Eay of English Language Teaching
Abstract Much of human behaviours is influences by their experiences.The way language teachers teach in the claroom is to some extent influences by the way they learned language.This is especially true in foreign language teaching.Before we discu language learning theories,let us first reflect on our own language learning experiences.
Key Words Curriculum,management,pronunciation,grammar,vocabulary
Introduction One of the largest inhibitors for students is often mental block.While listening, a student suddenly decides that he or she doesn\'t understand what is being said.At this point, many students just tune out or get caught up in an internal dialogue trying translate a specific word.Some students convince themselves that they are not able to understand spoken English well and create problems for themselves.
Body
1、Language and language learning The question that all approaches to language teaching should answer is,\"What is language?\" The answer to this question is the basis for syllabus design,teaching methodology,teaching and aement procedures in the claroom.Different views on language generate different teaching methodologies.
2、Communicative principles and task-based language teaching The ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to enable is to enable students to use the foreign language in work or life when neceary.Thus we should teach that part of the language that will be used(rather than all parts of the language);and we should teach language in the way it is used in the real world.However this is not always the case in foreign language teaching.Very often there is a big gap between the language used in real life and the language learned in claroom.
3、The national English curriculum Foreign language teaching in schools has enjoyed a long history in China.Since the early 1900s,the study of a foreign language has been regarded as one of the fundamental subjects in the curriculum of middle schools.However,due to political and social unrest,and the low living standards of the majority of the working people during the first half of the century,foreign language teaching had not achieved very much.
4、Leon planning Proper leon planing is eential for both novice and experienced teachers.Although preparation does not guarantee succeful leons,walking into a claroom unprepared is more often than not the beginning of a disastrous leon,Besides,students can immediately notice if their teacher is prepared or not.Unprepared teachers receive much le trust and cooperation from the students.A leon plan is a framework of a leon in which teachers make advance decisions about what they hope to achieve and how they would like to achieve it.In other words,teachers need to think about the aims to be achieved,materials to be covered,activities to be organised,and techniques and resources to be used in order to achieve the aims of the leon.
5、Claroom management Claroom management is the way teachers organised what goes in the claroom.It contributes directly to the efficiency of teaching and learning as the most effective activities can be made almost usele if the teacher does not organise them efficiently(Harmer,1983:200).Good managerial skills on the teacher are a very eential component of good teaching(Richard,1900),as the goal of claroom management is to create an atmosphere conductive to interacting in English in meaningful ways(Gebhard,1996).Efficient claroom management can be achieved.
6、Teaching grammar In the teaching of English as a foreign language,discuions on pronunciation are not so much around the value of teaching pronunciation because pronunciation will take care of itself as the students develop overall language ability.However,there are people who aert that failure in pronunciation is a great hindrance to language learning.
7、Teaching Vocabulary The value of grammar in foreign language teaching has been a focus of debate for decades and the focus of the debate has been on(1)the role of grammar in language teaching(2)the method in which grammar should be presented and practised grammar before we discu methods for teaching grammar.
8、Teaching listening Teaching listening skills is one of the most difficult tasks for any ESL teacher.This is because succeful listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice.It\'s frustrating for students because there are no rules as in grammar teaching.Speaking and writing also have very specific exercises that can lead to improved skills.This is not to say that there are not ways of improving listening skills, however they are difficult to quantify.The key to helping students improve their listening skills is to convince them that not understanding is OK.This is more of an attitude adjustment than anything else, and it is easier for some students to accept than others.Another important point that I try to teach my students (with differing amounts of succe) is that they need to listen to English as often as poible, but for short periods of time.
9、Teaching speaking When we talk about speaking in cla it is important to differentiate between the kind of speaking which occurs in mechanical drills and repetition, on the one hand, and situations where students use as much language as they can and where getting their meage acro is just as important as grammatical accuracy, on the other.In this article it is the latter kind of speaking that we are going to look at.There are three main reasons why it is important to encourage students to speak as fluently as poible.In the first place, speaking activities give them a chance for rehearsal - practising the real skill of speaking as a preparation for using it outside the claroom.Secondly, when students speak using all and any language they know, it provides valuable feedback about their language knowledge, for both them and their teachers.How well can they perform in spontaneous conversational situations? What do they seem to know? What are they finding difficult to achieve? Lastly, good speaking activities provoke genuine student engagement where they really get involved with the proce of language learning in cla.
10、Teaching reading To accomplish this goal, instructors focus on the proce of reading rather than on its product.They develop students\' awarene of the reading proce and reading strategies by asking students to think and talk about how they read in their native language.They allow students to practice the full repertoire of reading strategies by using authentic reading tasks.They encourage students to read to learn (and have an authentic purpose for reading) by giving students some choice of reading material.When working with reading tasks in cla, they show students the strategies that will work best for the reading purpose and the type of text.They explain how and why students should use the strategies.They have students practice reading strategies in cla and ask them to practice outside of cla in their reading aignments.They encourage students to be conscious of what they\'re doing while they complete reading aignments.They encourage students to evaluate their comprehension and self-report their use of strategies.They build comprehension checks into in-cla and out-of-cla reading aignments, and periodically review how and when to use particular strategies.They encourage the development of reading skills and the use of reading strategies by using the target language to convey instructions and course-related information in written form: office hours, homework aignments, test content.They do not aume that students will transfer strategy use from one task to another.They explicitly mention how a particular strategy can be used in a different type of reading task or with another skill.By raising students\' awarene of reading as a skill that requires active engagement, and by explicitly teaching reading strategies, instructors help their students develop both the ability and the ?confidence to handle communication situations they may encounter beyond the claroom.In this way they give their students the foundation for communicative competence in the new language.
11、Teaching writing The most important factor in writing exercises is that students need to be personally involved in order to make the learning experience of lasting value.Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach.The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop.Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area.Once the target skill areas and means of implmentation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation.By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.
Choosing the target area depends on many factors; What level are the students?, What is the average age of the students, Why are the students learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the writing (i.e school tests or job application letters etc.).Other important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise? (structure, tense usage, creative writing).Once these factors are clear in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive, long-term learning experience.
12、Integrated skills One image for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) is that of a tapestry.The tapestry is woven from many strands, such as the characteristics of the teacher, the learner, the setting, and the relevant languages (i.e., English and the native languages of the learners and the teacher).For the instructional loom to produce a large, strong, beautiful, colorful tapestry, all of these strands must be interwoven in positive ways.For example, the instructor\'s teaching style must addre the learning style of the learner, the learner must be motivated, and the setting must provide resources and values that strongly support the teaching of the language.However, if the strands are not woven together effectively, the instructional loom is likely to produce something small, weak, ragged, and pale梟ot recognizable as a tapestry at all.
13、Moral learning the coursework and the extended aignment, presentation and use of English are important.Care should be taken with punctuation, spelling and layout.Emphasizes principles and procedures of aement that are of primary importance to educational practitioners.Includes construction of claroom tests, observation techniques, and performance measures; integration of aement and instruction; norm- and criterion-referenced aement; uses of standardized tests, current iues and controversies
14、Aement in language teaching Teaching materials are any resources (traditional, electronic or digital) used for language learning and teaching purposes, including coursebooks, newspapers, recordings and videos.The following principles underlie the selection of materials.
15、Learner differences and learner training
16、Using and creating resources To speak of the audio-visual method would be incorrect .Also in this case ,we are again dealing with a conglomeration of approaches which differ on from the other, and which have as their most important commons element that they all attend a great deal of important to the use of visual elements.As for as the objectives of FLT are concerned, these approaches also have a common interest.namely the fact that they reserve first place for oral skill .
17、Evaluating and adapting textbooks
Conclusion As teachers, many of us have had the responsibility of evaluating textbooks.Often, we have not been confident about what to base our judgements on, how to qualify our decisions, and how to report the results of our aement.It seems to us that to date textbook selection has been made in haste and with a lack of systematically applied criteria.Teachers, students, and administers are all consumers of textbooks.All these groups, of course, may have conflicting views about what a good/standard textbook is.However, the question is where they can turn to for reliable advice on how to make an informed decision and select a suitable textbook.The literature on textbook selection and/or textbook evaluation procedure is vast.Various scholars have suggested different ways to help teachers become more systematic and objective in their approach They have often offered checklists based on supposedly generalizable criteria.These sometimes detailed check-sheets use a variety of methods to ae how well a particular textbook under scrutiny measures up.
Reference material
1、by Wang Qiang Higher Education Pre
