王薔主編的英語教學(xué)法教程第二版-unit1

Unit1LanguageandLanguageLearning

Aimsoftheunit

Inthisunitwewilldiscusssomegeneralmattersaboutlanguagelearningandteaching.Wearegoingtodiscussfivequestionsonparticular:

Howdowelearnlanguage

What are the commonviews onlanguage

What are the commonviews onlanguagelearning

What are the qualitiesof agoodlanguageteacher

Howcanonebecomeagood languageteacher

1.1Howdowelearnlanguages

Machofhumanbehaviorisinfluencedbytheirexperiences.Thewaylanguageteachersteachintheclassroomistosomeextentinfluencedbythewaytheylearnedlanguages.Thisisespeciallytrueinforeignlanguageteaching.Beforewediscusslanguagelearningtheories,letusfirstreflectonourownlanguagelearningexperience.

Task1

Belowisalistofinterviewquestionsonhowpeoplelearnaforeignlanguage.Inthefirstcolumn,writedownyourownresponses.Theninterviewthreeotherstudentsinyourclassandentertheirresponsesintheothercolumns.Discussyourfindingsingroupof4anddrawsomeconclusion.

You

ST1

ST2

ST3

1.Howmanyforeignlanguagescanyouspeaksofar

2.Whendidyoustartlearningtheforeignlanguage(s)

3.Howdoyoufeelaboutlearningaforeignlanguage

4.Whatdifficultieshaveyouexperiencedin

learning

5.Whichskilldoyoufindmoredifficulttolearn

6.HaveyoufocusedonknowledgeorskillsWhy

7.Whydoyoulearntheforeignlanguage(s)

8.Doyouconsideryourselfasuccessfullearner

Why

9.Whatareyourmostcommonlearningactivities

10.Doyoulikethewayyoulearnedtheforeignlanguage(s)

Fromtheabovetask,youmayhavefoundthat1)peoplestartedlearningaforeignlanguageatdifferentages;2)peoplehavedifferentexperiencesinlearningaforeignlanguage,somefinditeasy,somefinditdifficult;

3)peoplelearnlanguagesfordifferentreasons;4)peoplelearnlanguagesindifferentways;5)peoplehavedifferentunderstandingsaboutlanguagelearning;6)peoplehavedifferentcapacitiesinlanguagelearning;7)learningcanbeaffectedbythewayitistaught;8)learningisaffectedbythedegreeofsuccessoneisexpectedtoachieve;andmore.Thusthechallengeconfrontinglanguageteachingishowteachingmethodologycanensuresuccessfullearningbyallthelearnerswhohavemoredifferencesthanthecommonality.

1.2viewsonlanguage

Thequestionthatallapproachestolanguageteachingshouldansweris,‘whatislanguage,Theanswertothisquestionisthebasisforsyllabusdesigns,teachingmethodology,teachingandassessmentproceduresintheclassroom.Differentviewsonlanguagegeneratedifferentteachingmethodologies.

Task2

Workingroupof4.Brainstormpossibleanswertothequestion:whatislanguageWhenyouareready,joinanothergroupandshareyourideas.

Togiveaconcisedefinitionoflanguagehasalwaysbeendifficultforlinguistsandphilogists.Althoughtherehasbeenanenormousamountofresearchinlanguageinthepastcentury,noauthoritativeanswerhasbeengivento'whatislanguage,rather,peoplehavesettledowntotalkaboutviewsoflanguage,seeminglyallowingfororacceptingdifferenttheoriesforthemoment.However,languageteachersclearlyneedtoknowgenerallywhatsortofentitytheyaredealingwithandhowtheparticularlanguagetheyareteachingfitsintothatentity(Brown,1994a).forsampledefinitionof'language),pleaserefertoAppendix1.

Structuralview

Thestructuralviewoflanguageseeslanguageasalinguisticsystemmadeupofvarioussubsystems(Larsen-Freeman&Long,1991):thesoundsystem(phonology);thediscreteunitsofmeaningproducedbysoundcombinations(morphology),andthesystemofcombiningunitsofmeaningforcommunication(syntax).Eachlanguagehasafinitenumberofsuchstructuralitems.Tolearnalanguagemeanstolearnthesestructuralitemssoastobeabletounderstandandproducelanguage.Whenthisstructuralviewoflanguagewascombinedwiththestimulus-responseprinciplesofbehavioristpsychology,theaudio-lingualapproachtolanguagelearningemerged.

Functionalview

Inthe1960s,Britishlinguistsdevelopedasystemofcategoriesbasedonthecommunicativeneedsofthelearner(JohnsonandMarrow,1981)andproposedasyllabusbasedoncommunicativefunctions.Thefunctionalviewnotonlyseeslanguagesasalinguisticsystembutalsoameansfordoingthings.Mostofourday-to-daylanguageuseinvolvesfunctionalactivities:offering,suggesting,advising,apologizing,etc.therefore,learnerslearnalanguageinordertobeabletodowithit.Inordertoperformfunctions,learnersneedtoknowhowtocombinethegrammaticalrulesandthevocabularytoexpressnotionsthatperformthefunctions.Examplesofnotionsaretheconceptofpresent,pastandfuturetime,theexpressionsofcertaintyandpossibility,therolesofagents,instrumentswithasentence,andspecialrelationshipsbetweenpeopleandobjects.

Interactionalview

Theinteractionalviewconsiderslanguagetobeacommunicativetool,whosemainuseistobuildupandmaintainsocialrelationsbetweenpeople.Therefore,learnersnotonlyneedtoknowthegrammarandvocabularyofthelanguagebutasimportantlytheyneedtoknowtherulesforusingtheminawholerangeofcommunicativecontexts.

Thesethreeviewspresentaneverwiderviewoflanguage.Thestructuralviewlimitsknowingalanguagetoknowingitsstructuralrulesandvocabulary.Thecommunicativeornotional-functionalviewaddstheneedtoknowhowtousetherulesandvocabularytodowhateveritisonewantstodo.Theinteractionalviewsaysthattoknowhowtodowhatyouwanttodoinvolvesalsoknowingwhetheritisappropriatetodo,andwhere,whenandhowitisappropriatetodoit.Inordertoknowthis,youhavetostudythepatternsandrulesoflanguageabovethesentenceleveltolearnhowlanguageisusedindifferentspeechcontexts.

Theunderstandingofthenatureoflanguagemayprovidethebasisforaparticularteachingmethod(RichardandRodgers,1986),butmoreimportantly,itiscloselyrelatedtotheunderstandingoflanguagelearning.Iflanguageisconsideredtohaveafinitenumberofstructuralitems,learningthelanguageprobablymeanslearningtheseitems.Iflanguageismorethanjustasystemofstructures,itismoreimportantlyatoolthentolearnthelanguagelearning.Iflanguageismorethanjustasystemofstructures,itismoreimportantlyatool,thentolearnthelanguagemeanstouseit,ratherthanjuststudywhatitisandhowitisformed.Thenextsectiondiscussessomecurrenttheoriesaboutlanguagelearning.

ViewsonLanguagelearningandlearningingeneral

Alanguagelearningtheoryunderlyinganapproachormethodusuallyanswerstwoquestions;1)Whatarethepsycholinguisticandcognitiveprocessesinvolvedinlanguagelearning2)Whataretheconditionsthat

needtobemetinorderfortheselearningprocessestobeactivated

Task3

Workingroupsof4.Brainstormtheanswerstothetwoquestionsstatedabove.

Whenyouareready,joinanothergroupandshareyourideas.

Althoughthesetwoquestionshaveneverbeensatisfactorilyanswered,avastamountofresearchhasbeendonefromallaspects.Theresearchcanbebroadlydividedintoprocess-orientedtheoriesandcondition-orientedtheories.Process-orientedtheoriesareconcernedwithhowthemindorganizesnewinformationsuchashabitformation,induction,makinginference,hypothesistestingandgeneralization.Condition-orientedtheoriesemphasizethenatureofthehumanandphysicalcontextinwhichlanguagelearningtakesplace,suchasthenumberofstudents,thekindofinputlearnersreceive,andtheatmosphere.Someresearchersattempttoformulateteachingapproachesdirectlyfromthesetheories.Forexample,theNaturalApproach,TotalPhysicalResponse,andtheSilentWayarebasedononeormoredimensionsofprocessesandconditions.Atthislevel,itistooearlytoformulateaspecificapproach,becausesomeaspectsarestilltoovague,forexample,whatisdoneintheseprocesses.

Behavioristtheory

ThebehavioristtheoryoflanguagelearningwasinitiatedbybehaviouralpsychologistSkinner,whoappliedWatsonandRaynor,stheoryofconditioningtothewayhumanacquirelanguage(Harmer,1983).Basedon

theirexperiments,WatsonandRaynorformulatedastimulus-responsetheoryofpsychology.Inthistheoryallcomplexformsofbehavior—motions,habitsandsuch—areseenascomposedofsimplemuscularandglandularelementsthatcanbeobservedandmeasured.Theyclaimedthatemotionalreactionsarelearnedinmuchthesamewayasotherskills.Thekeypointofthetheoryofconditioningisthat‘youcantrainananimaltodoanything(withinreason)ifyoufollowacertainprocedurewhichhasthreemajorstages,stimulus,response,andreinforcement ’

(Harmer,1983:30).

Basedonthetheoryofconditioning,Skinnersuggestedthatlanguageisalsoaformofbehavior.Itcanbelearnedthesamewayasananimalistrainedtorespondtostimuli.Thistheoryoflearningisreferredtoasbehaviorism,whichwasadoptedforsometimebythelanguageteachingprofession,particularlyintheOneinfluentialresultistheaudio-lingualmethod,whichinvolvesendless,listenandrepeat)drillingactivities.Theideaofthismethodisthatlanguageislearnedbyconstantrepetitionandthereinforcementoftheteacher.Mistakeswereimmediatelycorrected,andcorrectutteranceswereimmediatelypraised.Thismethodisstillusedinmanypartsoftheworldtoday.

Cognitivetheory

Thetermcognitivismisoftenusedlooselytodescribemethodsinwhichstudentsareaskedtothinkratherthansimplyrepeat.ItseemstobelargelytheresultofNoamChomsky,sreactiontoSkinner,sbehavioristtheory,whichledtotherevivalofstructurallinguistics.ThekeypointofChomskystheoryisreflectedinhismostfamousquestion:ifalllanguageisalearnedbehavior,howcanachildproduceasentencethatneverbeensaidbyothersbefore

AccordingtoChomsky,languageisnotaformofbehavior,itisanintricaterule-basedsystemandalargepartoflanguageacquisitionisthelearningofthissystem.Thereareafinitenumberofgrammaticalrulesinthesystemandwithaknowledgeoftheseaninfinitenumberofsentencescanbeproduced.Alanguagelearneracquireslanguagecompetencewhichenableshimtoproducelanguage.

ThoughChomsky,stheoryisnotdirectlyappliedinlanguageteaching,ithashadagreatimpactontheprofession.Oneinfluentialideaisthatstudentsshouldbeallowedtocreatetheirownsentencesbasedontheirunderstandingofcertainrules.Thisideaisclearlyinoppositiontotheaudio-lingualmethod.

Althoughpeopleareprettymuchstillinthedarkastowhatlanguageisandhowlanguageislearned,itisbelievedthatgeneralknowledgeaboutlanguageandlanguagelearningwillhelplanguageteachersdoabetterjob.

Constructivisttheory

Theconstructivisttheorybelievesthatlearningisaprocessinwhichthelearnerconstructsmeaningbasedonhis/herownexperiencesandwhathe/shealreadyknows.Althoughconstructivisttheorywasnotdevelopedfortheunderstandingoflanguagelearning,itiswidelyapplicabletolearningingeneral.Itisbelievedthateducationisusedtodevelopthemind,notjusttoroterecallwhatislearned.JohnDeweyprovidedafoundationforconstructivism.Hebelievedthatteachingshouldbebuiltbasedonwhatlearnersalreadyknewandengagelearnersinlearningactivities.Teachersneedtodesignenvironmentsandinteractwithlearnerstofosterinventive,creative,criticallearners.Therefore,teachersmustbalanceanunderstandingofthehabits,characteristicsaswellaspersonalitiesofindividuallearnerswithanunderstandingofthemeansofarousinglearner,sinterestsandcuriosityforlearning(Archambault,1964).

Socio-constructivisttheory

Similartoconstructivisttheory,socio-constructivisttheoryrepresentedbyVygotsky(1978)emphasizesinteractionandengagementwiththetargetlanguageinasocialcontextbasedontheconceptof‘ZoneofProximalDevelopment)(ZPD)andscaffolding.Inotherwords,learningisbestachievedthroughthedynamicinteractionbetweentheteacherandthelearnerandbetweenlearners.Withtheteacher,sscaffoldingthroughquestionsandexplanations,orwithamorecapablepeesrssupport,thelearnercanmovetoahigherlevelofunderstandingandextendhis/herskillsandknowledgeandknowledgetothefullestpotential.

Whatmakesagoodlanguageteacher

Somepeoplewithanexcellentcommandofaforeignlanguagemaynotbeabletoteachthelanguagewellwhileotherswithageneralcommandofthelanguagecanteachitveryeffectively.Whatdoyouthinkmightaccountforthisphenomenon

Task4

Workingroups.Reflectonyourownlearningexperiencefromearlyschoolyearstotheuniversity.HaveyouhadanexcellentEnglishteacherTrytoidentifyasmanyqualitiesaspossibleofyourbestEnglishteacher(s).NotedownallthequalitiesthatyouthinkareimportantforagoodEnglishteacher.

Itisclearthatwhethersomeonecanbecomeagoodforeignlanguageteacherdoesnotsolelydependonhis\hercommandofthelanguage.Thereareavarietyofelementsthatcontributestothequalitiesofagoodlanguageteacher.Theseelementscanbecategorizedintothreegroups:ethicdevotion,professionalqualitiesandpersonalstyles(Parrot,1993).

Task5

Ethicdevotion,professionalqualitiesandpersonalstylesjointlycontributetothemakingofagoodEnglishteacher.Alltheadjectivesintheboxbelowcouldbeusedtocharacterizethesethreeaspects.

Workingroupsof4anddecidewhichadjectivesdescribeethicdevotion,whichdescribepersonalstylesandwhichdescribeprofessionalqualities.Pleasewriteyouranswersonaseparatepieceofpaper.

Addanyadjectivestothelistwhichdescribefurtherqualitiesthatyoufeelaremissing.

Theseadjectivesareintendedtodescribepositivequalitiesorstyles.DoyoufeelthatanyofthemcouldhaveanegativesideaswellIfyes,inwhatwayForexample,anauthoritativeteachermaymakethestudents

feelassured,butmayalsomakethestudentlessfreetodisagreewith

him\her.

kind

hardworkingcreativeresourceful

reflectivewell-preparedaccuratecaring

dynamic

patient

attentive

flexible

enthusiastic

disciplined

well-informed

intuitive

humorous

authoritative

fair

warm-hearted

professionally-trained

(AdaptedfromTasksforLanguageTeachers,MartinParrot,

1993)

FromtheaboveactivitieswecanseethatagoodEnglishteachershouldhaveethicdevotion,certaindesirablepersonalstyles,andmoreimportantly,heorsheshouldhavenecessaryprofessionalqualities.ThesethreeaspectsconstitutetheprofessionalcompetenceofagoodEnglishteacher.ApersonwhohasagoodcommandofEnglishisnotnecessarilyagoodteacherbecausehehasonlyoneoftheelementsofprofessionalcompetence.

ItisassumedthatallresponsibleEnglishteachershaveethicdevotion,andtheyaresupposedtomaketheirpersonalstylescompatiblewiththeirwork.Thesetwoaspects,whicharebeyondthescopeofthisbook,canbeachievedaslongastheteacherhimself\herselfhasthewillingnesstodoso.

Aquestionthatmanyteachersoftenaskis:Ilikemyjob,andIlove

thestudents,buthowcanIbecomeagoodEnglishteacherOuransweristhattheyneedprofessionalcompetence,whichwearegoingtodiscussinthenextsection.

1.5Howcanonebecomeagoodlanguageteacher

Themostimportantandmostdifficultpartofthemakingofagoodlanguageteacheristhedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetence,whichisthestateorqualityofbeingadequatelyqualifiedfortheprofession,andarmedwithaspecificrangeofskills,strategies,knowledge,andability.

Task6

WorkinpairsanddiscusshowonecanbecomeaprofessionallycompetentteacherofEnglish.Forexample,wehavetodevelopourEnglishproficiencyfirstandalsowemayneedtolearnfromexperiencedteachersthroughobservations.WhatelsecanyouthinkofMakealistandthenpoolallyourideastogethertofindoutaboutyourcommonbeliefs.

Alanguageteacher,sprofessionalcompetenceismuchmoredifficultthanadriver,sskilltohandleacar,andismorecomplicatedthanastudent,scompetenceofspeakingforeignlanguage.Itinvolvesmorefactorsandlongerlearningtime,andmayneverbefinished.

Somepeoplethinkteachingisacraft;thatis,anoviceteachercanlearntheprofessionbyimitatingtheexperts,techniques,justlikeanapprentice.Othersholdtheviewthatteachingisanappliedscience,basedonscientificknowledgeandexperimentation.Bymakingacompromisebetweenthesetwoviews,Wallace(1991)usesa“reflectivemodel”todemonstratethedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetence.Thefollowingmodelisanadaptedversiontoillustratetheprocessofbecomingaprofessionallycompetentteacher.

FigureTeachersprofessionaldevelopment

(AdaptedfromWallace,1991:15)

Fromtheabovemodel,wecanseethedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetenceforalanguageteacherinvolvesStage1,Stage2andGoal.Thefirststageislanguagedevelopment.AllEnglishteachersaresupposedtohaveasoundcommandofEnglish.Aslanguageisthesubjectmatterforlanguageteachersandalsobecauselanguageisalwayschanging,languagedevelopmentcannevercometoanend.

Thesecondstageisthemostcrucialstageanditismorecomplicatedbecauseitinvolvesthreesub-stages:learning,practice,andreflection.Thelearningstageisactuallythepurposefulpreparationthatalanguage

teachernormallyreceivesbeforehe\shestartsthepracticeofteaching.

Thispreparationcaninclude:

learningfromothers,experiences(empiricalknowledgegainedthroughreadingandobservations)

learningthereceivedknowledge(languagelearningtheories,educationalpsychology,languageteachingmethodology,etc.)

learningfromone,sownexperiencesasalearner

Bothexperientialknowledge(others,andone,sown)andreceivedknowledgeareusefulwhenateachergoestopractice.Thisisthecombinationof'craft,and‘a(chǎn)ppliedscience,knowledge.Thelearningstageisfollowedbypractice.Theterm'practice,canbeusedintwosenses.Inonesense,itisashortperiodoftimeassignedtodoteachingpracticeaspartofone,spre-serviceeducation,usuallyunderthesupervisionofinstructors.Thispracticeisalsocalledpseudopractice.Theothersenseof'practice5istherealclassroomteachingthatateacherundertakesafterhe/shefinishesformaleducation.

Teachersbenefitfrompracticeiftheykeeponreflectingonwhattheyhavebeendoing(Stanely,1999).Itshouldbenotedthatteachersreflectontheirworknotonlyaftertheyfinishacertainperiodofpractice,butalsowhiletheyaredoingthepractice.

Whenthewould-beteachers(trainees)aredoingpseudopractice,theyareoftentryingoutideasthattheyhavelearnedinamethodologyclass.Therefore,theyarelikelytoreflectonhowwellacertainideaortechniqueworksandoftentheirinstructorsmayrequirethemtodoso.Thepseudopracticeisbeneficialonlyifthestudentteacherstake

reflectionsseriously.Themostdifficultthingistokeeponreflectingononesworkwhenonemovesontorealclassroomteaching.

Ideally,ateachershouldbeabletoattainhis/herprofessionalcompetenceaftersomeperiodofpracticeandreflectionasshowninFigure.However,professionalcompetenceasanultimategoaldoesnotseemtohaveanend.Withtheever-deepeningofourunderstandingofteachingandlearning,andwiththeeverchangingneedsofthesociety,ofeducation,ofstudents,andoftheteachingrequirements,onemustkeeponlearning,practicingandreflecting.Actuallyprofessionalcompetenceis’amovingtargetorhorizon,towardswhichprofessionalstravelalltheirprofessionallifebutwhichisneverfinallyattained‘.(Wallace,1991:58)

Task7

Workingroups.DiscusspossibleanswerstothefollowingquestionsinrelationtothemodelpresentedinFigure.

Whyarestage1andstage2interrelatedbyadoublearrowline

Whyarepracticeandreflectionconnectedbyacircle

Whyisprofessionalcompetence,amovingtargetorhorizon,towardswhichprofessionaltravelalltheirprofessionallifebut

Anoverviewofthebook

ThissecondeditionofACourseinEnglishLanguageTeachinghasallowedustheopportunitytoexpandtheoriginal14unitsinto18inordertoincludetopicsreflectingtherecentdevelopmentinEnglishlanguageteachingbothathomeandabroad,torevisitanumberofareas,toexpandanclarifypointsthatwefeltwerenotsufficientlyclearinthefirstedition,andtoimprovethepedagogicalusefulnessofthetext.

Overall,thebookaimsatintroducingpracticalmethodstoteachersofEnglishasaforeignlanguagewithsomebasictheoriespresentedinthefirsttwounits.Itishopedthatclassroomteachersorwould-beteacherswillnotsimplycopyorimitatewhataresuggestedbutbeabletochooseoradaptwithanunderstandingofwhy.

Unit1servesasanintroductionforsettingthesceneforthismethodologycourse.Itdiscussesissuesconcerningviewsonlanguageandlanguagelearningorlearningingeneralwiththebeliefthatsuchviewswillaffectteachers,waysofteachingandthuslearners,waysoflearning.Thequalitiesofagoodlanguageteacherisalsodiscussedinordertoraisetheparticipants,awarenessofwhatisrequiredforagoodEnglishteacher.

CommunicativeLanguageTeaching(CLT)andTask-basedLanguageTeaching(TBLT)havebeenthemostinfluentiallanguageteachingapproachesinthepasttwodecadesandtheyhaveproventobeeffectiveinavarietyoflanguageteachingcontexts.InUnit2weintroducethebasicprinciplesofCLTandactivitiesfollowedbyanintroductiontotask-basedapproach.Itisintendedthatmostofthemethodsthatweintroduceintheremainingunitswill,tosomeextent,followacommunicativeapproachandtask-basedlanguageteaching.

Unit3isanewunitwhichfocusesonthenewNationalEnglishCurriculum.ItbeginswithabriefoverviewofthehistoryofEnglishlanguageteaching

inChinafollowedbytasksanddiscussionsonthegoals,objectives,anddesignofthenewEnglishcurriculumandendswithdiscussionsonthechallengesfacingteacherstoday.

Wehavearrangedlessonplanningandclassroommanagementasthenexttwounitsofthebook-Unit4andUnit5respectively.Withregardtothesetwounits,theneweditionhasreplacedsomepreviouslessonplansamplesandaddedsomerelevantissues,.givingeffectiveinstructions,askingeffectivequestions,anddealingwithstudents,errorsintheclassroom.Tohavethesetwopartsintheearlyunits,ourintentionisthatthereaderwillusewhatiscoveredinthesetwopartsintheearlyunits,ourintentionisthatthereaderwillusewhatiscoveredinthesetwounitstodesignminiclassroomactivitiesfortheteachingofknowledgeandskillsthatcomeinlaterunits.

Likethefirsteditionofthebook,Units6,7and8focusontheteachingoflanguagecomponents,thatis,theteachingofpronunciation,grammar,andvocabulary,whileUnits9,10,11,12focusontheteachingoffourskillsoflanguage,namely,listening,speaking,readingandwriting,withUnit13discussingtheintegrationofthefourskills.Somenewexamplesandnewpointsareaddedtoalltheseunitsinthenewedition.Itshouldbenotedthatneitherthelanguagecomponentsnorthelanguageskillsaretaughtinanisolatedfashion.Wepresenttheteachingoftheselanguagecomponentsandskillsinseparateunitssothatthereisaclearerfocusofdiscussion.Inclassroomteaching,wehopeteacherswillbeabletointegrateallareas.

Unit14isaboutmoraleducation.This