（英语语言文学专业论文）跨文化研究与中外教师合作英语教学.pdf

team teaching english through intercultural studies 1 acknowledgements i wish to acknowledge all the teachers and professors in the school of foreign languages college, shanghai teachers university, who have helped me in my academic development. my deepest gratitude goes to my supervisor, professor cai longquan, for his great efforts in guiding me through many stages of writing this thesis. his profound insights and warm encouragement lead me into a completely new world-intercultural comparison, which not only broadens my horizon of outlook, colors my study, but also will benefit me all my life. special thanks go to my colleagues in the english department and foreign affairs office of nantong teachers college. they share my work and support me in the completion of this thesis. a special debt of gratitude goes to three foreign teachers-dr. melvena green, jason nicholls and kimbrly teravest, who contributed many ideas of team teaching to my thesis. appreciation is extended to ms. liu fang, who has always been patient and kind while i am in need of her help. i am also indebted to all the authors whose books i have consulted in the preparation of this thesis. finally, a word of thanks goes to my husband and my parents, who took over my housework and encouraged me to finish the thesis, though they were in their difficult time. team teaching english through intercultural studies 2 摘 要 高校外语系引进外籍教师由来已久外籍教师的教学改善了我国的英语教学环 境同时也增进了跨文化交流然而中外教师有计划地进行合作教学在国内报道 中并不多见近几年我先后与来我校任教的三位外籍教师在此方面作了有益的尝 试我们利用外教本族语的优势为学生创设了真实的交际语境而中方教师在帮助 学生梳理语言难点克服跨文化交际困难方面也发挥了应有的作用 本文对中外教师彼此课堂教学的观察结果作了互评实录从课堂教学过程学 生的学习态度和课堂行为以及师生相互关系等方面描述了中外教师各自教学现状 为合作教学提供了基础本文研究了交际教学法的理论依据探讨了交际背景下的 教学方法和内容进一步明确了合作教学以学生为中心的教学模式跨文化研究是 合作教学的媒介 合作教师能否和谐地走进同一教室取决于双方的跨文化交际能力 本文指出合作教学通过本族文化与外来文化的相互作用制定教学方案强调文化 的融合性中外教师合作教学谋求在与外来文化相互作用中的创新与变革本文最 后指出如果我们更深入地进行中外教师合作教学的研究充分利用合作教师与学 生之间所存在的跨文化交际那么学生就有可能实现多方位的学习从而有效地 提高英语教学的质量 team teaching english through intercultural studies 3 abstract the introduction of foreign english teachers into the english departments of universities in china is long standing. the teaching by foreign english teachers has greatly improved the language environment of the english learning. it also increases the benefit of intercultural english teaching. however, we havent seen much well-planned team teaching between chinese and foreign teachers of english in and out of classrooms. the collaborative research for experimental classroom teaching hasnt been reported much either. our research started three years ago. the target of the team-teaching in our college is to explore a new english teaching approach under the intercultural background. we wish to do the research on the design of an english curriculum, the integration of english teaching methods and the disposition of both chinese and foreign teachers of english. we would like to propose a practical program of the english reform in order to change the traditional bad habit of the english teaching value the input of the language knowledge, neglect the training of the english communicative ability. during the initial stages of our collaboration, chinese teachers and foreign teachers have begun to analyze patterns of interaction observed in between students and between students and teachers in our classrooms. these observations have enabled us to identify key aspects of lesson development, affective or emotional climate of the classroom, interaction between teachers and students, as well as to recognize strong points and deficiencies with respect to levels of student involvement and participation. team-taught lessons have provided students and teachers with many opportunities to practice their english. by arousing students interest in social and cultural topics using language as means of communication, by letting students express their ideas and opinions freely, collaborative teaching can do more than what is usual in team-taught language lessons. it is argued that emphasis on social and cultural themes in english language teaching can enrich the meaning and relevance of the target language, and simultaneously make it more stimulating both for learners and teachers. in my thesis, i will discuss aims and objectives of team teaching by questioning the past teaching methods and seeking for new ideas in teaching methods. i will take up the communicative approach for the purpose of our team teaching. with the study of team teaching english through intercultural studies 4 intercultural communication, i believe that we can realize intercultural team teaching to a full length. finally, i present the team teaching at nantong teachers college. the goals of the present article are: a) to stress the importance of integrating social and cultural themes into language teaching; b) to adjust our teaching methods, in time, so as to achieve an effective learning environment from initial concept to final outcomes; c) to review and evaluate the project as a way of enriching the meaning and relevance of the target language; d) to facilitate intercultural and international awareness. team teaching english through intercultural studies 6 team teaching english through intercultural studies 1. brief survey of english language teaching 1.1 english language teaching in foreign countries english language teaching has witnessed a long history and methods of teaching have varied a great deal. after a long dominance, grammar-translation method, which required the full use of learners native language in class, was replaced by audio-lingual method in the 1950s, a method that stressed on students speaking and listening in terms of “the theoretical bases of the findings of bloomfieldian structural linguistics” (peter strevens, 1983). dialogues and drills form the basis of audio-lingual classroom practice. it was believed that language is “primarily what is spoken and only secondly what is written” (brook, 1964). the following method to gain in 1970s is that of “cognitive-code” teaching in accordance with the theory that “learning a language is a process of acquiring conscious control of the phonological, grammatical and lexical patterns of a second language, largely through study and analysis of these patterns as a body of knowledge .provided the student has a proper degree of cognitive control over the structures of the language, facility will develop automatically with the use of the language in the meaningful situations” (carroll, 1983 ). no doubt, this approach concentrated on the learners process of knowing rather than on mechanistic procedures imposed upon him by the teacher. it is in keeping with the learner-centered educational outlook which is sweeping through much of the world recent communicative approach presupposes that students take the central role in learning. the important thing is that full rein is given to students initiative and they are actively involved in communicative activities. “they are actively engaged in negotiating meaning in trying to make themselves understood. they learn to communicate by communication.” “ teacher is a facilitator of his students learning . one of his major responsibilities is to establish situations likely to promote communication. during activities, he acts as an advisor, answering students questions and monitoring their performance. at other times, he might be a co-communicatorengaging in the team teaching english through intercultural studies 7 communicative activities along with the students” (larsen-freeman, 1986). according to nunan (1991), a learner-centered approach is based on the belief that learners will bring to the learning situation different beliefs of and attitudes towards language learning. the salient features of language teaching in the last quarter of the century are quoted from peter strevens (1983) in his book new orientations in the teaching of english: first, it is moving away from teacher-centered to student-centered approach. second, it is becoming possible to identify the factors that maximize success and minimize failure so that those responsible for the organization of teaching can improve its effectiveness. third, teachers are abandoning overly simplistic ideas about teaching and learning in favor of a more difficult and complex outlook. therefore, the fallacy of trying to find a unique methodological approach and the idea of a single best method are intuitively unsatisfactory, because in the quarter-century since 1950, “all the more frustrating then is the discovery that a particular teaching method, though demonstrably used with spectacular success in one place, may give poor results in another” (1983:4). under such a situation, we would readily ask ourselves whether we can find a more effective way to absorb advantages of different methods rather than taking up a single one. 1.2 survey of english lessons currently taught by chinese and native teachers separately during the initial stages of our collaboration, chinese teachers and foreign teachers have begun to analyze patterns of interaction observed to occur between students and teachers in our classrooms. these observations have enabled us to identify key aspects of lesson development, affective climate of the classroom, interactions between teachers and students, as well as to recognize strong points and deficiencies of those aspects. what follows are the matter-of-fact observations made by both chinese and native teachers of english. they are concerned with lesson development, attitudes, behaviors and expectations, and teacher-student interaction. 1.2.1 lesson development the first aspect that has been looked into is the functioning of teaching material such as textbooks and reference materials in the overall course setup. foreign teachers observe that lessons written in the textbooks are carefully planned by chinese teachers and team teaching english through intercultural studies 8 chinese teachers are dependent on teachers guides in planning their lessons. foreign teachers observe that chinese teachers follow the textbooks closely in class. most textbooks are quite traditional and conservative. chinese teachers provide background information about the text, connecting language and culture and noting similarities and differences between chinese and western culture. they are aware of differences within western culture, notably usa and uk culture and point out these differences to the students. chinese teachers speak english with an accent of received pronunciation; however, some tapes have the american english accent. in the meantime, chinese teachers are curious about foreign teachers selection of lesson materials. compared with the textbooks that chinese teachers use, foreign teachers have various sources to choose from. chinese teachers observe that students are very stimulated by and interested in these modern materials. some of the students are excited to discuss topics that appeal to them. the second aspect mirrors our impressions of the way english is taught. chinese teachers may use warm-up strategies to review and consolidate knowledge and skills; however, foreign teachers cannot see a structural approach in chinese teachers revision work at the beginning of class. great attention is paid to vocabulary building and the teachers excel in clarifying it. chinese teachers are aware of different approaches of vocabulary teaching and the build-up of vocabulary is structural, especially in intensive reading classes. reading skills are developed by detailed study of given texts. chinese teachers pick out key points from the texts and remind students to focus on sense groups, phrasing and fluency. the students identify the main ideas of the reading selections and memorize large portions of the text. in oral english classes students take turns to read dialogues or they work in pairs. they study a given dialogue before class and are invited to retell it in their own words. when the students have to speak their own minds, they often falter or fall silent. they need encouragement and training, which chinese teachers deal with skillfully. listening skills are developed by using textbooks with exercises stressing sound discrimination, intonation and usage of a natural flow of speech. students fluently work out dictations as well. chinese teachers require homework to be done, but the procedure of noting down homework and of regular checks by chinese teachers remains a point of further investigation. chinese teachers occasionally speak chinese to facilitate students comprehension. they check students understanding of task team teaching english through intercultural studies 9 assignments. in organizing the classes, chinese teachers mainly use class approach, although in oral english lessons some times group work is used. there is no differentiation made to the english level of their students. in view of these aspects, chinese teachers observe that foreign teachers employ different techniques in their lessons. in planning their lessons, topics are carefully chosen by foreign teachers to attract students to speak. foreign teachers usually warm up the students by an english game, which arouses students enthusiasm for participation. foreign teachers are accustomed to helping students review vowel system, irregular verbs and grammar. in organizing their classes, foreign teachers use group discussions with a secretary and a spokesman while they guide or join the group talk. thus, the students are stimulated to communicate freely. a disadvantage is that the students are apt to speak chinese occasionally. it takes time for foreign teachers to get familiar with the students names, but they know how to raise questions concerning students backgrounds. students are also taught to take down notes in class to be reviewed after class and to get immediate feedback from learning. foreign teachers are skillful in combining four skills in oral english classes. sometimes the words used by foreign teachers in class are unknown to students. but by giving synonyms they solve this problem. their authentic english provides good listening material for students. chinese teachers also observe that students writing skills are developed by frequently assigned compositions, which are commented on and corrected face to face by the foreign teachers. chinese teachers are impressed by foreign teachers use of body language in the course of instruction. their infectious eye contact, changeable voice projection, vivid facial expressions putting together contribute a lot to the development of lessons. a third element that has been included in the observations is how the teachers make use of teaching aids, such as the blackboard and audio-visual equipment. foreign teachers observe that the primary function of the blackboard is to support chinese teachers clarification of vocabulary and grammar points. foreign teachers wonder whether chinese colleagues use the blackboard to visualize language, draw charts or show pictures. the tapes used in the language laboratory are of good quality and the accents sounds natural. apart from the language laboratory, chinese teachers can use cassette recorders in classrooms. video recorders can support the teaching only marginally because of lack of facilities. chinese teachers see that foreign teachers are good at drawing pictures and charts or using instructional aids to facilitate teaching. in audio-visual classes, charts are used to explain elements of team teaching english through intercultural studies 10 plot development. the content of the videotapes varies from classic to modern films. some visual aids are simple but their form attracts students attention and helps them to better understand the topics under the discussion. if we compare the things done by chinese teachers and those done by foreign teachers in class, we can easily find that chinese teachers of english (cte) differ largely from native teacher of english (nte) at almost all stages of the lesson development. we cant say whose technique is good or not. we should judge by what is required and what is to achieve in each lesson. if the teacher wants to train students communicative ability, foreign teachers up-to-date teaching materials may be a good choice. with materials close to their true life, students can have much to say and actively participate in communicative activities. however, the textbooks chinese teachers choose, though sometimes conservative and out of date, can provide students with historic perspectives. and following a systematic arrangement of texts and attached exercises, students can consolidate what they have learned and easily accumulate vocabulary. team teaching came into our mind. based on the talk with students outside of the class, i find that they want to get into touch with more authentic material, know more about western cultural background from foreign teachers while they expect to learn systematic grammar from chinese teachers. meanwhile chinese students are afraid of reading original english novels and essays and prefer simplified editions. in addition, how is it possible for students with limited english language ability to show a positive attitude towards communication with the nte on a topic they are unprepared for? since both cte and nte have their own characters of teaching, which are welcomed mostly by students, why cant we combine both ways into one team teaching class? suppose both cte and nte go to the same classroom, things can be differ