王薔主編的《英語教學(xué)法教程》第二版-unit1

Unit1LanguageandLanguageLearningAimsoftheunitInthisunitwewilldiscusssomegeneralmattersaboutlanguagelearningandteaching.Wearegoingtodiscussfivequestionsonparticular:HowdowelearnlanguageWhatarethecommonviewsonlanguageWhatarethecommonviewsonlanguagelearningWhatarethequalitiesofagoodlanguageteacherHowcanonebecomeagoodlanguageteacher1.1HowdowelearnlanguagesMachofhumanbehaviorisinfluencedbytheirexperiences.Thewaylanguageteachersteachintheclassroomistosomeextentinfluencedbythewaytheylearnedlanguages.Thisisespeciallytrueinforeignlanguageteaching.Beforewediscusslanguagelearningtheories,letusfirstreflectonourownlanguagelearningexperience.Task1Belowisalistofinterviewquestionsonhowpeoplelearnaforeignlanguage.Inthefirstcolumn,writedownyourownresponses.Theninterviewthreeotherstudentsinyourclassandentertheirresponsesintheothercolumns.Discussyourfindingsingroupof4anddrawsomeconclusion.YouST1ST2ST3HowmanyforeignlanguagescanyouspeaksofarWhendidyoustartlearningtheforeignlanguage(s)3.HowdoyoufeelaboutlearningaforeignlanguageWhatdifficultieshaveyouexperiencedinlearningWhichskilldoyoufindmoredifficulttolearnHaveyoufocusedonknowledgeorskillsWhyWhydoyoulearntheforeignlanguage(s)DoyouconsideryourselfasuccessfullearnerWhyWhatareyourmostcommonlearningactivitiesDoyoulikethewayyoulearnedtheforeignlanguage(s)Fromtheabovetask,youmayhavefoundthat1)peoplestartedlearningaforeignlanguageatdifferentages;2)peoplehavedifferentexperiencesinlearningaforeignlanguage,somefinditeasy,somefinditdifficult;3)peoplelearnlanguagesfordifferentreasons;4)peoplelearnlanguagesindifferentways;5)peoplehavedifferentunderstandingsaboutlanguagelearning;6)peoplehavedifferentcapacitiesinlanguagelearning;7)learningcanbeaffectedbythewayitistaught;8)learningisaffectedbythedegreeofsuccessoneisexpectedtoachieve;andmore.Thusthechallengeconfrontinglanguageteachingishowteachingmethodologycanensuresuccessfullearningbyallthelearnerswhohavemoredifferencesthanthecommonality.1.2viewsonlanguageThequestionthatallapproachestolanguageteachingshouldansweris,‘whatislanguage’Theanswertothisquestionisthebasisforsyllabusdesigns,teachingmethodology,teachingandassessmentproceduresintheclassroom.Differentviewsonlanguagegeneratedifferentteachingmethodologies.Task2Workingroupof4.Brainstormpossibleanswertothequestion:whatislanguageWhenyouareready,joinanothergroupandshareyourideas.Togiveaconcisedefinitionoflanguagehasalwaysbeendifficultforlinguistsandphilogists.Althoughtherehasbeenanenormousamountofresearchinlanguageinthepastcentury,noauthoritativeanswerhasbeengivento‘whatislanguage’rather,peoplehavesettledowntotalkaboutviewsoflanguage,seeminglyallowingfororacceptingdifferenttheoriesforthemoment.However,languageteachersclearlyneedtoknowgenerallywhatsortofentitytheyaredealingwithandhowtheparticularlanguagetheyareteachingfitsintothatentity(Brown,1994a).forsampledefinitionof‘language’,pleaserefertoAppendix1.StructuralviewThestructuralviewoflanguageseeslanguageasalinguisticsystemmadeupofvarioussubsystems(Larsen-Freeman&Long,1991):thesoundsystem(phonology);thediscreteunitsofmeaningproducedbysoundcombinations(morphology),andthesystemofcombiningunitsofmeaningforcommunication(syntax).Eachlanguagehasafinitenumberofsuchstructuralitems.Tolearnalanguagemeanstolearnthesestructuralitemssoastobeabletounderstandandproducelanguage.Whenthisstructuralviewoflanguagewascombinedwiththestimulus-responseprinciplesofbehavioristpsychology,theaudio-lingualapproachtolanguagelearningemerged.FunctionalviewInthe1960s,Britishlinguistsdevelopedasystemofcategoriesbasedonthecommunicativeneedsofthelearner(JohnsonandMarrow,1981)andproposedasyllabusbasedoncommunicativefunctions.Thefunctionalviewnotonlyseeslanguagesasalinguisticsystembutalsoameansfordoingthings.Mostofourday-to-daylanguageuseinvolvesfunctionalactivities:offering,suggesting,advising,apologizing,etc.therefore,learnerslearnalanguageinordertobeabletodowithit.Inordertoperformfunctions,learnersneedtoknowhowtocombinethegrammaticalrulesandthevocabularytoexpressnotionsthatperformthefunctions.Examplesofnotionsaretheconceptofpresent,pastandfuturetime,theexpressionsofcertaintyandpossibility,therolesofagents,instrumentswithasentence,andspecialrelationshipsbetweenpeopleandobjects.InteractionalviewTheinteractionalviewconsiderslanguagetobeacommunicativetool,whosemainuseistobuildupandmaintainsocialrelationsbetweenpeople.Therefore,learnersnotonlyneedtoknowthegrammarandvocabularyofthelanguagebutasimportantlytheyneedtoknowtherulesforusingtheminawholerangeofcommunicativecontexts.Thesethreeviewspresentaneverwiderviewoflanguage.Thestructuralviewlimitsknowingalanguagetoknowingstructuralrulesandvocabulary.Thecommunicative

itsornotional-functionalviewaddstheneedtoknowhowtousetherulesandvocabularytodowhateveritisonewantstodo.Theinteractionalviewsaysthattoknowhowtodowhatyouwanttodoinvolvesalsoknowingwhetheritisappropriatetodo,andwhere,whenandhowitisappropriatetodoit.Inordertoknowthis,youhavetostudythepatternsandrulesoflanguageabovethesentenceleveltolearnhowlanguageisusedindifferentspeechcontexts.Theunderstandingofthenatureoflanguagemayprovidethebasisforaparticularteachingmethod(RichardandRodgers,1986),butmoreimportantly,itiscloselyrelatedtotheunderstandingoflanguagelearning.Iflanguageisconsideredtohaveafinitenumberofstructuralitems,learningthelanguageprobablymeanslearningtheseitems.Iflanguageismorethanjustasystemofstructures,itismoreimportantlyatoolthentolearnthelanguagelearning.Iflanguageismorethanjustasystemofstructures,itismoreimportantlyatool,thentolearnthelanguagemeanstouseit,ratherthanjuststudywhatitisandhowitisformed.Thenextsectiondiscussessomecurrenttheoriesaboutlanguagelearning.ViewsonLanguagelearningandlearningingeneralAlanguagelearningtheoryunderlyinganapproachormethodusuallyanswerstwoquestions;1)Whatarethepsycholinguisticandcognitiveprocessesinvolvedinlanguagelearning2)WhataretheconditionsthatneedtobemetinorderfortheselearningprocessestobeactivatedTask3Workingroupsof4.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.BehavioristtheoryThebehavioristtheoryoflanguagelearningwasinitiatedbybehaviouralpsychologistSkinner,whoappliedWatsonandRaynor’stheoryofconditioningtolanguage(Harmer,1983).BasedontheirRaynorformulatedastimulus-response

thewayhumanacquireexperiments,Watsonandtheoryofpsychology.Inthistheoryallcomplexformsofbehavior—motions,habitsandsuch—areseenascomposedofsimplemuscularandglandularelementsthatcanbeobservedandmeasured.Theyclaimedthatemotionalreactionsarelearnedinmuchthesamewayasotherskills.Thekeypointofthetheoryofconditioningisthat‘youcantrainananimaltodoanything(withinreason)ifyoufollow

acertain

procedure

which

has

three

major

stages,stimulus,response,andreinforcement

’(Harmer,1983:30).Basedonthetheoryofconditioning,Skinnersuggestedthatlanguageisalsoaformofbehavior.Itcanbelearnedthesamewayasananimalistrainedtorespondtostimuli.Thistheoryoflearningisreferredtoasbehaviorism,whichwasadoptedforsometimebythelanguageteachingprofession,particularlyinthe.Oneinfluentialresultistheaudio-lingualmethod,whichinvolvesendless’listenandrepeat’drillingactivities.Theideaofthismethodisthatlanguageislearnedbyconstantrepetitionandthereinforcementoftheteacher.Mistakeswereimmediatelycorrected,andcorrectutteranceswereimmediatelypraised.Thismethodisstillusedinmanypartsoftheworldtoday.CognitivetheoryThetermcognitivisminwhichstudentsare

isoftenaskedto

usedlooselythinkrather

todescribethansimply

methodsrepeat.ItseemstobelargelytheresultofNoamChomsky

’sreactiontoSkinner

’sbehavioristtheory,whichledtotherevivalofstructurallinguistics.ThekeypointofChomsky’stheoryisreflectedinhismostfamousquestion:ifalllanguageisalearnedbehavior,howcanachildproduceasentencethatneverbeensaidbyothersbeforeAccordingtoChomsky,languageisnotaformofbehavior,itisanintricaterule-basedsystemandalargepartoflanguageacquisitionisthelearningofthissystem.Thereareafinitenumberofgrammaticalrulesinthesystemandwithaknowledgeoftheseaninfinitenumberofsentencescanbeproduced.Alanguagelearneracquireslanguagecompetencewhichenableshimtoproducelanguage.ThoughChomsky’stheoryisnotdirectlyappliedinlanguageteaching,ithashadagreatimpactontheprofession.Oneinfluentialideaisthatstudentsshouldbeallowedtocreatetheirownsentencesbasedontheirunderstandingofcertainrules.Thisideaisclearlyinoppositiontotheaudio-lingualmethod.Althoughpeopleareprettymuchstillinthedarkastowhatlanguageisandhowlanguageislearned,itisbelievedthatgeneralknowledgeaboutlanguageandlanguagelearningwillhelplanguageteachersdoabetterjob.ConstructivisttheoryTheconstructivisttheorybelievesthatlearningisaprocessinwhichthelearnerconstructsmeaningbasedonhis/herownexperiencesandwhathe/shealreadyknows.Althoughconstructivisttheorywasnotdevelopedfortheunderstandingoflanguagelearning,itiswidelyapplicabletolearningingeneral.Itisbelievedthateducationisusedtodevelopthemind,notjusttoroterecallwhatislearned.JohnDeweyprovidedafoundationforconstructivism.Hebelievedthatteachingshouldbebuiltbasedonwhatlearnersalreadyknewandengagelearnersinlearningactivities.Teachersneedtodesignenvironmentsandinteractwithlearnerstofosterinventive,creative,criticallearners.Therefore,teachersmustbalanceanunderstandingofthehabits,characteristicsaswellaspersonalitiesofindividuallearnerswithanunderstandingofthemeansofarousinglearner’sinterestsandcuriosityforlearning(Archambault,1964).Socio-constructivisttheorySimilartoconstructivisttheory,socio-constructivisttheoryrepresentedbyVygotsky(1978)emphasizesinteractionandengagementwiththetargetlanguageinasocialcontextbasedontheconceptof‘ZoneofProximalDevelopment’(ZPD)andscaffolding.Inotherwords,learningisbestachievedthroughthedynamicinteractionbetweentheteacherandthelearnerandbetweenlearners.Withtheteacher’sscaffoldingthroughquestionsandexplanations,orwithamorecapablepeer’ssupport,thelearnercanmovetoahigherlevelofunderstandingandextendhis/herskillsandknowledgeandknowledgetothefullestpotential.WhatmakesagoodlanguageteacherSomepeoplewithanexcellentcommandofaforeignlanguagemaynotbeabletoteachthelanguagewellwhileotherswithageneralcommandofthelanguagecanteachitveryeffectively.WhatdoyouthinkmightaccountforthisphenomenonTask4Workingroups.Reflectonyourownlearningexperiencefromearlyschoolyearstotheuniversity.HaveyouhadanexcellentEnglishteacherTrytoidentifyasmanyqualitiesaspossibleofyourbestEnglishteacher(s).NotedownallthequalitiesthatyouthinkareimportantforagoodEnglishteacher.Itisclearthatwhethersomeonecanbecomeagoodforeignlanguageteacherdoesnotsolelydependonhis\hercommandofthelanguage.Thereareavarietyofelementsthatcontributestothequalitiesofagoodlanguageteacher.Theseelementscanbecategorizedintothreegroups:ethicdevotion,professionalqualitiesandpersonalstyles(Parrot,1993).Task5Ethicdevotion,professionalqualitiesandpersonalstylesjointlycontributetothemakingofagoodEnglishteacher.Alltheadjectivesintheboxbelowcouldbeusedtocharacterizethesethreeaspects.Workingroupsof4anddecidewhichadjectivesdescribeethicdevotion,whichdescribepersonalstylesandwhichdescribeprofessionalqualities.Pleasewriteyouranswersonaseparatepieceofpaper.2.Addanyadjectivestothelistwhichdescribefurtherqualitiesthatyoufeelaremissing.3.Theseadjectivesareintendedtodescribepositivequalitiesorstyles.DoyoufeelthatanyofthemcouldhaveanegativesideaswellIfyes,inwhatwayForexample,anauthoritativeteachermaymakethestudentsfeelassured,butmayalsomakethestudentlessfreetodisagreewithhim\her.kinddynamicauthoritativehardworkingcreativepatientwell-informedfairresourcefulattentivewarm-heartedreflectivewell-preparedflexibleintuitiveaccurateenthusiastichumorouscaringprofessionally-trained

disciplined(Adapted

from

Tasks

for

LanguageTeachers,MartinParrot,1993)FromtheaboveactivitieswecanseethatagoodEnglishteachershouldhaveethicdevotion,certaindesirablepersonalstyles,andmoreimportantly,heorsheshouldhavenecessaryprofessionalqualities.ThesethreeaspectsconstitutetheprofessionalcompetenceofagoodEnglishteacher.ApersonwhohasagoodcommandofEnglishisnotnecessarilyagoodteacherbecausehehasonlyoneoftheelementsofprofessionalcompetence.Itisassumedthatdevotion,andthey

allare

responsiblesupposedto

Englishteachershaveethicmaketheirpersonalstylescompatiblewiththeirwork.Thesetwoaspects,whicharebeyondthescopeofthisbook,canbeachievedaslongastheteacherhimself\herselfhasthewillingnesstodoso.Aquestionthatmanyteachersoftenaskis:Ilikemyjob,andIlovethestudents,buthowcanIbecomeagoodEnglishteacherOuransweristhattheyneedprofessionalcompetence,whichwearegoingtodiscussinthenextsection.1.5HowcanonebecomeagoodlanguageteacherThemostimportantandmostdifficultpartofthemakingofagoodlanguageteacheristhedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetence,whichisthestateorqualityofbeingadequatelyqualifiedfortheprofession,andarmedwithaspecificrangeofskills,strategies,knowledge,andability.Task6WorkinpairsanddiscusshowonecanbecomeaprofessionallycompetentteacherofEnglish.Forexample,wehavetodevelopourEnglishproficiencyfirstandalsowemayneedtolearnfromexperiencedteachersthroughobservations.WhatelsecanyouthinkofMakealistandthenpoolallyourideastogethertofindoutaboutyourcommonbeliefs.Alanguageteacher’sprofessionalcompetenceismuchmoredifficultthanadriver’sskilltohandleacar,andismorecomplicatedthanastudent’scompetenceofspeakingforeignlanguage.Itinvolvesmorefactorsandlongerlearningtime,andmayneverbefinished.Somepeoplethink

teaching

isacraft;

that

is,

anoviceteachercanlearntheprofessionbyimitatingtheexperts’techniques,justlikeanapprentice.Othersholdtheviewthatteachingisanappliedscience,basedonscientificknowledgeandexperimentation.Bymakingacompromisebetweenthesetwoviews,Wallace(1991)usesa“reflectivemodel”todemonstratethedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetence.Thefollowingmodelisanadaptedversiontoillustratetheprocessofbecomingaprofessionallycompetentteacher.FigureTeacher’sprofessionaldevelopment(AdaptedfromWallace,1991:15)Fromtheabovemodel,wecanseethedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetenceforalanguageteacherinvolvesStage1,Stage2andGoal.Thefirststageislanguagedevelopment.AllEnglishteachersaresupposedtohaveasoundcommandofEnglish.Aslanguageisthesubjectmatterforlanguageteachersandalsobecauselanguageisalwayschanging,languagedevelopmentcannevercometoanend.Thesecondstageisthemostcrucialstageanditismorecomplicatedbecauseitinvolvesthreesub-stages:learning,practice,andreflection.Thelearningstageisactuallythepurposefulpreparationthatalanguageteachernormallyreceivesbeforehe\shestartsthepracticeofteaching.Thispreparationcaninclude:learningfromothers’experiences(empiricalknowledgegainedthroughreadingandobservations)learningthereceivedknowledge(languagelearningtheories,educationalpsychology,languageteachingmethodology,etc.)learningfromone’sownexperiencesasalearnerBothexperientialknowledge(others’andone’sown)andreceivedknowledgeareusefulwhenateachergoestopractice.Thisisthecombinationof‘craft’and‘a(chǎn)ppliedscience’knowledge.Thelearningstageisfollowedbypractice.Theterm‘practice’canbeusedintwosenses.Inonesense,itisashortperiodoftimeassignedtodoteachingpracticeaspartofone’spre-serviceeducation,usuallyunderthesupervisionofinstructors.Thispracticeisalsocalledpseudopractice.Theothersenseof‘practice’istherealclassroomteachingthatateacherundertakesafterhe/shefinishesformaleducation.Teachersbenefitfrompracticeiftheykeeponreflectingonwhattheyhavebeendoing(Stanely,1999).Itshouldbenotedthatteachersreflectontheirworknotonlyaftertheyfinishacertainperiodofpractice,butalsowhiletheyaredoingthepractice.Whenthewould-beteachers(trainees)aredoingpseudopractice,theyareoftentryingoutideasthattheyhavelearnedinamethodologyclass.Therefore,theyarelikelytoreflectonhowwellacertainideaortechniqueworksandoftentheirinstructorsmayrequirethemtodoso.Thepseudopracticeisbeneficialonlyifthestudentteacherstakereflectionsseriously.Themostdifficultthingistokeeponreflectingonone’sworkwhenonemovesontorealclassroomteaching.Ideally,ateachershouldbeabletoattainhis/herprofessionalcompetenceaftersomeperiodofpracticeandreflectionasshowninFigure.However,professionalcompetenceasanultimategoaldoesnotseemtohaveanend.Withtheever-deepeningofourunderstandingofteachingandlearning,andwiththeeverchangingneedsofthesociety,ofeducation,ofstudents,andoftheteachingrequirements,onemustkeeponlearning,practicingandreflecting.Actuallyprofessionalcompetenceis’amovingtargetorhorizon,towardswhichprofessionalstravelalltheirprofessionallifebutwhichisneverfinallyattained‘.(Wallace,1991:58)Task7Workingroups.DiscusspossibleanswerstothefollowingquestionsinrelationtothemodelpresentedinFigure.Whyarestage1andstage2interrelatedbyadoublearrowline2.WhyarepracticeandreflectionconnectedbyacircleAnoverviewofthebookThissecondeditionofACourseinEnglishLanguageTeachinghasallowedustheopportunitytoexpandtheoriginal14unitsinto18inordertoincludetopicsreflectingtherecentdevelopmentinEnglishlanguageteachingbothathomeandabroad,torevisitanumberofareas,toexpandanclarifypointsthatwefeltwerenotsufficientlyclearinthefirstedition,andtoimprovethepedagogicalusefulnessofthetext.Overall,thebookaimsatintroducingpracticalmethodstoteachersofEnglishasaforeignlanguagewithsomebasictheoriespresentedinthefirsttwounits.Itishopedthatclassroomteachersorwould-beteacherswillnotsimplycopyorimitatewhataresuggestedbutbeabletochooseoradaptwithanunderstandingofwhy.Unit1servesasanintroductionforsettingthesceneformethodologycourse.Itdiscussesissuesconcerningviewsonlanguageandlanguagelearningorlearningingeneralwith

thisthebeliefthatsuchviewswillaffectteachers

’waysofteachingandthuslearners

’waysoflearning.Thequalitiesofagoodlanguage

teacher

is

also

discussed

in

order

to

raise

theparticipants

’awarenessofwhatisrequired

for

agoodEnglishteacher.CommunicativeLanguageTeaching(CLT)andTask-basedLanguageTeaching(TBLT)havebeenthemostinfluentiallanguageteachingapproachesinthepasttwodecadesandtheyhaveproventobeeffectiveinavarietyoflanguageteachingcontexts.InUnit2weintroducethebasicprinciplesofCLTandactivitiesfollowedbyanintroductiontotask-basedapproach.Itisintendedthatmostofthemethodsthatweintroduceintheremainingunitswill,tosomeextent,followacommunicativeapproachandtask-basedlanguageteaching.Unit3isanewunitwhichfocusesonthenewNationalEnglishCurriculum.ItbeginswithabriefoverviewofthehistoryofEnglishlanguageteachinginChinafollowedbytasksanddiscussionsonthegoals,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.Thisisanewunitai