王蔷主编的《英语教学法教程》第二版-Unit-1

1、精品文档Unit 1 Language and Language LearningAims of the unitIn this unit we will discuss somegeneral matters about language learning and teaching. We are going to discuss five questions on particular:1. How do we learn language?2. What are the common views on language?3. What are the common views on la

2、nguage learning?4. What are the qualities of a good language teacher?5. How can one become a good language teacher?1.1 How do we learn languages?Mach of human behavior is influencedby their experiences. The waylanguage teachers teach in the classroom is to some extent influenced by the way they lear

3、ned languages. This is especially true in foreign language teaching. Before we discuss language learning theories, let us first reflect on our own language learning experience.Task 1Below is a list of interview questions on how people learn a foreign language. In the first column, write down your ow

4、n responses. Then interview three other students in your class and enter their responses in the other columns. Discuss your findings in group of 4 and draw some conclusion.YouST1ST2ST31. Howmanyforeign languages can you speak so far?2. When did you start learning the foreign language(s)?3. How do yo

5、u feel about learning a foreign language?4. What difficultieshave you experienced inlearning?5. Which skill do you find more difficult to learn?6. Have you focused on knowledge or skills? Why?7. Why do you learn the foreign language(s)?8. Do you consider yourself a successful learner? Why?9. What ar

6、e your most common learning activities?10. Do you like the way you learned the foreign language(s)?. 。1欢迎下载精品文档From the above task, you may have found that 1) people started learning a foreign language at different ages; 2) people have different experiences in learning a foreign language, somefind i

7、t easy, somefind it difficult;3) people learn languages for different reasons; 4) people learn languages in different ways; 5) people have different understandings about language learning; 6) people have different capacities in language learning; 7) learning can be affected by the way it is taught;

8、8) learning is affected by the degree of success one is expected to achieve; and more. Thus the challenge confronting language teaching is how teaching methodology can ensure successful learning by all the learners who have more differences than the commonality.1.2 views on languageThe question that

9、 all approaches to language teaching should answer is, what is language? The answer to this question is the basis for syllabus designs, teaching methodology, teaching and assessment procedures in the classroom. Different views on language generate different teaching methodologies.Task 2Work in group

10、 of 4. Brainstorm possible answer to the question: what is language? When you are ready, join another group and share your ideas.To give a concise definition of language has always been difficult for linguists and philogists. Although there has been an enormous amount of research in language in the

11、past century, no authoritative answer has been given to what is language? rather, people have settle down to talk about views of language, seemingly allowing for or accepting different theories for the moment. However, language teachers clearly need to know generally what sort of entity they are dea

12、ling with and how the particular language they are teaching fits into that entity (Brown, 1994a). for sample definition of language , please refer to Appendix 1.Structural viewThe structural view of language sees language as a linguistic system made up of various subsystems (Larsen-Freeman & Long, 1

13、991): the sound system (phonology); the discrete units of meaning produced by sound combinations (morphology),and the system of combining unitsof meaning forcommunication (syntax). Each language has a finitenumber of suchstructural items. To learn a language means to learn these structuralitems so a

14、s to be able to understand and produce language. When this structural view of language was combined with the stimulus-response principles of behaviorist psychology, the audio-lingual approach to language learning emerged.Functional viewIn the 1960s, British linguists developed a system of categories

15、 basedon the communicative needs of the learner (Johnson and Marrow, 1981) and proposed a syllabus based on communicative functions. The functional view not only sees languages as a linguistic system but also a means for doing things. Most of our day-to-day language use involves functional activitie

16、s:offering, suggesting, advising, apologizing, etc. therefore,learners learn a language in order to be able to do with it. In order to perform functions, learners need to know how to combine the grammatical rules and the vocabulary to express notions that perform the functions.Examples of notions ar

17、e the concept of present, past and future time, the expressionsof certainty and possibility, theroles of agents,instruments with a sentence, and special relationshipsbetween people andobjects.Interactional viewThe interactional view considers language to be a communicative tool, whosemain use is to

18、build up and maintain social relations between people. Therefore, learners not only need to know the grammar and vocabulary of the language but as importantly they need to know the rules for using them in a whole range of communicative contexts.These three views present an ever wider view of languag

19、e. The structural view limits knowing a language to knowing its structural rules and vocabulary. The communicative or notional-functional view adds the need to know how to use the rules and vocabulary to do whatever it is one wants to do. The interactional view says that to know how to do what you w

20、ant to do involves also knowing whether it is appropriate to do, and where, when and how it is appropriate to do it. In order to know this, you have to study the patterns and rules of language above the sentence level to learn how language is used in different speech contexts.The understanding of th

21、e nature of language may provide the basis for a particular teaching method (Richard and Rodgers, 1986), but more importantly, it is closely related to the understanding of language learning. If language is considered to have a finite number of structural items, learning the language probably means

22、learning these items. If language is more than just a system of structures, it is more importantly a tool then to learn the language learning. If language is more than just a system of structures, it is more importantly a tool, then to learn the language means to use it, rather than just study what

23、it is and how itis formed. The next section discusses somecurrent theories about language learning.1.3 Views on Language learning and learning in generalA language learning theory underlyingan approach or method usuallyanswers two questions; 1) What are the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes i

24、nvolved in language learning? 2) What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be activated?Task3Work in groups of 4. Brainstorm the answers to the two questions stated above.When you are ready, join another group and share your ideas.Although these two questio

25、ns have never been satisfactorily answered, a vast amount of research has been done from all aspects. The research can be broadly divided into process-oriented theories and condition-oriented theories. Process-oriented theories are concerned with how the mind organizes new information such as habit

26、formation, induction, making inference, hypothesis testing and generalization.Condition-orientedtheories emphasize the nature of the humanand physical context in which language learning takes place, such as the number of students, the kind of input learners receive, and the atmosphere. Someresearche

27、rs attempt to formulate teaching approaches directly from these theories. For example, the Natural Approach, Total Physical Response, and the Silent Way are based on one or more dimensions of processes and conditions. At this level, it is too early to formulate a specific approach, because some aspe

28、cts are still too vague, for example, what is done in these processes.Behaviorist theoryThe behaviorist theory of language learning was initiated by behavioural psychologist Skinner, who applied Watson and Raynors theory of conditioning to the way human acquire language (Harmer, 1983). Based on thei

29、r experiments, Watson and Raynor formulated a stimulus-response theory of psychology. In this theory all complex forms of behavior motions, habits and suchare seen as composed of simple muscular and glandular elements that can be observed and measured. Theyclaimed that emotional reactions are learne

30、d in muchthe sameway as other skills. The key point of the theory of conditioning is that you can train an animal to do anything (within reason) if you follow a certain procedure which has three major stages, stimulus, response, and reinforcement (Harmer, 1983:30).Based on the theory of conditioning

31、, Skinner suggested that language is also a form of behavior. It can be learned the same way as an animal is trained to respond to stimuli. This theory of learning is referred to as behaviorism, which was adopted for some time by the language teaching profession, particularly in the U.S. One influen

32、tial result is the audio-lingual method, which involves endless listen and repeat drilling activities.The idea of this method is that language is learned by constantrepetitionand thereinforcement of the teacher. Mistakes wereimmediately corrected, and correct utterances were immediately praised. Thi

33、s method is still used in many parts of the world today.Cognitive theoryThe term cognitivism is often used loosely to describe methods in which students are asked to think rather than simply repeat. It seems to be largely the result of Noam Chomsky s reaction to Skinner s behaviorist theory, which l

34、ed to the revival of structural linguistics. The key point of Chomsky s theory is reflected in his most famous question: if all language is a learned behavior, how can a child produce a sentence that never been said by others before?According to Chomsky, language is not a form of behavior, it is an

35、intricate rule-based system and a large part of language acquisition is the learning of this system. There are a finite numberof grammatical rules in the system and with a knowledge of these an infinite number of sentences can be produced. A language learner acquires language competence which enable

36、s him to produce language.Though Chomskys theory is not directly applied in language teaching, it has had a great impact on the profession. One influential idea is that students should be allowed to create their own sentences based on their understanding of certain rules. This idea is clearly in opp

37、osition to the audio-lingual method.Although people are pretty much still in the dark as to what language is and how language is learned, it is believed that general knowledge about language and language learning will help language teachers do a better job.5 欢迎下载 。精品文档Constructivist theoryThe constr

38、uctivist theory believes that learning is a process in which the learner constructs meaning based on his/her own experiences and what he/she already knows. Although constructivist theory was not developed for the understanding of language learning, it is widely applicable to learning in general. It

39、is believed that education is used to develop the mind, not just to rote recall what is learned. John Dewey provided a foundation for constructivism. He believed that teaching should be built based on what learners already knew and engage learners in learning activities. Teachers need to design envi

40、ronments and interact with learners to foster inventive, creative, critical learners. Therefore, teachers must balance an understanding of the habits, characteristics as well as personalities of individual learners with an understanding of the means of arousing learner s interests and curiosity for

41、learning (Archambault, 1964).Socio-constructivist theorySimilar to constructivist theory, socio-constructivist theory represented by Vygotsky (1978) emphasizes interactionand engagement withthe target language in a social context based on the concept ofZone ofProximal Development (ZPD) and scaffoldi

42、ng.In other words, learning isbest achieved through the dynamic interactionbetween the teacher and thelearner and between learners. With the teachers scaffolding throughquestions and explanations, or with a more capable peers support, thelearner can move to a higher level of understanding and extend

43、 his/her skills and knowledge and knowledge to the fullest potential.1.4 What makes a good language teacher?Some people with an excellent command of a foreign language may not be able to teach the language well while others with a general command of the language can teach it very effectively. What d

44、o you think might account for this phenomenon?Task 4Workin groups. Reflect on your ownlearning experience from early school years to the university. Have you had an excellent English teacher? Try to identify as manyqualities as possible of your best English teacher(s). Note downall the qualities tha

45、t you think are important for a good English teacher.It is clear that whether someonecan becomea good foreign language teacher does not solely depend on hisher command of the language. There are a variety of elements that contributes to the qualities of a good language teacher. These elements can be

46、 categorized into three groups:ethicdevotion, professional qualities and personal styles(Parrot, 1993).Task 5Ethic devotion, professional qualities and personal styles jointly contribute to the making of a good English teacher. All the adjectives in the box below could be used to characterize these

47、three aspects.1. Workin groups of 4 and decide which adjectives describe ethic devotion, which describe personal styles and which describe professional qualities. Please write your answers on a separate piece of paper.2. Add any adjectives to the list which describe further qualities that you feel a

48、re missing.3. These adjectives are intended to describe positive qualities or styles. Do you feel that any of them could have a negative side as well? If yes, in what way? For example, an authoritative teacher may make the students feel assured, but may also make the student less free to disagree wi

49、th himher.kindhardworking creative patient resourceful reflective well-prepared flexible accurate enthusiastic caring disciplineddynamicwell-informed fair attentiveintuitivehumorousprofessionally-trainedauthoritativewarm-hearted(Adaptedfrom Tasks for Language Teachers, Martin Parrot,1993)From the ab

50、ove activities we can see that a good English teacher should have ethic devotion, certain desirable personal styles, and more importantly, he or she should have necessary professional qualities.These three aspects constitute the professional competence of a good English teacher. A person who has a g

51、ood command of English is not necessarily a good teacher because he has only one of the elements of professional competence.It is assumedthat all responsible English teachers have ethic devotion, and they are supposed to make their personal styles compatible with their work. These two aspects, which

52、 are beyond the scope of this book,o7欢迎下载精品文档can be achieved as long as the teacher himselfherself has the willingness to do so.A question that many teachers often ask is: I like my job, and I love the students, but how can I become a good English teacher? Our answer is that they need professional c

53、ompetence, which weare going to discuss in the next section.1.5 How can one become a good language teacher?The most important and most difficult part of the making of a good language teacher is the development of professional competence, which is the state or quality of being adequately qualified fo

54、r the profession, and armed with a specific range of skills, strategies, knowledge, and ability.Task 6Work in pairs and discuss how one can become a professionally competent teacher of English. For example, we have to develop our English proficiency first and also we mayneed to learn from experience

55、d teachers through observations. What else can you think of? Make a list and then pool all your ideas together to find out about your common beliefs.A language teacher s professional competence is much more difficult than a driver s skill to handle a car, and is more complicated than a student s com

56、petence of speaking foreign language. It involves more factors and longer learning time, and may never be finished.Somepeople think teaching is a craft; that is, a novice teacher can learn the profession by imitating the experts techniques, just like an apprentice. Others hold the view that teaching

57、 is an applied science, based on scientific knowledge and experimentation. By making a compromise between these two views, Wallace (1991) uses a“reflective model” todemonstrate the development of professional competence. The following model is an adapted version to illustrate the process of becoming

58、 a professionally competent teacher.Figure LI(AdapKd fnxm Wallace. 1991:15)Figure 1.1 Teacher s professional development(Adapted from Wallace, 1991:15)From the above model, we can see the development of professional competence for a language teacher involves Stage 1, Stage 2 and Goal. The first stage is language development. All English teachers are supposed to have a sound commanobf English. As language is the subject matter for language teachers and also because language is always changing, l