丁春玲
Abstract:ThisthesismainlyintroducetheEnglishgrammarteachingmethodologyinourEnglishteaching.Meanwhile,theauthoralsomakesthecomparisionbetweentheP-P-PteachingmodelandtheTask-basedteachingmethord.Finally,theauthorproposesEnglishteacheasshouldapplytheseteachingmethodsinflexiblyandmakeourstudentsliketostudytheEnglishgrammar.
Keywords:Englishgrammar;teachingmethods;enlightenment
I.What’sgrammar
Whensomeoneissaidtolackskillsinlanguage,theyaregenerallyreferringtothelackoftheabilitytoexpressthemselvesgrammatically.Thewordgrammarhasmanymeanings.Tobeeasytounderstand,itcanbedescribedasageneraltheoryofalanguagedescription(SidneyBaumGreen).Grammarisadescriptionofthestructureofalanguageandthewayinwhichlinguisticunitssuchaswordsandphrasesarecombinedtoproducesentencesinthelanguage(Richards,PlattandWeber,1985).However,nativespeakersneedn'tlearngrammar,astheycangettoknowtherulesofthelanguagebylisteningtoorusingiteveryday.
II.Twoimportantapproachesinteachinggrammar
a.P-P-Pteachingmodel
Therearelotsofwaystoteachgrammar.OneofthetraditionalapproachesusedbyChineseteachersisP-P-Plessonstructure.Therearethreephasesinthisapproach:Presentation,Practice,andProduction.
Presentation:Inthisphase,theteacherpresentsthenewgrammarstructurebyusingeitherconversation,shorttextorotherwaystopresentit.Thenheexplainsthenewstructurecarefullysothatstudentscanunderstandit.
Practice:Studentspracticeusingthenewstructureinacontrolledcontext.Theywilldosomedrillsorsubstitutionexercisesprovidedbytheteacher.
Production:Thisisafreepracticeperiod.Inthisphase,studentspracticeusingthenewstructureindifferentcontexts.Theyareencouragedtousetheirowncontentorinformation.Morefocusshouldbeputontherealorsimulatedcommunicationandfluencywiththenewpattern.
TheP-P-PlessonstructureisatypicalmodeloftheSituationalapproach.Itisbasedonthebeliefthatgrammarcouldbelearnedthroughdirectinstructionandthoughdrillingandrepetitive.Theapproachtotheteachinggrammarisadeductiveone.Studentsarepresentedwithgrammarrulesandthengivenchancestopracticeusingthem.Itisassumedthatlanguagelearningmeantbuildingupalargerepertoireofsentencesandgrammaticalpatternsandlearningtoproducetheseaccuratelyandquicklyintheappropriatesituation.Oncestudentshaveestablishedabasiccommandofthelanguage,thefourskillswillbeintroducedthroughoraldrillingandcontrolledpractice.
Greatattentiontoaccuratepronunciationandaccuratemasteryofgrammarispaidfromtheverybeginningstagesoflanguagelearning.Teachersusingthiswaythinkthatonceerrorsaremade,theywouldbecomeapermanentpartofthelearners’speech.
TheP-P-Plessonstructurehasbeenwidelyusedinlanguageteachingmaterialsandcontinuesinmodifiedformtobeusedtoday.
b.Task-basedLanguageTeaching
Task-basedLanguageTeaching(TBLT)isakindofcurrentcommunicativelanguageteachingapproach.Itreferstoanapproachbasedontheuseoftasksasthecoreunitofplanningandinstructioninlanguageteaching.Someofitsproponents(eg.Willis1996)presentitasalogicaldevelopmentofCommunicativeLanguageTeachingsinceitdrawsonseveralprinciplesthatformedpartofthecommunicativelanguageteachingmovement(JackCRichards).InTask-basedapproaches,thefocusofclassroomactivitiesisonthetask,andultimatelyonmeaning.Learnersbeginbycarryingoutacommunicativetask,withoutspecificfocusonform.Aftertheyhavedonethetask,theyreportanddiscusshowtheyaccomplishedit,perhapslisteningtoafluentspeakerdoingthesametask.Onlyattheendisthereaspecificfocusonfeaturesoflanguageform.
Thekeyassumptionsoftask-basedinstructionaresummarizedbyFeez(1998)as:“Thefocusisonprocessratherthanproduct.”Basicelementsarepurposefulactivitiesandtasksthatemphasizecommunicationandmeaning,learnerslearnlanguagebyinteractingcommunicativelyandpurposefullywhileengagedintheactivitiesandtasks.Herewewillintroducesomeactivitiesandtasksasfollows.
Activitiesandtaskscanbe:thosethatlearnersmightneedtoachieveinreallife;thosethathaveapedagogicalpurposespecifictotheclassroom.What'smore,activitiesandtasksofaTask-basedsyllabusaresequencedaccordingtodifficulty.Thedifficultyofataskdependsonarangeoffactorsincludingthepreviousexperienceofthelearner,thecomplexityofthetask,thelanguagerequiredtoundertakethetask,andthedegreeofsupportavailable.
Willisalsoproposesthefollowingdetailedsequenceofactivities.(JackCRichards)Itcanbepidedintofollowingparts:
1.Pre-taskactivities
Introductiontothetopicandtask
TeacherhelpsStudentstounderstandthethemeandobjectivesofthetask.Forexample,brainstormingideaswiththeclass,usingpictures,mimeorpersonalexperiencetointroducethetopic.Studentsmaydoapre-task,forexample,topic-basedodd-word-outgames.Teachermayhighlightusefulwordsandphrases,butwouldnotpre-teachnewstructures.Studentscanbegivenpreparationtimetothinkabouthowtodothetask.Thenstudentscanheararecordingofaparalleltaskbeingdone(solongasthisdoesnotgiveawaythesolutiontotheproblem).
2.Thetaskcycle
(1)Task
Thetaskisdonebystudents(inpairsorgroups)andgivesstudentsachancetousewhateverlanguagetheyalreadyhavetoexpressthemselvesandsaywhatevertheywanttosay.Thismaybeinresponsetoreadingatextorhearingarecording.Thespecificprocessis:
①Teacherwalksroundandmonitors,encouraginginasupportivewayeveryone’sattemptatcommunicationinthetargetlanguage.
②Teachershelpsstudentstoformulatewhattheywanttosay,butwillnotintervenetocorrecterrorsofthem.
③Theemphasisisonspontaneous,exploratorytalkandconfidencebuilding,withintheprivacyofthesmallgroup.
④SuccessinachievingthegoalsofthetaskshelpSs’motivation.
(2)Planning
①Planningpreparesforthenextstagewherestudentsareaskedtoreportbrieflytothewholeclasshowtheydidthetaskandwhattheoutcomewas.
②Draftandrehearsewhattheywanttosayorwrite.
③Teachergoesroundtoadvisestudentsonlanguage,suggestingphrasesandhelpingstudentstopolishandcorrecttheirlanguage.
④Ifthereportsareinwriting,teacherscanencouragepeereditandusedictionaries.
⑤Theemphasisisonclarity,organization,andaccuracy,asappropriateforapublicpresentation.
⑥Inpidualstudentsoftentakethischancetoaskquestionsaboutspecificlanguageitems.
(3)Report
①Teacheraskssomepairstoreportbrieflytothewholeclasssothateveryonecancomparefindings,orbeginasurvey.
②Teacherschairs,commentsonthecontentoftheirreports,rephrases,butgivesnoovertpubliccorrection.
3.Languagefocus
(1)Analysis
①Teachersetssomelanguage-focustasks,basedonthetexts.Andstudentsreadortranslatetherecordingstheyheard.
②Teacherstartsstudentsoff,thenstudentscontinue,ofteninpairs.
③Teachergoesroundtohelp;studentscanaskinpidualquestions.
④Inplenary,teacherthenreviewstheanalysis,possiblywritingrelevantlanguageupontheBbinlistform:studentsmaytakenotes.
(2)Practice
Teacherconductspracticeactivitiesasneeded,basedonthelanguage
analysisworkalreadyontheblackboard,orusingexamplesfromthetextortranscript.Thedifferencebetweentraditionalgrammar-focusactivitiesandcommunicativetask-basedworkcanbesummarizedasfollows(JackC.Richard1999).
①Grammar-focusedactivities:Reflecttypicalclassroomuseoflanguage;Focusontheformationofcorrectexamplesoflanguage;Producelanguagefordisplay(asevidenceoflearning);Callonexplicitknowledge;Elicitacareful(monitored)speechstyle;Reflectcontrolledperformance;Practiselanguageoutofcontext;Practicesmallsamplesoflanguage;Donotrequireauthenticcommunication.
②Task-FocusedActivities:Reflectnaturallanguageuse;Callonimplicitknowledge;Elicitavernacularspeechstyle;Reflectauthenticperformance;Requiretheuseofimprovising,paraphrasing,repairandreorganization;Producelanguagethatisnotalwayspredictable;Allowstudentstoselectthelanguagetheyuse;Requirerealcommunication.
Eachapproachhasitsstrongpoints,whichiswhytheycanbepopularforalongtimeinthelanguageteachingfield.Wecandesigndifferentteachingplansusingthedifferentapproachesaccordingtothedifferentgrammarpointsandcontents.Inmyopinion,theTask-basedteachingapproachisanattractiveandliberatingone,especiallywhenstudentshavebeenaccustomedtothetraditionalP-P-Pmodel.
III.Conclusions
ItisveryclearthatTask-basedteachingapproachcanpromotestudents’motivationandfullyimprovetheirabilitiestouselanguage.Butitneedsteacherstotakemoretimetoselectandsequencetasks.However,TBLT(Task-BasedLanguageTeaching)focusesclassroomprocessesratherthanlearningoutcomes.ForthestudentsinhighschoolsinmostpartsofChina,theyhavetoattendwrittenexamsratherthancommunicativeleveltests.Itseemstobewastingtimetodomuchtaskinclassforthestudents.Andlanguageaccuracyisalsoaproblem.ButtheTask-basedteachingapproachisthebestwaytoimprovestudents'abilitiesinlistening、speaking、readingandwritingofEnglish.SowemustmakefulluseofitinourEnglishteaching.
Inthemeanwhile,teachersarenotencouragedtouseasinglemethodwhentheyareteaching.Teachersshoulduseallkindsoftheteachingmethodsappropriately.Fluencyandaccuracycanbeintegratedinaclassbyusingthecorrespondingtechniquesflexibly.JustasJaneWillisoncesaid(1998),“afocusonbothaccuracyandfluencycanbenaturallyincorporatediftasksareusedsystematicallyasthecentralpartofalargerframework.”Sogrammarandlanguagestudyariseoutofthetaskandaccompanyingmaterialswheretheemphasisisontheirmeaningandactualuse.Specificfeaturesoflanguageformarehighlightedafterthelearnershaveexperiencedlanguageinusewithaholisticcontextduringthetaskcycle.
SotheauthorthinksthatEnglishteachers,ononehand,shouldreadmorebooksaboutlanguageteachingmethodologysothattheycouldhavemoreapproachestochoose,ontheotherhand,teachersalsoshouldoftengetsomeideasandexperiencefromtheirownteaching.Afterall,weareteachingdifferentstudentsofdifferentlevels.Andthereisalongwaytogo.Teachingandlearningisendless,soisteachingmethodology.
References:
[1]JackCRichards.ApproachesandMethodsinLanguageTeaching[M].CambridgeUniversityPress,2001.
[2]JeremyHarmer.TeachingandLearningGrammar[M].London:Longman,1998.
[3]WillisJ.AFrameworkforTask-BasedLearning[M].Harlow:Longman,1996.
[4]Allen,E.DandValette,R.M.ClassroomTechniques:ForeignLanguagesandEnglishasaSecondLanguage[M].NewYork:HarcourtBraceJovanovich,Inc.,1977.
标签：smore论文; thosethathaveapedagogicalpurposespecifictotheclassroom论文; basedsyllabusaresequencedaccordingtodifficulty论文;