OnRolesofEnglishTeachersinHistoricalContext

1、时代背景下英语教师的角色on roles of english teacher in historical contextcontentsabstract.1key words.1.introduction . 1.traditional roles of teachers in elt . 3. modern roles of the teachers in elt. 53.1 controllers . 63.2 motivators . 63.3 organizers . 73.4 assessors and evaluators. 83.5 facilitators and promp

2、ters . 93.6 participants and language resource . 10. teachers roles in the web-based english teaching . 10. the reasons of the shift of teachers roles . 11 . how to change the teachers role in english classroom126.1 important situation.136.2 how to set the language context 136.2.1 use all kinds of t

3、eaching aids.136.2.2 design all kinds of activities.13. teachers capability . 147.1 teachers try their best to strengthen capability .147.2 teachers should master modern educational technology and have ability to apply it 157.3 teachers must improve and strengthen their creative ability. 15. conclus

4、ion 15references16 on roles of english teachers in historical context  摘要： 本文着重从历史的角度分析了在不同情境下教师角色的转换。讨论了在传统英语教学和现代英语教学及未来网络教学的背景下，教师应如何管理课堂。研究了教师必须在各种活动中扮演不同的角色以达到教学的目标，即提高学生运用英语进行交际的能力。提出了在新的历史角色的要求下，与传统的教学相比，现代的教学更具实践性。及教师必须改变观念，转变角色以适应不断变化的形势。作者认为，计算机网络技术在一定程度上改变了计算机辅助英语教学，教师应当重视网络教学过程

5、的每个环节，帮助自己有效地教学，使学生有效的学习。关键词：教师的角色，交流， 学习者为中心的教学，角色的转变，教师的能力，技术 abstract: this article has emphatically analyzed the shift of teachers role from the historical angle under different situations, and has discussed how the teacher should manage the class in the traditional english teaching , the m

6、odern english teaching and under the future network teaching background, and it also studys how teachers should act the different roles in each kind of class activity to achieve the goal, which is to develop students ability to communicate in english. it raises, with the demanding of new historical

7、roles, modern elt(english language teaching) is more practical, comparing with the traditional elt. and teachers have to change their ideas and shift their roles to adapt the changing situation. the author thinks, the web technology in particular has reshaped the uses of computers for english teachi

8、ng and learning, teachers should emphasize each part of the teaching procedure to help their teaching and make their students learn english effectively.key words: teachers roles, learner-centered teaching, communication, shift of teachers role, teachers capability, technology .introductionwith

9、the approach of information age, people are experiencing dramatic and historical changes in many aspects and senses ranging from the way of living to the way of studying and the way of thinking. information technology not only makes many things easier, but also turns something seemingly impossible a

10、 reality. such influence has also occurred to education as well. it will make students study more easily and teachers teach more effectively. for decades chinese teachers have been quite used to the traditional way of teaching english, in which the teacher is regarded as the authority who dominates

11、the whole class. he or she explains the text in a traditional grammar translation format, trying to put everything into students minds while paying little attention to their feelings and reactions. however, the internet is more than a text-based online lecture hallits become the communication medium

12、 for interacting with the students: conducting class discussions, posting assignment, sharing ideas, supporting each other, and collaborating as a group to achieve the learning goals.while the traditional teachers workplace was defined by the chalkboard, chairs, and classrooms, the online instructor

13、 has a new set of tools, listeners, blackboards, chat rooms, web pages, multimedia and occasionally streaming audio and video. the new tools reach across continents making learning accessible to new audiences, however, the new technology is more difficult to master, doesnt always work well, and cras

14、hes more often. the tools of the trade have changed, but the fundamental role of the teacher remains the same. the teachers role is still facilitating the students learning process, to create a context for transforming data into knowledge and to create community, motivation and support. the online m

15、edium offers a new set of tools and new ways of communication. it is highly unlikely that you can simply transfer what you are doing in the classroom onto the web. therefore, teachers are required to change their roles; everyone knows that a teacher is one who teaches. but what is a teacher expected

16、 to teach? it may be taken for granted that an english teacher teaches english. a teacher, as an educator, is required to do more than merely passing on his knowledge; he must make himself a good example in every aspect for the students to follow.education is a sacred cause vital to the survival, de

17、velopment and civilization of mankind, for its mission is to make men. and making of men involves not only intellectual development, but also moral and physical development. being one devoted to this sacred cause, a teacher should be a person with a real sense of commitment and responsibility. he sh

18、ould contribute his talents, ability and efforts to the job of a teacher, he should always prepare the lecture and plan the classroom activity carefully, try to understand the students knowledge level, difficulties, and unceasingly improve his teaching to best suit and benefit the students, so as to

19、 achieve optimum teaching result. since a teacher is required to teach a subject, he must know how to do it well. as a matter of fact, ever since mankind came into being, teaching has been carried on from generation to generation. however, teaching efficiently and effectively is an issue that has lo

20、ng been studied, and still remains an issue worthier of studying. a teacher should not be one who just reads out the textbook to the students, while the students at the same time, listen to him, repeat what they have learnt, do some exercise from time to time, and try hard to understand and remember

21、 what they are taught. in other words, a teacher should not be one who merely passed his own knowledge to his students. in that way, the students shall never learn more than their teacher, possibly resulting in the tragedy that mankind shall inevitably become weaker and weaker in intelligence and ab

22、ility from generation to generation. a teacher, therefore, should be one who enlightens the students to learn more than he does. not only should a qualified teacher in the future have modern educational idea, possess steady professional knowledge and extensive knowledge range, but also know certain

23、educational science knowledge and master educational technology, as well as know how to perform modern educational technology, as well as know how to perform modern educational technology to carry out creative instructional activity.so far in china, we have done a lot in studying how to improve engl

24、ish teaching, but the reword for the effort seems to be very little. the shortage of english teachers has become a barrier in the course of the development of opening up to the outside world. now our country has stepped through the gate of wto. it seems more urgent to train a large number of qualifi

25、ed teachers in the development strategy of china. however, what role should a teacher play in the teaching process? . traditional roles of teachers in elt for decades chinese english teachers teach english in traditional teaching method. the traditional teaching methods, which are characte

26、ristic of teacher-centered, examination-oriented, grammar and vocabulary based, still knowledge is transmitted through the teacher who acts as an authority, a knowledge-giver and moral example. emphasis is placed on teaching rather than students who are passive knowledge receivers. they have few opp

27、ortunities to apply what they have learned to practical communication. taking a reading class as an example, the teacher explains every point of vocabulary, structure, style and content of the text, word-by-word, phrase-by-phrase, and students are kept busy with their pens taking notes. most teacher

28、s are fed up with the grammar translation method; teachers as the authority who dominates the whole class. according to liu xiaohong, “traditionally, the evaluation of a teacher has depended on the amount of knowledge he or she crammed into the students heads: the more, the better.” (liu xiaohong, 2

29、002) its apparent that the teacher plays an important role in the classroom. the teacher is unquestionable authority that dominates the class from the beginning to the end. quite a lot of teachers appear to be ignorant about what functions should perform in class. they usually tend to be in superior

30、ity over their students. (lili chen, 2004) therefore, a successful teacher is considered as one who lets loose a flood of eloquence while standing on the platform of the classroom. he or she is not concerned with students feelings and reactions. in this case, there is no doubt that the students are

31、“ignorant audience” or “passive audience” who write down the mechanically the precious words that teachers has taught. this will be seriously effect of classroom teaching. the time of classroom is spent in explaining and analyzing grammar, sentences, phrases, words and their usages and there is almo

32、st no time in practicing and communicating. liu xiaohong pointed out, “its obvious that the teaching is focused on linguistic competence rather than communicative competence.” there is a lack of communication between the teacher and students, and the teacher cant obtain much feedback from his or her

33、 “audience”. the teachers role is decided by the aims that the teacher tries to obtain. the experienced teacher always thinks of what is the best method to achieve the goals of the lesson. he or she can create his own method that leads to the achievement of the aims properly. the ideal teacher will

34、not follow someones method. because once the traditional way followed, students have no opportunity to take activity part in the classroom activity to communicate. it will make students be passive receptor and frustrate their potential and creativity.as we know, for the chinese students there is no

35、other way than in the classroom to learn english through interaction with the teacher. therefore classroom teaching of english is of great importance for both the teacher and students. however, in the teacher-centered class, students learn the language from their teacher, but they cant use it. nowad

36、ays, many linguists and english teachers in china are turning to the communicative approach. the learner-centered approach is paid much attention to it aims at improving learners communicative competence. group work, one of the most important class activities for developing students communicative ab

37、ility, is gradually being adopted for use in english as a foreign language.  . modern roles of the teachers in elt modern elt, many teachers have to attend special speaking, listening, reading and writing courses to improve students ability to use the language. in the process teachers are

38、expected not only to have much knowledge but also train the students ability to communicate. thus, for learners, they are no longer passive containers of introduced by teachers. they are given greater freedom in managing their own learning. however, all these cant be achieved without teachers proper

39、 motivation and guidance. therefore, in this learner-centered class the teacher has to shift his or her role from a dominant teacher to an organizer or a director, because the goal of language teaching is to enable students to use the taught language to communicate efficiently in real life. it break

40、s down the traditional teaching patterns. (liu xiaohong, 2002) for teachers, their roles have changed a lot. it changes from earlier absolute controller and commanders of classroom activities to present-day organizer, guides, assessors, motivators, promoters and participants and so on. therefore, “i

41、n classroom teaching and learning situation, the students are expected to be involved in all kinds of classroom activities to ensure a sufficient chance of learning and using the target language.”, “in various types of classroom activities of language teaching, the teachers behavior and functions wi

42、ll be quite different.” (lili chen, 2004). then, the role of the teacher in learner-centered elt class will depend to a large extent on the function. he is expected to perform in different activities of classroom teaching.although many people consider the role of the teacher as an important componen

43、t of efficient classroom management, some researchers regard it as part of the design of a methodology or approach. someone pointed out: teacher roles are related ultimately to assumptions about language and language learning at the level of approach. that is, different approaches stipulate differen

44、t roles for the teacher. then, what kinds of roles do teachers play in today english language teaching? although different approaches stipulate different roles, there are some common roles that teachers play in most of the major approaches. the things that a teacher does before, during and after the

45、 class and the degree to which he does these things reflect his assumptions about roles teachers should play in language teaching. before the class, the teacher is a planner, who plans what to teach, how to teach, and what result to achieve. after the class the teacher is an evaluator, who evaluates

46、 not only how successful he has conducted the class but also how efficient the learning activities have been. based on the functions that the teacher performs in different activities, the following is the major roles english teachers can play in the process of language. 3.1 controllers the teac

47、her controls the pace of the teaching so that activities run smoothly and efficiently, for instance, when students do skimming and scanning tasks. it is very important for the teacher to control the time. when doing lockstep activities the teacher controls the whole class so that everyone has an equ

48、al chance. when students do production activities, the teachers control can make sure the students use certain target language items and their production has a degree of accuracy. when we talk about the advantages of teacher control, we mean appropriate degree of control. over-control will do no les

49、s harm to students than no control at all. besides, different activities need a different degree of control. some teachers use terms like controlled practice, half-controlled practice, and free practice to indicate where control is needed and where control should be relaxed. the more communicative a

50、n activity is, the less the control that is needed. 3.2 motivatorsmotivation generally refers to students desires and efforts to learn. without a personal desire to learn, the real learning cannot take place. motivation is an important thing that teachers bring to the classroom. the way in whic

51、h teachers teach must have some effect on students motivation. the first step for a teacher to generate learners motivation is to engender their interests in language learning. he can achieve this by (1) inquiring learners what they need most or what is hindering them most in learning; (2) what they

52、 are satisfied with in class, (3) what are their favorite teaching approaches, according to this feedback; teachers can decide what will be kept or changed and what will be added or left out. such an inquiry helps to work out flexible and instructive teaching plans on the one hand, and produce self-

53、important, ready to cooperate learners on the other hand. in teaching, teachers must lay stress on students and quality education. try to arouse students emotional feeling to learn english. every student should have given the feeling that he can learn and is learning. teachers should always remember

54、 to provide activities in which the less able students can achieve success.teachers should be very sure that their students have understood the structure being taught before engaging in any practice activities, so that they may feel able to participate. teachers should relate the material they are l

55、earning to real life situations, the people, places or events that are familiar to them. words, structures and material must be used, that is, examples given should be familiar to the students. this is not only beneficial in learning new items but gives students achievement motivation. for instance,

56、 in the oral lesson, the teacher-as-motivator is playing the single and most important role, whatever technical virtues a teacher possesses, however various knowledge the teacher has, without motivation the students will never learn. 3.3 organizersby lili chen (2004), the task of the teacher is

57、 to create for students a right classroom atmosphere which is warm and stimulating and in which the students will feel confident and much motivated. also, the teacher should take the responsibilities of organizing various kinds of activities, and games which are appropriate, effective and relevant t

58、o the classroom teaching and which will best meet the students needs and expectations. perhaps the most important and difficult role a teacher has to play is that of organizer. the success of many activities depends on good organization. nowadays many approaches and methods advocate task-based learning activities. so one of the teachers major responsibilities is to design a