1. Introduction

With the widespread problem of " separation of learning and application " in college English teaching in China, the new teaching strategy POA theory (production-oriented approach) has begun to develop. At present, there are roughly two teaching modes of comprehensive college English courses in China:' text center ' and ' task center '. Among them, ' text center ' teaching is further divided into ' bottom-up ' and ' top-down. ' Under the " text-centered " teaching mode, the main role of teachers is to " input. " As for whether students can transform the language knowledge they have learned into expression ability and whether the content can be applied to communicative activities, it is not the focus of classroom teaching. Under the " task-centered " teaching mode, the main role of teachers is to provide students with " output " opportunities, but how students acquire, process, and use " input " is not the focus of classroom teaching [1]. That is to say, neither of them organically combines input and output. Therefore, In China's education system, improving students' comprehensive application of English by improving teaching methods has gradually become an important focus and research focus.

This study takes the field of English research in Chinese universities as the main research object to solve the disadvantages of traditional English teaching strategies in Chinese universities. As an improvement to the traditional English teaching mode in China, Professor Wen Qiufang and his team put forward the POA theory as a new teaching theory that can be applied to college English teaching. As a key link in higher education, universities not only provide students with professional knowledge and academic skills training but also play an important role in helping students achieve personal growth and social integration. Therefore, it is of great significance to research English teaching strategies in this field. POA theory is an innovative teaching concept aimed at improving the traditional education method and reflecting the development direction with Chinese characteristics. It focuses on ' output ' and is result-oriented. It has gone through the warm-up period, the embryonic period, and the revision period, and now it has a complete theoretical system. With the development of the POA theory, the reform of the English professional skills curriculum is also advancing rapidly. Li Lu points out that the disadvantages of traditional teaching methods are that traditional teaching methods only focus on the input of language knowledge and ignore the cultivation of students' language and communicative competence [2]. Therefore, she applies the production-oriented method to classroom teaching and finds that it improves students' English learning and optimizes teachers' teaching strategies. POA theory is a new English classroom teaching strategy. As a new teaching strategy, ' POA theory ' integrates English teaching with different elements, makes students participate in classroom activities more actively in specific practice, and changes the role of teachers - becoming teaching designers, activity directors, and student supporters [3]. This paper reviews the relevant literature on "POA theory" at home and abroad and finds that many studies have focused on the combination of POA theory with other elements, but the research on the benefits it brings is still weak. Therefore, this article will use the literature analysis method to take English teaching in Chinese universities as the research object to deeply explore the practical application of POA teaching theory and its impact on English learning effect, so as to support the comprehensive understanding of the practical significance of POA theory in college classrooms.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Introduction to the POA Theory

Three primary components make up the POA theory, which Professor Wen Qiufang and his colleagues put out: instructional design, students, and teachers.

At the teacher level, the shift in the teacher's role, according to the POA theory, necessitates a transition from traditional classroom participants to the roles of “teaching designer, activity director, and student supporter” in the new teaching paradigm [3]. This transition encourages teachers to assume a leading role in the classroom, focusing on both teaching tasks and the development of students' abilities.

At the student level, the theory emphasizes students' ability to cooperate and interact. Teachers actively bring students into the classroom through group discussions and team projects, which make them learn more actively and better integrate into society. At the same time, the goal of the theory is to cultivate students' language output ability and adopt different appropriate teaching methods for different students. Through such measures, teachers can better stimulate students' potential and interest in language learning and help them become proficient in using language.

At the level of teaching design, Wen Qiufang proposed that multiple teaching concepts should be integrated into the teaching classroom. These concepts are: the learning center theory aims to achieve learning goals and promote the occurrence of effective learning, the integration of learning and application theory closely combines ' learning ' and ' application, 'and the whole person education theory aims to improve students ' comprehensive quality. Ability is also the main concept and core content of POA theory.

At the level of teaching objectives, a relatively simple actual output goal that matches the ability is set [4]. The influence of applying POA theory in college English teaching on teachers ' level cannot be ignored. Teachers play an important intermediary role in this theory, which combines input and output organically. The goal is to improve students ' language application ability and autonomous learning ability [2]. In addition, the theory also points out that the role of teachers has changed from the main body in the traditional teaching classroom to the participants and guides who promote students' learning in the new classroom, which also encourages teachers to focus on the research and improvement of teaching methods.

At the level of the teaching process, the classroom organization form of ' drive-facilitate-evaluation ' (led and guided by teachers to complete tasks and give output evaluation) [5]. At the level of teaching order, POA theory is different from the input-output mode of traditional teaching. POA theory adopts a new teaching order of input-output-input; at the level of teaching innovation, POA provides innovative ideas for solving the problems in the teaching of knowledge courses (problem-driven approach + ' drive-enable-evaluation ' design enabling activity chain) [6]; POA helps knowledge courses to meet the needs of social development (integration of learning and application) [6].

2.2. The Practical Application of POA in the Classroom

At the operational level, teachers cultivate students ' comprehensive ability to use English, transform knowledge into output and apply it to daily communication, determine output goals based on actual communication needs, and design driving links based on output goals [4]. Zhang Wenjuan demonstrated the preliminary impact of the teaching by demonstrating how the "production-oriented approach" is superior to the conventional intense reading teaching technique [7]. The research conclusion is similar to that of Xu Xiyang and Wu Yongyi [8]. In the evaluation process, teachers guide students to pay attention to the problems in the evaluation on the one hand, and on the other hand, they also analyze the causes of the problems with students and, on this basis, think about reasonable coping strategies [9]. In addition to teaching content, teacher education needs to consider students ' intelligence and emotional morality, promote holistic education, and achieve the humanistic goals higher education advocates. The " output-oriented approach " also adheres to the evaluation concept of " evaluation for learning" and maximizes the classroom learning cycle through various evaluation methods such as student-student and teacher-student cooperative evaluation, which can continuously improve students ' familiarity with classroom learning content and output frequency, and promote students ' internalization of new knowledge [10]. Be mindful of the increasingly sophisticated role that a production-oriented approach plays in language proficiency, and place a high value on language learning and culture.

2.3. A Study of the Effects of POA on English Learning

Research has demonstrated that POA can enhance kids' speaking, writing, and listening skills while fostering overall growth [11]. In addition, POA helps students improve their test scores, classroom participation, and ability to think logically and analyze [3]. Students also adore POA a great deal, which enhances their capacity for independent studying, creative thought, curiosity in learning, and self-assurance in learning.

Additionally, the integration of knowledge transmission and ability training with value goals has been reached through "POA + ideological and political education," which integrates political and ideological components into the system building of teaching English writing. This approach makes use of the POA theory [6]. For instance, students can implement the fundamental task of cultivating people by virtue and become compound English talents with the ability to distinguish right from wrong, humanistic quality, Chinese feelings, and an international perspective when studying the integration of ideological and political elements into English writing based on POA [12]. The "first-class curriculum" hybrid, based on the "output-oriented approach," focuses on task output, integrates learning and application, and effectively connects the teaching process of "driving, facilitating, and evaluating." It also improves the quality of curriculum teaching, increases the teaching effect of classroom instruction, and addresses the issues of students' low motivation for learning and the unsatisfactory learning outcomes in traditional college English instruction [3].

3. The Reasons for the Application of POA Theory and its Influence Ways

3.1. Reasons for Applying the POA Theory

POA theory, as a new teaching concept, is different from the traditional teaching methods in China and has been improved on the basis of it. POA theory has a significant effect in college English classrooms. According to many domestic studies, traditional teaching is not in line with the current college English class in China, and its disadvantages are mainly reflected in teaching and teaching methods. First of all, in terms of teaching, teachers are put in the main position without attaching importance to the role of students. The focus of teachers ' teaching is often on lesson preparation and teaching. They regard the content and style of explanation as the main criteria for judging the teaching effect. They focus too much on task-based teaching objectives and ignore the communication and interaction with students in the classroom. This practice reduces the opportunities for students to practice English in the classroom; students can't fully absorb the content of the teacher's class, and the knowledge mastery does not meet the teaching standards. Secondly, regarding teaching methods, there is a large gap in education in various regions of China. Teachers use the same teaching method in the face of students from different regions. They do not take into account the English foundation and learning style of different students, and cannot really let every student master the corresponding knowledge according to his or her own level. As a result, the quality of teaching cannot be improved qualitatively, which will also reduce students ' enthusiasm for English learning. Therefore, in view of the above problems, many domestic scholars and experts have put forward different teaching methods to reform traditional teaching methods, such as situational teaching methods, practical activity methods, and so on. Among them, domestic scholars and experts' most concerned and recognized teaching method is the POA theory (Production-Oriented Approach). As the name implies, it is a student-output-oriented teaching method. That is, it is no longer using traditional teaching methods but adopting a newly proposed concept. This teaching method takes students as the main role and teachers as the participating role. It attaches importance to students ' input and output, stimulates students ' potential and enthusiasm in learning English, and improves students ' ability in all aspects of English.

3.2. The influence path of POA theory

The influence path of POA theory can be divided into three stages: preliminary preparation, intermediate link, and evaluation link. The preliminary preparation is based on the materials needed in the early stage of POA theory application. The first is to determine the teaching object, follow the principle of adopting different teaching methods through the students' learning situation proposed by the POA theory, and divide the students into several classes according to their different learning abilities and adaptability. Secondly, the teaching materials and teaching design contents are selected for English classroom teaching. The intermediate link is a teaching process based on the core content of POA theory— ' drive-facilitate-evaluation '— this link is also a critical link for students to complete the output-oriented goal of POA theory. Teachers play an important role in respect of English learning and guide and promote students ' progress in language, content, and structure. The first is the study of language foundation, the second is the improvement of the article's content, and the last is the mastery of the way of argumentation. Teachers need to conduct an in-depth analysis of students' learning throughout the whole process, divide them according to their level and personality and other characteristics, and adopt targeted teaching methods to promote students' understanding and mastery of language-related knowledge. The evaluation process analyzes the output of students' learning through teachers' guidance to students and students' large output in language. The evaluation content mainly includes two parts: classroom practice and delayed evaluation. The evaluation forms mainly include teacher evaluation and student mutual evaluation. It is helpful for students to find out the shortcomings of their own English language ability and promote improving and promoting students’ English self-learning.

4. The Effect of POA Theory

In general, the application of POA in college positively impacts foreign language teaching, but there are also some hidden dangers.

In contrast to traditional teaching methods, implementing POA theory has enhanced students’ interest in learning and expanded opportunities for language use. In the classroom, there is now more active engagement in sharing and communication, opinion comments, and collaboration—especially among the students who do well. Passive learning has given way to cooperation. The improvement is much more notable when this new teaching approach is used (the research on the teaching efficacy of the “output-oriented method”). Students with strong abilities, under the influence of traditional teaching, such as cramming education and other mechanical teaching, have no reasonable opportunity to output. Under the guidance of the theory of output-oriented method, rich and colourful classroom activities not only make students energetic but also allow students to express themselves. Therefore, students with strong abilities consolidate knowledge through interesting activities on the basis of mastering knowledge quickly so that their achievements progress rapidly. In addition, due to the lack of cooperation between students in traditional teaching methods, there is a lack of opportunities to realize their weaknesses in a certain language skill or teamwork, encyclopedic knowledge, and multiple intelligences so as to actively learn from peers. Finally, the standard teaching topic is very basic, and it is not demanding for students with strong abilities, which makes their ability progress not visible, but POA helps to develop the potential of high-level pupils.

The majority of students are also aware of the connection between blended learning and POA. In order for students to contribute materials in a targeted manner during the classroom learning process and increase their learning efficiency, teachers should assign pertinent homework before class. This will help students better understand the important and challenging concepts covered in this unit and will also encourage them to participate more actively in group projects both inside and outside of the classroom. Finally, teachers can also combine online and offline evaluations to promote students ' all-round development. However, the disadvantage is that the teacher cannot take care of every student due to the limited time in the classroom. If the online platform expands more comprehensive resources and enables students to learn more systematic knowledge, such as grammar knowledge, it will be more conducive to students ' development. This reminds teachers not only to take into account the simple pre-class preview but also to send some of the more difficult content involved in the class to students in advance so as to help the students with a weak foundation to learn to keep up with the progress in class. Compared with the combination of POA and blended teaching, a flipped classroom has the greatest adjustment effect on the learning effect of POA. The flipped classroom is more conducive to fostering learning creativity and interaction, enhancing collaborative skills and higher-order thinking abilities, and achieving the shift from input-based to output-driven learning because the POA's "drive-facilitate-evaluation" teaching process can be docked with the links of "autonomous learning before class-interactive discussion in class-reflection and evaluation after class." [13].

POA theory holds that foreign language education should not only achieve instrumental goals but also achieve humanistic goals [1]. Some studies have combined POA with ideological and political education and believe that relevant and contemporary input materials are necessary supplements and reinforcements for students to efficiently complete output tasks at the level of language knowledge and thinking. For the great majority of students, this combination has been crucial in shaping their beliefs about life and helping them grow as individuals. The majority of students are also aware of the connection between blended learning and POA.

Despite POA's numerous benefits, there are still certain areas where it falls short. While POA improves students' writing and listening abilities, it has the opposite impact on students' reading abilities and minimal influence on their translation abilities. This is related to students’ English learning in senior high school, focuses on reading exercises, and emphasizes that text recitation is inseparable. Therefore, some students do not fully adapt to the selective learning emphasized by POA, ignoring the attention to textbooks and the accumulation of words. Zhang Lingli believes that this is also related to teachers ' neglect of the processing of coherent texts in textbooks and the translation of difficult sentences, so the teaching content and focus need to be adjusted.

5. Conclusion

In terms of teaching philosophy, teaching objectives, teaching procedures, and teaching materials, POA theory is better in accordance with the requirements and characteristics of foreign language learners, according to a number of scientific studies. The three main ideas are "holistic education," "integration of learning and application," and "student-centered." In order to effectively expand students' knowledge of theory and language application systems, the teaching objectives primarily include the two types of input and output. This new teaching order goes from "input first, output later" to "from output to input, and then from input to output." Three steps make up the teaching process: facilitating, driving, and assessing. Instructors provide direction, oversight, and output evaluation to students while they go through assignments, assisting them in developing their overall proficiency in foreign languages. POA theory use in the classroom often benefits instructors, instruction, and students.

Although the POA theory gives specific and detailed explanations regarding teaching strategies, it is still in a period of development and improvement. The practice in the classroom of colleges and universities is insufficient and perfect. In practice, it is necessary to analyze the specific problems based on the school situation, learning situation, and other specific problems, select some units as the first pilot, repeatedly test, and continuously optimize and improve in the practice process so as to help the classroom of colleges and universities to practice and use to find and improve its shortcomings.

Authors Contribution

All the authors contributed equally and their names were listed in alphabetical order.