I.Introduction
ThepurposeofmiddleschoolEnglishteachingistoimprovethestudents"fourskillsoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting,withthebaseofnecessaryphonetics,largevocabularyandgoodgrammar,Butthisisnotthefinalpurpose.Thefinalpurposeistolotletstudentsbeabletousethelanguage.
WhydowestudyEnglish?Ifamanisonlygoodatlisteningandspeaking,canwesaythatheisgoodatEnglish?No,Ifamanisonlygoodatreadingandwriting,canwesaythatheisgoodatthelanguage?No,IfastudentisgoodatEnglish,heshouldbeabletousethelanguage,bothinspokingandwriting.
NowmostofthestudentsdobetterinreadingandwritingEnglishthaninlisteningandspeaking.Theycanreadandwrite,buttheycanhardlycommunicate.Theycanhardlyexpressthemselveswiththeirownwords.Thisispartiallybecauseofourexaminationsystem,andpartiallyoftheteachingmethod.Wearenotabletochangetheexaminationsystem,butwecanimproveourteachingmethod.
Mostofalltheteachersliketoprovidethestudentswithalotofknowledge-words,phrases,grammar,usagesandsoon,Theyarefocusingthesething,especiallyonthegrammar.Yes,thestudentsdoneedthese,butmanyteachersforgettoteachthemhowtostudyEnglish,andhowtouseit.Sowhenyouaregivingtheknowledgetothestudents,don"tforgettoteachthemalltheabilitiesofthefourskills.
II.Waysondevelopingthefourabilities
1.Listening
Theteachersoftenspeakofthefourskills-listening,speaking,readingandwriting.Thatmeanseachofthemisimportant.Youcan"tsaythatyouhavemasteredthelanguagewithoutanyoneofthem,Listening,oneofthemeansoflanguagecommunication,isusedmostwidelyinpeople"sdailylives.About45%ofanadult"stimeconcernslisteningtootherpeople,listeningtotheradio,listeningtothemusic.Inlinguistics，givingthestudentsalotoflisteningactivitiesisagoodwayofenlargingtheirvocabulary.Ontheotherhand,italsohelpsthestudentsimprovetheirlisteningcomprehension.
Ihavedoneaninvestigation.About43.2%ofthestudentsthinkthatthemostbotheringandmostdifficultislisteningcomprehension,andevensomeofthemhavedifficultyinunderstandingtheirteacherwhogiveslessonsinEnglish.
Withoutquestion,itisdifficultofamiddleschoolstudenttounderstandthelisteningmaterial,ifhehasn"tenoughvocabularyandtheabilityoftellingthegrammarconstruction.Inmyinvestigation,about35%ofthestudentswithlowlisteningcomprehensionthingthisisbecausetheydon"tunderstandorknowtheknowledgeaboutlinguistic,theyarenotabletotellthemeansofawhattheyhaveheard.Inmyanotherinvestigation,studentswereaskedtolistentoadialogueof244words,inwhichthewordsandgrammarhavealreadybeenlearned.;But80%ofthemthoughtitwastoodifficult.Then,usingthesamedialogueasareadingcomprehensionmaterial,Ifoundonly5%ofthemthoughtitwasalittledifficult,ontheotherhandtheresponseabilityisalsoanotherreason.
Itisclearthatthereadingspeedofamaterialalsoaffects.About43%ofthestudentsthoughtthatthematerialwasreadtoofastandtheycouldn"tfollow.
Alotofstudentshavetheirownlisteninghabits.Somestudentsoftentriestounderstandeachwordoreachsentence.Theywillthinkhardwhentheymeetsomedifficultwordsorsentences,andagreatmanystudentscouldunderstandthematerialdirectly,TheyoftentranslatetheEnglishintoChineseintheirheart,thinkingthatonlyinthiswaycanthesentencebeunderstood.Thisisalsoareason,tryingtounderstandeachwordisdifficult,anditisnotnecessaryatall.Youshouldcatchthemostimportantpoints.
Thenhowtoimprovethestudents"listeningskill?
Weknowthelargestdifferencebetweenmotherlanguagelearningandforeignlanguagelearningistheenvironment.Achildcansoonlearnhismotherlanguagewell.Hehasheardalotbeforehecansaysomethingandwalk.Thenafterheisabletowalkandsay,hehasachanceoflisteningtomore.Beforehegoestoschool,hehasalreadybeenagoodlistenerandspeaker.
Butforaforeignlanguage,youcanmeetitonlyinformalplaces,classes,forexample,otherwise,youcanhardlyhaveachancetomeetit.SoIthinkyoushouldtrytoletthestudentsbeinalanguageenvironment.
Letthestudentsgraspthephoneticsymbol.Ithinkthephoneticsymbolisthebase.Agoodintonationandphoneticdependsonthebase.Oralreadingafteraradioorateacherisagoodwayatthebeginning,Studentsshoulddomuchaboutit.
Payattentiontotheoralreadingskill,Itincludesstress,strongform,weakform,intonationincompleteplosiveconsonant,affricateconsonant,syllableandsoon.Trainingandpracticingtheoralreadingisnotaday"sword.Theteachermustgivecorrectinformationaboutit.Thereisnoeasyway.
Enlargethestudents"knowledgeaboutEnglish.Encouragethestudentstoreadsomethingintheirsparetimeaboutgeography,history,culture,storiesandsoon.Forexample,therearetwomaterialsofthesamedifficulty.OneexplainssomethingaboutChina"sSpringFestival,theotherisaboutThanksgivingDayofthewesterncountries.Theformeriseasytounderstandbutthelatterismoredifficult.Why?Itisclearlybecausethestudentsknowlittleaboutthelatter.
Bothlisteningtestandlisteningpracticearenecessary,butpracticeismoreimportant.
Youcanunderstandyourstudentsthroughlisteningtests.Onlythroughthepracticecanthestudentsimprovetheirlisteningcomprehension.
2.Speaking
Speakingcan"tbetaughtseparately.Itisoftenconnectedwithlistening.Soweoftenspeakoflisteningandspeaking.
Thetraditionalwayoflisteningandspeakingisaural-oralmethod.Now,thenewmethodoftwo-waycommunicationisverypopular.
Asyouknowthatanyteachingmethodhasitspsychologicalbase.Theaural-oralmethodbeganinthe1940"s.Itisbasedonbehaviourism.Oneofitspsychologicaltheoryisthatlearningalanguageisformingasetofnewlanguagehabit.
Thisisitsusualprocess:Stimulus-Response-Reinforcement.
Theaural-oralmethodisfitfortheteachingofbeginningstage.ItfocusesonthepracticeoforalEnglishdrills.Buttoomanydrillsarebeingpracticedwithoutanycontextorgivenconditions.Sowhatislearnedisisolatedclauses.Andithasfewcommunicativefunctions.
Thetwo-waycommunicationmakesupforthedefectincommunicativeabilityinthetraditionalteaching.Two-waymeanstherelationshipofthecommunicationbetweentheteacherandthestudents.
Thisrelationshipisconnectedwiththecommunicativeactivitiesbetweentwopeople.Thismethodisdifferentfromthetraditionalaural-oralmethod.ButitalsobasesontheprocessofS-R-R.Sowecallitamewtypeofaural-oralmethodhassomepeculiarities.
ItcancreateafreshenvironmentforspeakingEnglish.
ItneedssomenecessaryexplanationsofGrammar,includingsomesentencestructures.
Hintsarethemajorwayofpractice.
Teacherscancontrolthepracticewhollyorpartly.
Thepracticecanalsobecontroledbystudentsfreely.Theinternalforceofstudyisnotduetotheinsterestsinphoneticstructure,butthecontentofthematerial.
Tomakethecorrectresponse,thestudentsareaskedtopaymoreattention.
Example:
Teacher:AskmeifIamastudent.
Student:Areyouastudent?
T:Tellme-No,You"reateacher.
S:No,I"mateacher.
Inthisexample,"Askme"meansthatthestudentmustsayaquestionsentencewhile"Tellme"showsthatthestudentmustsayadecarativesentence.Butbeforedoingthis,theteachermustexplainsomethingabouttheexchangeofinterrogativesentenceanddeclarativesentence.
Thetwo-waycommunicationcanlengthenthedialoguelimitlessly.Thisisitsadvantage.Atthesametime,ifthestudentwantstogivethecorrectresponse,hehastothinkithard,Thesentenceisnoteasilyforgottenwhichisereatedbythemselvesthroughthinking,sometimeswiththeteacher"shint.Youcantalkfreely.Youcanexpressyourselfaswellasyoucan.Forexample:
T:Askmehowmangpeoplethereareinmyfamily.
S:howmanypeoplearethereinyourfamily?
T:Tellme-therearefive
S:Therearefive
T:Askmewhatmyprreutsdo.
S:Whatdoyourparentsdo?
T:tellme-yourfatherisateacherandyourmotherworksinacompany.
S:Myfatherisateacherandmymotherwordsinacompany.
T:Askmeifmyfatherlikeshisjob.
S:Doesyourfatherlikehisjob.
T:Tellme-Sure,helikesteachingverymuch.
S:Sure,helikesteachingverymuch.
Alltheseresponsesformacompletedialogue.
A:Howmanypeoplearethereinyourfamily?
B:Therearefive.
A:Whatdoyourparentsdo?
B:Myfatherisateacherandmymotherworksinacompany.
A:Doesyourfatherlikehisjob?
B:Sure,helikesteachingverymuch.
Ifyouwanttoaskmoreabout"father"orotherfamilymembers,thedialoguecangoonasfarapossible.
So,inaword,theaural-oralmethodisnotaout-of-dateone,butausefulone.Especiallyitisfitforthebeginningstage.Itattachestheimportancetotheoraldrills,andhasabadcommunicativefunction.Itisonlyusedtoaphoneticbase.Afterall,theaimofthelanguagelearningistocommunicate.Sothetwo-waycomunicationismoreeffectiveanddirect,butitisalsofitforthebeginningstage.
3.Reading
Readingisanimportantwayofgaininginformationinforeignlanguagelearning,Itisabasicskillforaforeignlanguagelearner.Thereisalotofreadingexercisesinanexaminationtoday.Butallthesereadingsmustbedoneinlimitedtime.Sostudentsareaskedtoreadthemcorrectlyandwithacertainspeed.Todothis,youshouldchangeyourbadreadinghabitandraiseyourreadingefficiency.
Newwordspreventyoufromreadingfast.Onewaytoovercomethisproblemistoguess.Therearemanywaystoguessthemeaningofanewword.Firstyoushouldfindsomehints.Context,somephrases,suchas"means","referto","inotherwords","Thatistosag";areallthehints.
Model1.
Amiddle-agedprofessorsaidthathiswifewastooextravant,becausenomatterhowmuchhegiveherforthehouseholdexpenses,shealwaysranshort.
Inthissentence,themeaningoftheword"extravagant"canbeeasilyguessed.
Model2.
Prometheusstayedchaiedtothelockformanyyears,Thenatlastthemighty.
Herculescameforthandpokethebonds-butthatisanotherofthewonderfulstoriesoftheGreeks.
InThispargraph,thewords"stayedchained"isthehint,Soyoucanguesswhat"bonds"means.
Model3.
Thetinydropletsthatformondustparticlesverysmallpiecesofdust,toproduceacloudarefarapartfromeachother.
Inthissentence,thewordsafterthedashshowsthemeaningoftheword"partides"(微粒)
Besidesthewaysmentionedabove,youcanguessaccordingtotheword-formation,forexample
Child-childless,Marx-Marxism
Large-enlarge,tell-foretell
Australian+satellite→Aussate
State+run→state-run.
Sometimesyoucan"tguesswhatthewordmeans.Iftheworddoesn"taffectyourreading,letitbe.Forexample,
AGermantoldmethatalloverChinatheyuseGourmetpowderintheirfood.Itwillgiveyouhigherbloodpressure.
Youmayknowthatgourmetitakindofthingthatcanbeeat.Butitdoesn"tmatterwhetheryouknowwhatitis.
Anotherproblemthataffectyourreadingspeedisyoureadinghabitandyoureadingskill.
Someonereadswordbyword.Someonereadswithhisfingerpointingtothewordsorwithhisheadshaking.Thoseareallbadhabits.Youshouldreadphrasebyphrase.Don"tblinkyoureyessooftenanddon"tshakeyouhead.Justmoveyoureyeball.That"senough.Ifyouwanttogetmorewordinformation,theremustbeaproperdistancebetweenyoureyesandthereadingmaterial.
Ithinkpowsingisanimportantstepwhileyouaredoingyoureadingcomprehension.
Somestudentsbegintoreadatoncewhenhegetareadingmaterial,evenwithoutknowing,itstitle.Butafterreadingformanytimes,hewon"tunderstandwhatthearticlesays.
Lookingthroughthematerialfirstmeansforereading.Inanexamination,youwanttograintheinformationwhichthequestionsask,youcan"treadthematerialinausualway,youcan"treadthewholematerialwordbyword.Yougadhavetoomitsomesentence,sometimesevenawholeparagraph,whichhavenothingtodowiththequestions.
Ithinkyoumightreadthegivenquestionsfastaswell,thenthematerial.Thereisanadvantagetodothis.Whenyoureadthematerialwiththequestions,youcansaveyourtime.
Model:
AFestivalAtmosphere.
AtmidnightonNewYear"sEve,peopleinRome,Italy,throwoutallthethingstheynolongerwant.Thestreetsarefilledwitholdchairs,beds,clothesanddishes.
InMadrid,Spain,thenewYearcomesinmorequietly.Peoplecometothemainsouare.Eachholdsabagofgrapes(葡萄).Astheclockstrikestwelve,thepeopleeatthegrapes----oneforeachstroke.
InTokyo,capitalofJapan,peopleeatnoodlesinNewYear"sEve.Thisfoodissaidtopinglonglife.Earlythenextmorning,someJapanesefamiliesclimbMountFuji,TheretheywatchthefirstsunriseofthenewYear.
1.ThisstoryisaboutNewYear"sEvein______.
A.Europe
B.EuropeandLatinAucerica.
C.Fourcapitalcities.
D.Threecountries.
2.ThewriterthinksNewYear"sEveinRomeis_____.
A.interesting
B.dull
C.noisy
D.happy
3.Thenumberofgrapesthatmustbetake.Fromeachbagis_____.
A.one
B.twelve
C.thirteen
D.fourteen
4.PeopleinbothSpainandJapanspendtheNewYear"sEve____.
A.throwingthingsaway
B.eatingaspecialfood
C.climbingamountain
D.watchingthefirstsunrise
5.PeopleclimbMountFujiontheNewYear"smorningto____.
A.lookforhappiness
B.meettheirfriends
C.enjoythebeautyofnature
D.dosomethingstrange
6.PeoplewhohopetogainlonglifefromtheirNewYear"sfoodarethe____.
A.Japanese
B.Spanish
C.Italians
D.bothAandB
Lookthroughthequestionsfirst.No.1,3,4,6arethequestionswhichareaboutthecontentofthearticle.Thisinformationisconnectedwiththenames,numbersoractivitiesinthearticle,questionNo.2andNo.5arecomprehensiveones.
Thenpowsethearticle.Fromthequestionsandthetitleyoumayknowthatthearticleisaboutthefestivalcustomofdifferentcountries.Thearticleincludesthreeparagraphs.Eachtalksofadifferentplace____Rome,MadridandTokyo.
Sowhenyouhavethefirstglanceoverthearticle,you"vegotthekeytoquestionNo.1.Afteryourglance,thesethingshavebeenputintoyourpain:
Rome-throwout-arefilledwith-
Madrid-quietly-mainsquare-grapes-oneforeachstroke
Tokyo-noodles-pinglonglife-climbMount
Fuji-firstsunrise
Now,youmayhavesomeideaoftheoutlineofthearticle,Thenyoumayreadthewholematerial
4.Writing
Writingisonewayofprovidingvarietyinclassroomprocedures.Itprovidesastudentwithphysicalevidenceofhisachievementsandbecomesacoursewherebyhecanmeasurehisimprovement.Ithelpstoconsolidatethestudents"graspofvocabularyandstructure,andcomplementstheotherlanguageskills.
Sentenceisthebaseofanarticle.Soweshouldbeginourwritingwithsentences.First,studentsshouldbeaskedtoexpresswithsentences-sentencesmaking,thentowriteshortarticles.
1.Translation.TranslateChineseintoEnglish.
First,theyshouldlearnthefivebasicsentencedrills.Thenchoosesometypicalsentencesinthetextasmodels,dosentencemakingafterthesemodels.
2.Sentencepatternexchanging.Byrewritingthesentences,practiseexpressingthesamemeaningwithdifferentpatterns.
3.Textshorteningandrewriting.Ithelpstounderstandthetext,andhelpstowritecompositions.Itcanfosterstudents"abilitytosummarizeandtousethelanguagefreely.
III.conclusion
Whileyouaretrainingthesefourskills,you"dbettermakefulluseofyourteachinginstrumentusevarietiesofwaystostimulatethestudents"interests.
Generallyspeakingthesefourskillscan"tbeseparated.Peopleoftensay"Firstlisteningandspeaking,thenreadingandwriting".That"sright.ButIthinkthiswayofsayingisfitforthebeginningstage.Foraseniormiddleschoolstudent,readingandwritingismoreimportant.
Beforeyouaregoingtohaveanewlesson,doreadingandwritingfirst.Askstudentstoreadthetextinadvance,anddosomeexercisesconnectedwiththetext.
Listeningandspeakingarethemajorwayswhileteachingthenewlesson.Besuretoletthelessongooninaforeignlanguagesituation.
Youcanaskthestudentsquestionsaboutthetext,dosomediscussion,checkthestudents"homework.Thishelpsstudentsraisetheirabilityoflisteningandspeaking.Italsohelpstounderstandorcomprehendthetextandthesentences.
Referencebooks:
1.扶忠汉<<双向式英语>>,北京三环出版社.1990
2.周流溪<<中国中学英语教育百科全书>>.东北大学出版社.1995
3.李庭芗<<英语教学法>>.高等教育出版社.1983.3
4.HuangYuefa《EnglishTeachingMethodology》1991.7