponding skills, techniques and related know-how, and acquire capabilities for the practical work and scientific research work of the respective specialty.
2.3.Theoretical
The students majoring in English teaching in the higher vocational colleges shall have a systematic mastery of the basic theory of the respective discipline. They shall have the educational and teaching capability and scientific research capability of the corresponding position; and undertake the courses and teaching task of prescribed periods of the corresponding position. They should pay attention to grasp the basic theory, basic knowledge and basic skills that primary and secondary English education. In this way practical teaching can be effectively solved.
3.The Connotations of Elementary Science and Research Abilities
Research ability refers to the ability that one makes scientific explorations on the major that they take part in with scientific thinking and appropriate methods. It develops multi-disciplinary cooperative modes that lay equal stress on into already, at present build up each have certain the teaching, scientific research, produce and combine by three-in-one the bases of scales. Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. [2]
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Since classical antiquity science as a type of knowledge was closely linked to philosophy. In the early modern era the two words, science and philosophy, were sometimes used interchangeably in the English language. However, science continued to be used in a broad sense denoting reliable knowledge about a topic, in the same way it is still used in modern terms such as library science or political science. It is often treated as synonymous with natural and physical science, and thus restricted to those branches of study that relate to the phenomena of the material universe and their laws, sometimes with implied exclusion of pure mathematics. [3] Teachers, administrators and auxiliary teaching staff as well as other specialized technical personnel of institutions of higher learning should do their respective work well centring on teaching and training of talents. With the guidance of the teachers, limited science and research activities can be carried out. Limited scientific abilities and levels can be shown.
4.The Cultivation of Elementary Science and Research Ability of English Major Students in Higher Vocational Colleges
4.1.The necessity of cultivating the science and research abilities of the English education students in higher vocational colleges
《Vocational moral normality of primary and middle school teachers》 has clearly pointed out that teachers shall “improve the educational teaching and scientific research levels”. The English education students in higher vocational colleges should provide facilities for teachers" participation in training, conducting scientific research and academic exchanges. They shall have the educational and teaching capability and scientific research capability of the corresponding position; and undertake the educational and teaching capability and scientific research capability of the corresponding position. In addition to having the above basic conditions for taking up the position, they also have systematic and firm basic theory of the respective discipline and rich experiences in teaching and scientific research, with remarkable achievements in teaching, theses and works reaching high level or have outstanding achievements in teaching and scientific research.
4.2.The practical operation to cultivate the elementary science and research abilities of the English education students in higher vocational colleges
Although English education students in higher vocational colleges do not make their teaching practice in the posts of teachers, they can have a great amount of time doing practical training and opportunities. The state formulates higher education development planning, establishes institutions of higher learning and adopts various forms to actively develop the cause of higher education in accordance with the requirements of economic construction and social development.
4.3.Way to cultivate the elementary science and research abilities of the English education students in higher vocational colleges
1)Awareness cultivation
The general higher education and training that takes place in a university, college, or Institute of Technology usually includes significant theoretical and abstract elements, as well as applied aspects. In contrast, the vocational higher education and training that takes place at vocational universities and schools usually concentrates on practical applications, with very little theory. In addition, professional-level education is always included within Higher Education, and usually in graduate schools, since many postgraduate academic disciplines are both vocationally, professionally, and theoretically or research oriented, such as in the law, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. A basic requirement for entry into these graduate-level programs is almost always a bachelor"s degree. Requirements for admission to such high-level graduate programs are extremely competitive, and admitted students are expected to perform well.
2)Teacher guidance
The teachers should enable students to systematically master the basic theory and basic knowledge necessary for the respective discipline and specialty, master the basic skills, techniques and related know-how necessary for the respective specialty and acquire initial capability for the practical work and research work of the respective specialty. At the same time, they shall guide the students to be aware of the fact that the teachers not only make some teaching tasks, they also carry out certain amount of scientific research. In the end, the teachers are the realization people of education goals. They guide the teaching activities and explore on the methods as well as creating the teaching activities. [4]
3)Reflection teaching
“Reflective model” was put forward by the scholar Wallace (1991) to cultivate the professional abilities of the teachers.[5] The foundation of higher order thinking should not be limited in focus to one"s task-based performance, just as it should not be limited to a post-task activity. The foundation should have a broader range that is concerned with one"s ability to rely on the operations of the mind in all circumstances to create an understanding through one"s experience and knowledge when one cannot access some absolute meaning. Focus on a specific task may be the best way to learn the thinking process, and reflection on a task after it is complete is an important facet of reflective thinking practices. However, good reflective thinking, is a more encompassing process whereby an individual--aware of her own knowledge and the gaps in her knowledge, assumptions, and past experiences determines what information is needed for understanding the issue at hand; accesses and gathers the available information; gathers the opinions of reliable sources in related fields; synthesizes the information and opinions; considers the synthesis from all perspectives and frames of reference and finally, creates some plausible temporary meaning that may be reconsidered and modified as she learns more relevant information and opinions.
4)Essay writing
“Essays can help the students to improve their teaching abilities as well as improving their teaching practice. It encourages cooperation among institutions of higher learning, between institutions of higher learning and scientific research institutes as well as enterprises and institutions to be mutually supplementary with reach"s own advantages and improve the performance in the employment of educational resources. The English education students in higher vocational colleges can do the following things to carry out the essay writing:
① Presentation of the advantages. Reflective practice is "the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning", which, according to the originator of the term, is "one of the defining characteristics of professional practice"
② Shortage arrangements. Pay critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight.
③ Wisdom catching. Reflective practice can be an important tool in practice-based professional learning settings where individuals learning from their own professional experiences, rather than from formal teaching or knowledge transfer, may be the most important source of personal professional development and improvement.
④ Record of the learning situation. As such the notion has achieved wide take-up, particularly in professional development for practitioners in the areas of education and healthcare. The question of how best to learn from experience has wider relevance however, to any organizational learning environment.
⑤ Re-teaching design. It is the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning", which, according to the originator of the term, is "one of the defining characteristics of professional practice.
5.Conclusions
The cultivation of the science and research abilities of the English education students in higher vocational colleges is beneficial to improve the scientific and research qualities and abilities of the students. On the learning methods, passive learning has been converted into active learning, which will make much more impressive cognitions to this major. Higher vocational education is a necessary part in China’s higher education. The English major graduates play a great role in the primary and secondary schools personnel and they are affirmed with their professions while their scientific research ability blocks their own development. This article tries to train the students’ primary scientific research ability during their school studying on the basis of analyzing the characteristics of the major and the necessity and practicability of teaching development so as to improve their own comprehensive quality and competitiveness. If the students are guided accurately to get to know the scientific research in the learning stage and actively participate in the science research of the teachers, their comprehensive qualities and abilities can get further improvement.
6.Acknowledgment
Foundation project: Jiangxi Province Educational Scientific “the Eleventh Five-Year Plan” project “Research on diversification cultivation model of practice ability of the students majoring in English in higher vocational colleges”. Project Number: 09YB136
7.References
[1]Several opinions on comprehensively improving the teaching qualities of higher vocational education [Z].teaching higher school［2006］Number 16 https://baike.省略/view/5307797.htm
[2]Tian Xin-qiang. Scientific abilities and quality education [J]. Journal of Datong Medical College, 2000（4）：50-51
[3]Professional catalog of English major in higher education and higher professional in higher colleges(revision).English teaching committee［2006］Number 8，https://www.省略/p-17787791.html
[4]Zhang Wei-gang，college research teaching and scientific method [J]. Higher Education of Sciences,2009（2）：65-67
[5]Shu Bai-mei，CHEN You-lin. Foreign Language teaching method[M].higher education press， 1999：233