The Communicative Approach in English Teaching and the Learning Strategy in Writing英语教学中的交际法及写作学习技巧1

1、the communicative approach in english teaching and the learning strategy in writingabstractin order to solve the problems of english teaching and learning in china at present stage, the paper is aimed to briefly introduce my understanding on the one of the most popular teaching methodologies the com

2、municative approach. as a matter of fact, majority of teachers have now gradually realized their importance of using the communicative approach in their teaching jobs. furthermore, writing, as one of the five inseparable elementary skills of learning english, that is, listening, speaking, reading wr

3、iting and translating, can be effectively improved only through more day-to-day communication. for convenience in presentation, i have divided my paper into two main parts. the first part of it deals with the problem on how communicative approach can be applied in the english writing, and what kinds

4、 of writing activities should be initiated. on the other part of it is to give students some suggestions about how to improve their compositions more quickly.keywords: communicative approach english teaching learning strategy writing 英语教学中的交际法及写作学习技巧摘 要为了解决现今中国英语教学及学习中所出现的问题，本文将简要介绍交际教学法的相关内容。实际上，大多

5、数教师们也逐渐发现交际教学法在英语教学中应用的重要性。听、说、读、写、译是英语学习的五大基本要素，写作能力可以通过人们的日常交际提升。为了方便阐述本论文可分为两大部分。一方面，论文将阐述在写作课堂中老师应如何应用交际法和所应采取的措施。另一方面，本文还将就如何写作给出一些建设性的意见。关键词：交际法 英语教学 学习技巧 写作contentsabstracti摘 要ii1. problems with english teaching and learning in china11.1 teachers inappropriate methods to teach english11.2 stu

6、dents inappropriate ways in english learning12. the communicative approach in english teaching22.1 the definition of communicative approach22.2 two principles of communicative approach32.2.1 create more realistic situations32.2.2 the class should be made students-centered42.3 some suggested activiti

7、es for teaching62.3.1 free talk or five-minute social report62.3.2 buzz group discussion62.3.3role-play and english games62.3.4 picture talk72.3.5 debate and discussion72.3.6 information gap72.3.7 project work73. apply the communicative approach to english writing83.1 what, why and how for the learn

8、ers to write83.2 the writing process83.2.1 creating a motivation to write93.2.2 outlining93.2.3 collecting information103.2.4 doing research103.2.5 drafting113.2.6 editing133.2.7 revising143.2.8 proofreading143.3 using the internet to promote process writing153.4 teachers role in the learners practi

9、cal writing164. the learning strategy of writing174.1 criteria of a good composition174.2 six basic rules for writing17conclusion19references:20acknowledgements21v1. problems with english teaching and learning in chinaalthough a lot of reforms have been implemented in china, no great change has take

10、n place in our english teaching and learning. many students who have learnt english for several years can not yet communicate with others in english properly and do not know how to write job application forms. main reasons for those problems have been figured out(are still to be found).1.1 teachers

11、inappropriate methods to teach english(in english teaching)on the one hand, headmasters and teachers have paid more attention to the results, which is the general tendency in the different areas of education in china. but high marks do not mean the good ability of handling a kind of language. (thoug

12、h it is not wrong for headmasters and teachers to stress the results of their teaching, which is the general tendency in different areas of education in china, it does not mean good marks are equal to the high competence of their students in handling practical language problems.) actually, neither t

13、eachers nor parents emphasize enough the training strategies for the students communicative efficiency in english. on the other hand, in order to be understood easily, some teachers prefer to teach english in their mother tongue.( what is worse, in order to make their students understand easier, qui

14、te a lot of teachers prefer to teach english in their mother tongue chinese) i cannot agree more that it is much easier and more efficient to teach english grammar in ones mother tongue, however, it is not the proper or professional way in that people acquire the language in daily life more efficien

15、tly. and the mother tongue may have some negative influence on the second language learning.1.2 students inappropriate approaches to english learningthe most important factor for students who focus on the tests is under the influence of their teachers and parents opinions. they have gradually been u

16、sed to taking the examination results as the criteria of their academic success. take college students for example, their purpose of learning english is to get high marks in the exams, and then to apply for good jobs after their graduation. however, we cannot only blame the students for their poor w

17、ays to learn english(skills in using the engilsh language) another factor contributes to the situation is that students in schools or colleges do not have so many opportunities(have never been given enough opportunities or chances) to communicate with native speakers. faced with such problems, the a

18、uthor thinks that communicative approach is the proper way to improve the situation. and actions should be taken especially in the field of the english teaching at colleges and universities.2. the communicative approach in english teaching2.1 the definition of communicative approachcommunicative app

19、roach refers to the theory of teaching according to the principle that the students and teachers should genuinely communicate with each other using the target language.littlewood william littewood william has published mainly in the areas of language teaching methodology and language learning. the d

20、efinition of communicative approach quoted in this paper is from his book communicative language teaching: an introduction which was published in 1981. divided the communicative approach into two kinds of activities, that is, pre-communicative and communicative activities. here is a graph to show hi

21、s way of teaching.pre-communicative activities structural activities quasi-communicative activitiescommunicative activities functional communication activities social interaction activitiesthe pre-communicative activities are preparatory steps towards communicative activities. the teachers should an

22、alyze all the communicative abilities and then let the students practice them bit by bit. the aim is for the learners to practice on how to use the language they need when they want to express themselves in actual life. there are two types of pre-communicative activities which are structural activit

23、ies and quasi-communicative activities. structural activities are much like the grammar exercises in which teachers teach students how to use grammatical rules in their communication. for example, the teacher may teach the students how to use intensifiers by making sentences like the following: i wa

24、s very late for the film. but i wasnt too late for the film. these two sentences show the differences of “very” and “too”. quasi-communicative activities are intended to help learners relate the structures they are studying to the use of the language. some quasi-communicative activities include: sit

25、uational dialogues; open-ended dialogue; timetable, map, food list, shopping list, etc.functional communication activities and social interaction activities are the two types of communicative activities. the purpose of functional communication activities is to let the learners use the language they

26、have learnt to express themselves orally. the purpose of social interaction activities is to give the students an opportunity to use the language in an appropriate social context, to create a variety of social situations and relationships, such as having pair work, group work, having conversations,

27、simulations and role-playing and so on.2.2 two principles of communicative approachamong the numerous principles of communicative approach, two of them can be taken as the key ones which have really dominant. 2.2.1 create more realistic situations for english practicethe current teaching methods do

28、not emphasize the real world situations and fail to cultivate students spontaneity. artificial conventions and mechanical question-and-answer sequences fall short of the flexible, spontaneous kind of communicative interaction required for performing a task with the context of situation relevant to t

29、he real world. such classroom teaching forces learners to talk about things that are not of their own choosing and not based on their actual needs. instead, they are provided with a rigid set of guided structures in isolation. taught in this way, the learners frequently fail to produce even the very

30、 basic language related to a specific situation.simulation techniques seem to be a better alternative, as they seek to place learners in a situation where they are asked to play different roles or to accomplish their specific tasks, including problem solving. they offer an opportunity for the learne

31、rs to practice using the language in the right place at the right time and as appropriately as possible.the most obvious advantage of such techniques lies in that it puts the learners in realistic situations. by simulating the physical circumstances of certain situations, the students can have more

32、chances to use and to practice the sort of practical english language programs, particularly the vocabulary related to that situation, so that learners can rehearse such items in the daily lives. in addition, they can express what they want to say whenever the situation calls for it. the teacher pro

33、vides the best conditions for learning through creating the realistic situation.2.2.2 the class should be made students-centeredthe focus of classroom should be shifted from the teacher-centered into the learners-centered. the present teaching in china, however, is just the opposite; the class is ju

34、st mainly teacher-centered.the teacher does most the talking and always has the whole class under his strict control by lecturing, questioning, correcting students and often supplying correct answers to the exercises.in such a class, the teacher is obviously the most authoritative person. students a

35、lways act according to what the teacher wants them to accomplish but not what they themselves want to accomplish.such kind of teachers role, in fact, encourages the students to depend too much on teachers without thinking independently. so it appears that sometimes, even if the students have underst

36、ood the text they are reading, they do not have the courage to speak out when called upon, for fear that they may not be right. as a result, the long-term practice of teacher-centeredness in education has actually lessened the opportunities for the students to analyze and judge things for themselves

37、, and it has possibly encouraged the students laziness in thinking. giving up their natural instincts for active thinking, they may spend most of their time copying from the blackboard, following the teachers talk and taking the note. too much of this will harm the students initiatives and reduce th

38、eir enthusiasm in study.the class should be learners-centered. communicative approach makes learners to be themselves and requires the classroom instructor to play a secondary role, trying to keep focus on the students not on himself and encouraging students to communicate among themselves. the teac

39、her is expected to “lead from behind”, i.e, to act more as adviser and to participate in the interactions if possible. the teacher should allow full scope for his students spontaneous learning process and give more opportunities for the students to talk, perform and express their own ideas. in this

40、way, the students will no longer feel inferior. gradually, they will form a positive attitude toward english studying. the proposed teachers role in the classroom is significant not only for classroom methodological reasons, but also, as we shall see, for its effect on human relationships in classro

41、om. this relationship will contribute favorably to effective learning.students are the main part in communication, while the teacher helps the students to communicate. practically speaking, teachers can play several roles in the class: they can direct the class activities, designs(lay out) the scene

42、 of communication, and also he is a consultant guiding the communication and solving the problems in communication. at the same time, the teacher should be a partner of communication he takes part in the students communication. of course, the students should throw themselves into communication activ

43、ely. they can learn the target language through communication, and improve their listening and speaking ability through communication.these two principles, of course, can not solve all the problems, for communication teaching does not only involve methods and techniques but also material development

44、, testing, class organization and possibly the retraining of the staff. these big issues have to be dealt with if a genuine communicative approach is to be followed.the communicative approach is an effective teaching method, which helps the students to develop the ability to use a new language pract

45、ically. in specific language environment, it requires the students to communicate each other in the language they are learning. the students and teachers should put themselves into the “real” scene. gradually, they would able to accumulate the perceptual knowledge of english and then develop the sen

46、sibility of this language, thus, to achieve the purpose of grasping a language. communicative approach, on the one hand, emphasizes teaching the students the real language; on the other hand, emphasizes that the students are the hubs of the class. the teacher should just organize and guide the stude

47、nts to have the communicative activities. in some aspects, we can say in the communicative activity, the process is more important than the result. so the teacher must arouse the students enthusiasm to the rein of their subjective initiative completely. it can not only avoid the drawbacks of grammar

48、 translation methods but also eliminate the ignorance of the students listening and speaking ability. it requires the stressing of listening, speaking, reading and writing. it also emphasizes the meaningful real communication. so in the teaching process, it sets up some language models which can be

49、used in the real communication. its focal point is to train the students to use the language in communicative circumstance. it helps the students to develop the skill of listening and speaking. it gives the students the chances to participate in the teaching activities.the aim of teaching english is

50、 to develop the students ability of using language communicative ability. we say the process of teaching is the process of communication, so english teaching should use the communicative approach.2.3 some suggested activities for teaching 2.3.1 free talk or five-minute social report students are req

51、uired in turns to give a short speech on whatever topics. the speech must be prepared before each class and an english teacher observes carefully and perhaps gives some feed back or makes some comments on students performance.2.3.2 buzz group discussiona further, more flexible way of teaching langua

52、ge is to give students a designed topic to discuss in a group. students sit together, facing one another in a small but intimate circle and talk freely. teacher can walk around, guiding and taking a demanding role in helping and advising the students if they need. 2.3.3role-play and english games ea

53、ger to perform, students have the desires to be self-content. through the proportional work before class, they search for quite a lot of materials, during the course of the rehearsal, they gain some knowledge of the language. 2.3.4 picture talk learners can also be encouraged to practice speaking wi

54、th the help of pictures. a set of pictures are introduced in the classroom, put up on the blackboard. by means of picture-talk, their oral english shall be improved sooner or later. 2.3.5 debate and discussiontopics should be laid out easy enough for the students to argue about. at the end of the de

55、bate, the teacher should make some comments on students work 2.3.6 information gap the two students in each pair are given different information. the activity can then work in various ways. 2.3.7 project work students are free to form some small groups working in teams, helping each other with poste

56、r design under the guidance of the teacher.3. apply the communicative approach to english writingfrom the above introduction, we have discussed and learnt the theories about communicative approach and how to apply the communicative approach in teaching. when we learn a foreign language, the five fun

57、damental elements which are listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating are always involved in our study. this paper will pay special attention to writing.3.1 what, why and how for the learners to writewriting is a real-life reality. whether it is in social, work or study situations, we wr

58、ite to get things done and to form and maintain social relationships. like many other aspects of english teaching, the type of writing teachers get students to do should depend on their ages, interests, and levels. the reasons for teaching writing to students of english as a foreign language include reinforcement, language development, learning style and, most importantly, writing as a skill in its own right. writing can raise awareness of how language works. through writing, people will become more familiar with the linguistic