Teaching Shakespeare in China within a Communicative Orientation

Abstract

This article outlines the necessity and challenges of teaching Shakespeare to EFL students in
China. It argues that teaching Shakespeare’s plays fulfills the multidimensional purposes of
English learning including developing linguistic, literary and cultural competence, as well as
facilitating critical capacity and personal enrichment, which are indispensable for advanced
language learners. Through the introduction of the teaching procedures of Shakespeare’s Henry V
and its two film versions, which are designed within a communicative orientation, it concludes
that Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Task-based instruction (TBI) are central to fulfilling the
aforementioned goals in literature teaching, and can cope-well with the tough challenges in
teaching a difficult author to EFL students.