Title: The Conceptual Distinction and Route Construction of the Disciplinary Big Concept for Senior High School English Course

Abstract: The proposing and prevailing of the disciplinary big concept initiate a big wave of teaching reformation for the new era. The present study first analyzes the development of the big concept from philosophical, pedagogical as well as disciplinary perspectives and derives its defining features. Based on the academic achievements of other subjects, especially the knowledge system, specific context and practical function of geographical big concept, as well as the relation between form and content, language and thought of Chinese big concept, the present study clearly defines the disciplinary big concept for senior high school English course. Starting from this definition, the present study, different from the single construction route of teaching unit as a whole, provides multiple construction routes, to enhance the students meta-cognitive ability by strengthening the systematic instruction of language knowledge and skill as the first route; to improve the big concept construction on the basis of a series of units as the second and to highlight the contextual, experimental and practical features by sticking to the idea that English learning is an activity as the last.

Keywords: big concept, English teaching and learning, senior high school English course

Author: Zhiyi Zhang, Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; Binhe Liu, Senior Teacher, Jiangyan Senior High School, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China.