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序言:寫作是分享個人見解和探索未知領域的橋梁,我們?yōu)槟x了8篇的英語文學碩士論文樣本,期待這些樣本能夠為您提供豐富的參考和啟發(fā),請盡情閱讀。
英語新聞視聽說是英語專業(yè)的一門基礎課程,具有很強的實用性,能夠提高學生的綜合應用能力和實踐能力。將建構主義理論引入英語新聞視聽說教學,是對該課程教師實踐的創(chuàng)新和發(fā)展,具有重要意義。
一、建構主義理論分析
建構主義理論是認知心理學的重要組成部分,該理論認為知識不是通過教師傳授得到,而是學生在一定的情境即社會文化背景下,借助其他人(包括教師和學習伙伴)的幫助,利用必要的學習資料,通過意義建構的方式而獲得。學習是在一定的情境即社會文化背景下,借助其他人的幫助即通過人際間的協(xié)作活動而實現(xiàn)的意義建構過程,因此建構主義學習理論認為“情境”、“協(xié)作”、“會話”和“意義建構”是學習環(huán)境中的四大要素或四大屬性。
二、建構主義下英語新聞視聽說教學的實踐原則
1.以學生為中心
建構主義理論認為知識是由認知主體主動建構的結果,強調學生作為認知的主體,而教學則為學生主動進行意義建構提供了促進、指導和合作。學生應該轉換態(tài)度,從原來知識被動的接受者轉變?yōu)橹R主動的構建者。該理論要求教師要以學生為中心,培養(yǎng)他們對知識的主動獲取和探索能力以及對知識的意義建構能力,教師也應更新觀念,從傳授知識的角度轉變?yōu)橐龑А⒅С謱W生主動建構知識的角度,激發(fā)學生學習興趣和積極性。學生在學習過程中發(fā)揮主體作用,主動搜集分析相關學習資料,提出問題和假設,將所學內容與已知事物聯(lián)系起來并加以認真思考,提高學習效率和質量。
2.以掌握視聽說為目的
建構主義主張“為理解而學習”,這就要求英語新聞視聽說教學要使學生在學習英語的過程中獲得系統(tǒng)化的知識,不僅僅能解決書本和課堂上的問題,學生要主動對知識進行意義建構,突破英語學習的基本層次,把握英語新聞中想要真正傳達的信息和意義,提高英語新聞理解能力和表達能力。通過英語新聞的視聽說課程,學生能夠充分掌握基本英語知識,例如一些單詞句子,同時理解英語新聞中的信息和含義,并能夠用英語表達自己的想法提出建議。
3.以協(xié)作為方式
語言的學習只有在于他人的交流中才能充分掌握,所以進行語言意義的建構,要通過學生與教師、學生之間的多方交流,而且教師和學生需要進行學習資料的交換和探討。協(xié)作方式在英語新聞學習的過程中有著重要的作用,能夠更大程度地促進整個學習團隊共同目標的達成,并能夠激起學習團隊的合作和進步精神。在英語新聞視聽說教學中,學生在教師的引導或自行組織下,組成學習小組,相互交流討論,分享學習經驗和相關知識,共同達成學習目標并形成一定的激勵機制,激發(fā)學習的動力和熱情。
4.以情境創(chuàng)設為手段
建構主義認為學生是與一定的“情境”相聯(lián)系的,在實際的情境中,學生可以利用原有知識和經驗獲取新的知識并賦予其某種意義,或者對原有知識體系進行重建,達成新的知識的意義建構過程。英語新聞視聽說教學中的情境創(chuàng)設,能夠提高課堂學習的生動性和豐富性,使學生熟悉現(xiàn)實生活中可能遇到的問題,掌握常見的表達方式,以適應現(xiàn)實中多變的語言環(huán)境。所以,教師需要精心創(chuàng)設教學情境,選擇真實的符合現(xiàn)實情況的任務,以提高學生的基本功和知識面,支持幫助學生意義建構的達成,提高學生的應用能力。
三、建構主義理論下的英語新聞視聽說教學實踐策略
1.科學安排教學實踐過程
英語新聞視聽說的教學過程包括課程前的準備,課程中的操作和課程后的擴展三方面,下面對這三方面進行具體分析。
第一,課程前準備的程序是,首先教師選擇合適的教材交給學生,學生自己查找相關背景資料和媒體信息,整理相關詞匯句子,提前做好知識準備。其次教師在播放視聽說材料之前提出問題,播放自己整理的學習資料讓學生進行思考。再次教師讓學生分組進行討論,并與學生互相交流,根據(jù)他們自己的學習材料對背景進行分析。
第二,具體的課堂教學過程中,教師要把握播放時的技巧,讓學生能夠在安靜專注的環(huán)境中進行視聽,減除外在干擾,讓學生能夠掌握材料所要傳達的信息,并找出自己不理解的內容和聽不懂的語句。在重復進行播放視聽材料時,教師要為其設置的問題提供線索,引導學生積極思考并提出疑問。在精聽環(huán)節(jié),教師要針對問題進行具體必要講解,補充視聽材料和更多背景知識,幫助學生更加深入地學習視聽材料的內涵和所要傳達的真正信息,并為他們傳授視聽技巧。最后,教師再次讓學生分組討論并鼓勵他們表達自己的觀點。經過一系列的視聽過程,使學生掌握基本英語新聞知識并培養(yǎng)學生發(fā)現(xiàn)問題解決問題的能力。
第三,視聽說教學結束后,首先,教師要督促學生在課下對英語新聞材料進行認真聆聽跟讀,學習英語表達語調和語氣;其次,教師還應該為學生提供廣泛的視聽內容,讓他們在課下進行泛聽以提高聽力能力和理解能力;再次,教師可以組織一系列有趣的活動或比賽,或者鼓勵學生自己組織競賽,激發(fā)他們的學習熱情,提高他們學習的參與性和積極性。
2.英語新聞的導入形式多樣化,合理使用視聽材料
英語新聞進入英語專業(yè)學習課堂,可以采用多種形式,體現(xiàn)學生差異性,將聽、寫、譯、說多種方式結合。報紙、廣播和網絡英語新聞有其不同的特點和差異,又有基本的結構和模式。所以,學生首先要整體掌握英語新聞的構成和布局,在分析不同形式的英語新聞的區(qū)別和聯(lián)系,再進行視聽說時就相對簡單易于理解。同時,教師也要考慮學生的學習進度,將慢速與快速英語結合,針對不同學生進行教學。在選取視聽教材時,教師要精挑細選,盡量選取具有真實語言環(huán)境并涉及社會生活多方面的教學內容,擴展英語新聞的內容層面,滿足學生的不同需求。
關鍵詞:高中語文教學;探究性學習;策略
中圖分類號:G633.3 文獻標識碼:B文章編號:1672-1578(2016)10-0072-02
新課改主要是為了改變以往的教學過于強調接受學習、死記硬背、機械訓練的現(xiàn)狀,倡導學生主動參與、樂于探究、勤于動手、敢于質疑。高中語文的探究性學習注重培養(yǎng)學生的獨立性和自主性,引導學生質疑、調查、探究,讓學生在實踐中學習。
1.高中語文教學中存在的問題
傳統(tǒng)的高中語文教學主要采用"灌輸式"的教學方法。教師只是一味地講知識,學生只能被動地被灌輸知識。有時候,學生對一些問題只是一知半解,但是教師為了趕課程進度沒有顧慮到學生理解的問題。這就造成了學生對上課沒有興趣,缺乏學習的主動性。久而久之,形成了一種惡性循環(huán)。
應試教育在我國已經"流行"了很多年。語文學習的目的就是應付高考,在學習過程中,學生學到的更多的是應試技巧,而非語文真正的內涵。在應試教育的環(huán)境下,語文這門人文性、思想性很強的學科"淪落"為分數(shù)的奴隸。另外學生們不能真正地感受到語文的內涵,更是因為考試使得他們僅僅從功利的角度來對待這門課程。
2.探究性學習
探究性學習即是探究式科學教育,是指學生在學科領域內或現(xiàn)實生活情境中選取某個問題作為突破點,通過質疑、發(fā)現(xiàn)問題、調查研究、分析研討、解決問題、表達與交流等探究性學習活動。在這個過程中,學生們可以獲得知識,激發(fā)興趣,掌握程序與方法。
高中語文的探究性教學是新課改的重要內容。在高中語文的探究性學習過程中,學生是教學活動的主體,教師僅僅作為一個引導人,將學生帶向正確的方向。因此,在探究性學習過程中,學生一定要充分發(fā)揮其主觀能動性,要有獨立解決問題的意識。切忌盲目跟隨,在問題解決過程中一定要有主見,不能隨波逐流。
3.高中語文探究性學習的意義
3.1 激發(fā)學生的學習興趣。傳統(tǒng)的高中語文教學是"灌輸式"教學,在這種教學模式下,學生們被迫接受知識。加之教學內容枯燥無味,注重對語文書本知識的深入解讀,不聯(lián)系實際,更是使得學生對語文學習提不起興趣。烏申斯基曾說過,強制一個對學習沒有絲毫興趣的學生去學習將會扼殺他對探究真理的欲望。畢竟,興趣是最好的老師。
然而,在新課改下的高中語文探究性學習彌補了傳統(tǒng)語文教學的不足。在探究性學習中教師不再是僅僅教授知識,碩士論文而是努力激發(fā)學生的學習興趣,引導學生進行探究性學習。當枯燥的被動學習變?yōu)榱酥鲃訉W習時,學生享受到了學習帶來的樂趣。
3.2 訓練學生的思維能力。高中生已經具有了一定的思維能力,但是這些思維能力還不夠成熟,需要實踐的檢驗。新課改條件下的語文課堂,無疑是他們實踐的最佳場所。探究性學習并非是停留在口頭上的口號,它需要切身的實踐。探究性學習是圍繞文本而進行的過程,在這個過程中,學生的思維空間不斷被拓展,眼界不斷被拓寬。為了能夠在探究性的學習過程中取得更加優(yōu)異的成績,學生們會尋求各種途徑獲得知識,從課堂內到課堂外,從國內到國外。
3.3 減輕教師的負擔。在以往的高中語文教學過程中,學生知識的獲得都是通過教師的講解。為了可以解決學生提出來的問題,教師必須做好各方面的準備。在這種情況下,教師的工作壓力特別大,因為他們不但要深入了解課本上的知識,還要知道相關的知識。然而,探究性學習可以有效地減輕教師的負擔。因為在探究性學習過程中學生是學習的主體,教師的很多工作都會被學生分擔。
4.高中語文探究性學習的策略
4.1 把握高中語文學科特點。我們從上小學開始,就一直學習語文,作為一門基礎的人文學科,它自然要運用到實際的生活中。高中語文并不是一門獨立的學科,它與其他各學科都有著密不可分的聯(lián)系。
首先,它是一門語言學科。就像英語這種語言學科一樣,多讀多看自然有利于成績的提高。不要說"我是中國人,學習語文就是多余"這樣的話。因為無論我們學習了多長時間,都不可能在這個日新月異的時代真正地將語言運用到爐火純青的地步。其次,它是一門文化學科。就像歷史,地理等人文學科一樣,我們只有經過深入的探究與廣泛的實踐才能對其有一個較為清楚的了解。最后,它是一門思維學科。就像數(shù)學,物理等自然學科一樣,語文并不是我們以為的純文學,它也需要縝密的思維作為基礎。
4.2 營造師生共同參與參與的學習氛圍。在探究性學習這種新型的教學模式下,學生和教師的關系發(fā)生了一些變化。學習不再是教師一味地講解,學生一味地聽講,而是師生共同參與,相互協(xié)作,共同進步。在這種輕松的學習環(huán)境下,學生的學習興趣極大的提高,并且學習的主觀能動性被極大地激發(fā)出來。
5.結語
高中語文的探究性學習以學生為主體,將學生的學習主人翁意識充分發(fā)揮出來。高中語文的探究性學習不但能夠體現(xiàn)當代對于素質教育的要求,而且有利于提高學生的主觀能動性。在探究性學習的過程中,學生之間相互合作,互相交流,對他們以后進入社會工作非常有利。最關鍵的是,他們在探究性學習的過程中會鍛煉他們的組織和管理能力,對他們以后進入社會應對各種考驗打下基礎。
參考文獻:
[1] 應素芬.淺析高中語文教學中的探究性學習策略[J].課外語文,2015,24:59.
關于課題研究申請書1
xx區(qū)課題規(guī)劃辦:
我校承擔的“創(chuàng)建書香校園”小學國學經典誦讀的研究”課題,因課題負責人原校長田雪芬同志調離本校,需要變更課題負責人為現(xiàn)本校校長武截斌并重新整理課題研究內容“小學經典誦讀的研究”,特提出變更申請:結題時間由20xx年6月改為20xx年12月。
當否,請批示。
xx小課題組
20xx年6月21日
關于課題研究申請書2
課題名稱: 聚焦購物的計算教與學模式研究
課題負責人: 林川
申請單位: 成都市實驗小學西區(qū)
填表日期: 20xx年11月
研究問題
如何把生活中各種購物問題與計算教學有機地結合起來,從而讓學生真實地感受、理解、掌握計算策略、計算技能的形成過程,促進學生的計算能力與生活能力協(xié)同發(fā)展。
研究目標
1、學生方面:
(1)通過研究,調動學生的學習熱情,引導其能夠深刻理解計算學習對于生活的重要意義,感受擁有及利用知識的力量和學習的快樂。
(2)通過研究,讓學生成為計算思想和方法的明智使用者, 提高計算的速度與準確,從而促進學生的計算能力與生活能力的協(xié)同發(fā)展。
2、教師方面:
(1)通過研究,促進教師不斷改善教學方法,形成計算教學獨有的個人風格,人人都能上好計算課,并能推廣到其他類型的課堂。
(2)通過研究,使計算教學在算理、算法、技能這三方面得到和諧的發(fā)展與提高,從而提高教學質量。
3、家長、學校、社會方面:
(1)通過研究,讓家長和社會感受到學生在實際生活中運用所學所發(fā)生的顯著變化,讓家長滿意,讓社會滿意,從而提高我校的知名度。
(2)通過研究,逐步體現(xiàn)社會對數(shù)學賦予的效益、創(chuàng)新、價值取向、情感態(tài)度等涵義,從而實現(xiàn)二十一世紀教育對人才培養(yǎng)的目標。
研究內容
低段——購物中簡單的計算:如市場購物(只涉及整數(shù)的計算);購買門票,乘車方案等。
中段——購物中較復雜的計算:如市場購物(涉及整數(shù)、小數(shù)的混合計算);乘車方案、購買門票、住宿安排、旅游費用等的最優(yōu)化設計。
高段——購物中復雜的計算:如商場購物的折扣及送券、省現(xiàn)金等相關計算(涉及整數(shù)、小數(shù)、分數(shù)的混合計算);有關儲蓄的相關問題,如利息的計算;個人收入所得稅的計算;能用百分數(shù)解決的實際問題(包括成數(shù)的計算);股票交易等的計算。
研究方法
1、觀察法:觀察相關課例,及時獲得并積累感性材料、驗證假說的必要手段。
2、問卷調查法:將所要研究的事項,制成問卷,發(fā)給學生和家長填寫,再進行分析研究,以獲取全面的`研究資料。
3、個案法:運用對個體的發(fā)展進行跟蹤調查,及時改進研究措施。
4、經驗總結法:通過活動過程反映的情況運用測量和統(tǒng)計對研究的數(shù)據(jù)進行定量分析,從而得出科學的結論。
研究計劃
第一階段:查新、制定研究計劃、立項。(20xx.11—20xx.12)這一階段主要收集相關研究資料,學習有關理論,在此基礎上討論并確立課題,做好課題實施方案,邀請專家對課題進行論證,修改完善課題方案。召開開題會議,確定人員分工,向區(qū)教科室申請立項。
第二階段:實施階段。(20xx.1—20xx.6)
這一階段的任務是根據(jù)擬定的課題和研究方案實施研究。研究過程應重視活動方案撰寫、學生活動、案例分析、資料收集、總結反思。
第三階段:結題。(20xx.7—20xx.12)
這一階段的任務是整理研究資料,對課題進行全面、科學的總結,撰寫研究報告,召開成果匯報會。
研究成果形式
1、實物資料:學生制作小報、數(shù)學日記,學生調查報告,計算比賽成果,家長調查表、反饋表
2、文字資料:研究報告,研究文集,教師論文,教學隨筆,案例或課例、計算學習讀本。
3、圖片及音像資料:購物節(jié)、計算比賽等活動的照片或影像、課例的照片或影像。
課題組單位意見
(包括提供所需條件等)
單位負責人(簽字) (公章)
年 月 日
專家組審核意見(至少兩名區(qū)學科帶頭人以上人員組成)
成員(簽字):
年 月 日
區(qū)學科教研組
審批意見
負責人(簽字) 年 月 日
區(qū)教師學習與資源中心科研室
審核意見
負責人(簽字)
年 月 日
備注:表填好后直接交到區(qū)學科教研員(組),一式三份。
關于課題研究申請書3
導讀:這些選修課與大學開設的課程緊密聯(lián)系,山東師范大學的楊旭東在碩士論文《高中選修課的歷史比較與現(xiàn)實思考》中將現(xiàn)行選修制度,浙江師范大學教育學院的徐才根和平湖市乍浦中學的曹躍平、孫曉峰在《教學月刊(中學版,東北師范大學王文娟在碩士論文《高中語文新課程教學改革活動中實施選修課(人教版)的,揚州大學教育科學學院的潘洪建、呂玉、鄒雙武發(fā)表在《調查與分析》上的《高中選修課學,有利于他們進行更為深入的科研調查。
一、課題設計論證
同類課題國內外研究狀況;本課題擬研究的主要問題、重點和難點;研究方法;學術價值;理論意義和實踐意義;預期效益。
一、國內外研究現(xiàn)狀分析
(一)國外母語選修課課程設置現(xiàn)狀:
早在上個世紀80年代,亞、非、歐、美等各洲60個國家中,普通高中開設選修課的國家就占76。7%,20年后的今天,這個比例只會更高。由此看出,普通高中設置選修課已成為基礎教育的發(fā)展趨勢。外國母語選修課比中國課程改革時間早,創(chuàng)新性強,實施狀況良好,選修課分類明晰,有條不紊,代表國家有美、英、日,詳細情況如下:
美國實行指定選修和任意選修相結合,根據(jù)課程的內容,分為語言和文學兩大類,語言類有的稱為“英語”,包括語言技能、實用寫作、有效交流等課程;文學類包括當代文學、英國文學、美國文學、歐洲文學等。對選修課設置不作統(tǒng)一規(guī)定,由各州和學校自行安排,學校對此沒有強行選課的規(guī)定;英國則是將組合選修和任意選修相結合,與語文有關的有英語、古典語文、戲劇研究、藝術史、拉丁語、西班牙語、俄語、印地語、英國文學、希臘語、漢語、意大利語等,絕大多數(shù)學校都把選修科目分成5~6組,供學生選擇;日本于1999年制訂并于20XX全面實施的高中課程,實行普通教育的學科有10科,國語科列在首位,包含6個科目:國語表達Ⅰ(2學分)、國語表達Ⅱ(4學分)、國語綜合(4學分)、現(xiàn)代文(4學分)、古典(4學分)和古典講讀(2學分)。其中只有“國語表達Ⅰ”為必修科目,其他均為選修。
(二)我國語文選修課課程設置與教學現(xiàn)狀研究:
我國高中選修課程設置及實施的時間較短,對于選修課的課程設置及實際教學已有的研究有:
1.關于新課標選修課課程設置的研究:
《普通高中語文課程標準(實驗)》共設置了“詩歌與散文”、“小說與戲劇”、“新聞與傳記”、“語言文字應用”、“文化論著研讀”等五個系列,每個系列又可開設若干模塊,這些選修課與大學開設的課程緊密聯(lián)系,模塊設置各具特色。北京教育科學研究院基礎教育教學研究中心主任王云峰發(fā)表于《中學語文教學》20XX年第8期上的《把握好高中選修課的特點》,對高中選修課的特點進行了分析。
但新課標對選修課的一些概念闡述不清,如“對于希望進一步學習的學生,建議從五個系列的選修課程中任意選修4個模塊,獲得8學分……對語文學習興趣濃厚并希望進一步深造的學生,建議在此基礎上,再從這五個系列里任意選修3個模塊”。進一步學習和進一步深造的標準是什么?課標對此沒有提出更詳細的說明,造成的實際情況是全國開設選修課的學校,幾乎所有參加高考的學生都修滿7個模塊,沒有因學生學習興趣與想報考學校不同而選擇不同的模塊。
山東師范大學的楊旭東在碩士論文《高中選修課的歷史比較與現(xiàn)實思考》中將現(xiàn)行選修制度分為三類:限定性選修課、任意選修課和定向選修課。
2.關于高中語文選修課教學現(xiàn)狀的研究:
高中語文選修課教學這塊也引起了國內學者、高中教師的廣泛關注,其研究主要體現(xiàn)在教學理念、教學方式,教學內容選取以及教學評價反思幾個方面,具體闡釋如下:
(1)教學理念與教學方式的相關研究:
北京教育科學研究院基礎教育教學研究中心主任王云峰發(fā)表在《中小學信息技術教育》20XX年第6期上的《積極建設網絡課程學xxx臺,有效推進高中選修課實驗》提出了信息共享在選修課中的重要性。
山東省棗莊市第八中學的教師孫晉諾發(fā)表在《語文建設》20XX年第2期上的《高中選修課教學的"三多"與"三少"》一文,對高中語文選修課教學提出了三點意見:多整合歸納少逐篇講析、多訓練語言少依靠活動、多具體指導少空口說教。
江蘇省常州市田家炳實驗中學的韓旭東發(fā)表在《現(xiàn)代語文(教學研究)》20XX年第10期上的《高中語文選修課程的教學策略初探》對語文選修課授課方式進行了討論。
浙江師范大學教育學院的徐才根和平湖市乍浦中學的曹躍平、孫曉峰在《教學月刊(中學版)》20XX年第10期上發(fā)表的《關于高中選修課中校長角色的思考》提出了校長角色的轉換問題。
江蘇靖江市季市中學的劉曉紅發(fā)表在《考試周刊》20XX年第26期上的《精準高考目標,體悟審美愉悅——例證現(xiàn)代散文選修課的一種教法》將選修課與高考進行了聯(lián)系,并對散文選修課教學提出了看法。
(2)教學內容的相關研究:
部分省市教育部門以及教育學者針對部分學校選修課走過場,形同虛設的問題進行了相關討論:
安徽省銅陵市教育局教研室的劉志勝的《高中語文選修課開設時間的思考》對必修課與選修課開設時間進行了討論。
廣東東莞市玉蘭中學的李園香發(fā)表在《中學語文(上旬·教學大參考)》20XX年第9期上的《高中話文選修課"同質化"現(xiàn)象及對其的反思》對學校將選修課當作必修課上的問題進行了分析。
(3)教學評價體系的相關研究;
東北師范大學王文娟在碩士論文《高中語文新課程教學改革活動中實施選修課(人教版)的思考》中針對課程設置、授課方式及評價制度進行了分析,并提出了幾種可行性比較高的評價方式:測驗法、調查法、自我評價法、學生成長記錄袋、問卷法等。
揚州大學教育科學學院的潘洪建、呂玉、鄒雙武發(fā)表在《調查與分析》上的《高中選修課學習的成績、問題與對策》中對選修課給學生帶來的收獲與不足之處進行了分析,通過調查發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)行考核制度無法體現(xiàn)選修課價值。
二、課堂研究的主要問題、重點和難點
(一)主要問題:
本課題主要研究高中語文選修課的課程設置和具體教學存在的問題及解決策略。通過把握新課標對語文選修課的相關規(guī)定,參考國內外學者對選修課的設置及教學研究,在有一定理論研究的基礎上,深入到昆明市重點高中語文教學中去,觀察并記錄一線語文教師對于選修課的教學實況,采訪一線語文教師、學校高層領導,了解這些基層教育者對人教版語文選修教材的看法,聽取他們對選修課的設置和實施的意見和建議;同時,以問卷調查的形式,了解目前學生對于選修課的學習狀況,從中揭示出選修課在當前語文教學中存在的問題,分析問題產生的影響因素。整理訪談資料,總結一線教師對選修課的教學的經驗教訓,學校領導對選修課設置與教學的期望和預期,從而建立一套科學、有效的選修課教學理論,為立志從事高中語文教育教學的師范生在選修課教學方面提供可行性意見和建議。具體而言,關于昆明市高中語文選修課的課程設置與教學分析研究主要包括:
1.實踐學校選修課的課程選擇和教學進度(課時)安排;
2.一線教師在選修課教學中的教學表現(xiàn)記錄和分析;
3.教師、學生對選修課教材、教學等的看法;
4.相對于必修課,學生在學習選修課中存在的問題;
5.實踐學校教師、領導對于選修課教學的意見和建議;
(二)重點和難點:
本課題研究的重點應放在昆明市部分高中選修課的教學狀況上。昆明實施選修課是最近兩年的事,起步比其他省市晚,不可避免地存在著一些問題。通過實地考察研究,揭示一線教師在選修課教學過程中存在的問題,分析問題產生的原因,引起社會廣泛關注和重視。另外,從一線教師選修課的教學過程中吸取經驗教訓,積極思考,開拓創(chuàng)新,試著結合教育學理論和一線教師的實踐經驗,總結歸納出一些高中語文選修課的教學理論,從而為新一輪的高中語文教師選修課教學指明方向。
本課題的研究難點在于教學問題原因分析、選修課理論與一線教師實施的內在聯(lián)系總結等幾個方面。教學過程中問題產生的原因可能很多,不僅僅是教師單方面的原因,而是學校、家長、社會等多方面的因素的綜合作用。因此,想要試圖解決選修課教學中存在的本質的、固有的問題,是有難度的。另外,通過新課標選修課設置和一線教師的實際教學之間的聯(lián)系、差距,反觀理論可能具有的缺陷或,在實際教學中對理論的靈活掌握,這些都是本次研究的難點。需要在實踐學校認真觀察,客觀有效的記錄,認真歸納總結所得的一手材料,從資料中得出理論,用事實說話。
三、研究方法
(一)觀察法:
1.采取非結構式觀察法對教師教學進行觀察,對一線語文教師在選修課教學過程中所運用的教學方法以及教學過程中的典型事件進行軼事記錄,如新穎的導入、有創(chuàng)意的提問等等,與必修課教學進行對比,總結選修課在實際教學中的特點、問題等。
2.采取實況詳錄法,觀察記錄教師在選修課集體備課中的表現(xiàn),從中總結教師選修課教學經驗、教學方法等。
3.采用結構式觀察法,對學生在選修課學習中的反應進行時間抽樣,每十分鐘記錄一次,看學生在這段時間內積極聽講,注意力集中的情況,從而反觀教師的選修課教學。
(二)問卷調查法:
1.對實踐學校的一線語文教師進行問卷調查。問卷內容主要包括教師對選修課教學的重視程度,對選修課教材的熟悉程度,對選修課教學目標的把握情況等等。
2.對實踐學校高二下學期學生進行隨機抽樣調查。調查學生對選修課的重視程度,對選修課知識的掌握情況,對目前所選課程的感興趣程度等等。
(三)訪談法:
1.對實踐學校高層領導進行訪談;
結合該校現(xiàn)實情況,向相關領導了解該校選修課課程設置的過程,選修課實施過程中遇到過哪些問題,現(xiàn)在該校選修課的實施狀況等相關問題。并讓學校領導對選修課的設置和實施提出意見和建議。
2.對一線語文教師進行訪談;
在觀察教師的課堂教學表現(xiàn)后,結合學生課堂表現(xiàn),對教師進行訪談。訪談主要內容包括:教師對該課有哪些新的教學理念,該課教學目標的設計;教學過程中出彩的地方,要詢問設計背后的理念和方法;同時,詢問教師對選修課設置的看法,對現(xiàn)行選修課教材分析與講解中存在的問題,以及選修課的集體備課方式等等。
四、學術價值
(一)彌補相關課題研究的不足;
1.昆明市高中選修課政策實行時間較短,相關課題研究較少。本課題的研究能起到一個補充作用。
2.其他省市相關課題研究過于理論化、理想化。本課題深入一線教育,收集一手文獻資料,理論與實際相結合,從實際教學中獲得理論,避免了主觀推斷造成的理想化。
(二)豐富和完善相關課題的研究;
1.進一步完善新課標的實施理論;
2.為其他學者的進一步研究提供有效性的數(shù)據(jù)和結論,為其撰寫相關論文提供條件,有利于他們進行更為深入的科研調查。
五、理論意義和實踐意義
目前對于語文選修課實施狀況的研究還處于起步階段,現(xiàn)在著眼于這一課題的研究具有很大的拓荒、原創(chuàng)價值。它所開發(fā)出的持續(xù)的、系列的普通高中任意選修課教材和在實驗過程中建立起來的普通高中任意選修課實施的有效機制,從而形成一線教學、在校免費師范生的`雙贏局面。
首先,對于在職語文教師而言,可以監(jiān)督其對新課標相關規(guī)定的貫徹落實,完成自身教學的總結和反思,在一定程度上提高了教師的教學水平。
其次,在校師范生是最大收益者。通過研究成果的推廣,使準教師們了解一線教師選修課的教學概況,從中吸取經驗教學,為將來的選修課教學奠定基礎,爭取在就業(yè)后能夠很快適應新課改,上好選修課,防止剛畢業(yè)生就培訓的尷尬局面。
最后,對參與實踐的學生來說,本次實踐培養(yǎng)了小組成員的組織協(xié)調能力,團隊合作能力,資料整理、分析能力,提高了科研實踐能力。
六、預期效益
(一)研究論文:
整理訪談記錄、觀察記錄、分析調查問卷,針對選修課在實際教學中的不同問題,選取側重點,寫一至兩篇研究論文,要求真實可信,有學術價值和實用價值。引起學術界、教育界對高中語文選修課的設置和實施現(xiàn)實問題的廣泛關注。同時,對在校師范生未來選修課教學起到指引作用。
(二)預期成果推廣:
1.召開成果交流會,向更多的人介紹我們的課題研究。
2.請優(yōu)秀一線語文教師來到師范院校進行選修課教學培訓,構建在校師范生與一線教師溝通交流的平臺。
3.把一線選修課教學中存在的問題反饋給學校教育部,為其研究提供依據(jù)。
市、縣教育科學規(guī)劃領導小組:
xx市“十一五”立項課題《小學數(shù)學有效合作學習與學生創(chuàng)造行為訓練研究》,在課題主持人與課題組成員的共同努力下,在相關學科的專家指導下,大膽進行課堂改革,積極開展教研活動,大量撰寫教研論文,現(xiàn)已完成課題的基本內容,達到了預期的效果。
1、實踐成果
(1)對廣大教師的課堂教學實踐產生了廣泛的影響。這種影響實出表現(xiàn)在以下五個方面:一是教師的教育教學觀念發(fā)生了重大變化,形成了適應學生、促進學生發(fā)展的課堂教學。二是教師的合作意識和創(chuàng)造意識不斷增強,合作技能與創(chuàng)造能力不斷提高。三是教師掌握了科研方法,科研能力增強,提升了實施素質教育和參與課改的本領。四是引領教師的專業(yè)成長,提高了教師駕馭課堂教學的能力。
五是培養(yǎng)了教師讀書的習慣,提高了教師的專業(yè)理論水平。理想的教育是從讀書開始的,教師良好的讀書習慣也為學生樹立了榜樣,為課題的有效開展厚實了理論基礎。課題組成員先后在市縣優(yōu)課評比中獲一、二等獎,在縣數(shù)學中心組活動中、鎮(zhèn)數(shù)學教研活動中所上公開課、示范課均受好評。
(2)鍛煉和培養(yǎng)了參與研究的教師。“為培養(yǎng)學生創(chuàng)造性而教”已成為廣大教師的共識。通過研究,我們認為:
1.樹立正確的教育理念。只有樹立新時代正確的人才觀、質量觀,才能走出應試教育的怪圈,使學生創(chuàng)造天賦得以施展。
2.具備合理的知識結構。只有不斷求知、求新,廣泛涉獵知識信息,才能適應創(chuàng)造教育的時代需要。
3.具有一定的創(chuàng)造能力。教師應具有敢為人先的精神,并且勇于探索、樂于創(chuàng)造,努力實現(xiàn)自身的價值。
4.養(yǎng)成良好的心理品質。教師不但興趣廣泛、樂觀自信、意志堅強,而且能戰(zhàn)勝挫折、超越自我。
5.掌握科學的方法規(guī)律。從培養(yǎng)學生的合作意識到訓練學生的創(chuàng)造行為,都要遵循科學規(guī)律和方法。
教師的研究意識、研究能力、教育智慧、人格風范伴隨著整個課題的研究過程,在研究中得到了鍛煉與提高,增強教書育人的本領。課題主持人09年被評為“全國優(yōu)秀班主任”、市、縣教育博客大賽一、二等獎,獲“市教育博客之星”稱號,被縣委、縣政府授予“學習創(chuàng)新好家庭”稱號;兩次獲縣“優(yōu)秀教師指導獎”,數(shù)學教研組獲縣“優(yōu)秀教師集體”稱號,撰寫的教學設計、研究論文先后在《教學與管理》、《教學月刊》、《教育家》、《漸江中小學教師培訓》、《名師之路》等雜志上發(fā)表了二十多篇,獲獎十余篇。
(3)學生的學習能力不斷增強,綜合素質得到發(fā)展。新課程標準反對過分的選拔和甄別功能,因為我們的教育不是少數(shù)人的精英教育,尤其義務教育應是面向全體的、人人都能接受的普及性教育。因此教材中新選的內容將適合所有學生的口味,其中有不少閃爍著編者創(chuàng)造性思維光輝的思想,教師在實踐研究過程中要適時捕捉體現(xiàn)有效合作學習與創(chuàng)造行為訓練的知識點、情感點、操作點、能力點,將這些合作性因素和創(chuàng)造性因素略加提示,使之成為活躍學生思維的觸發(fā)點,為最終實現(xiàn)學生有效合作學習與創(chuàng)造行為訓練的正向遷移奠定良好基礎。
學校有了一個良好的育人環(huán)境,課堂有了一個適宜合作與創(chuàng)造的氛圍,學生也就有了濃厚的學習興趣,較持久的學習動力和較好的合作和創(chuàng)造心態(tài),其潛在的合作意識和創(chuàng)造欲望獲得釋放,創(chuàng)造智慧得以激發(fā)。研究中,我校兩年有40多名學生的作品在全國少兒讀物上發(fā)表;在市、縣“小巧手”比賽中有多人次獲得等級獎,有40多人在縣數(shù)學小論文評比中獲等獎。學生綜合素質的形成也促進了學生學習成績的提高;有效合作學習與學生創(chuàng)造行為訓練也為學生成績的上升發(fā)揮了積極作用,實驗后學生的能力水平明顯高于實驗前。
(4)教育教學質量不斷提高。在數(shù)學課堂教學中,教師根據(jù)學生實際精心挑選和設計教學內容,學生一旦對教學內容產生了好奇心,或懷疑度,那么生動活潑的民主教學氛圍,會使學生在自由而安全的氣氛中善于表現(xiàn)自己,樂于再現(xiàn)個性,會使他們的創(chuàng)造性思維因教師的鼓勵和贊許而始終處于探索和質疑的亢奮狀態(tài),使他們在尊重和理解的前提下更加大膽想象,多向思維,勇于標新,敢于立異。
這樣能有效防止學生兩級分化,優(yōu)秀生得到進一步發(fā)展,同時也帶動了“后進生”的進步,不僅如此,師生教學的積極性也有了很大提高,師生、生生之間的關系得到積極改善,為全面提高學生的素質提供了的保證。自開展課題研究以來,無論是期末還是畢業(yè)考試,高分云集教學實驗班,實驗班明顯高于對照班。為高一級學校輸送了一批又一批的優(yōu)秀新生,彰顯了學校的辦學特色。
(5)促進了評價的標準化和科學化。在有效合作學習與創(chuàng)造行為訓練評價過程中,我們既要關注學生知識與技能的理解和掌握,更要關注學生情感與態(tài)度的形成和發(fā)展;既要關注學生學習的結果,更要關注學生在學習過程中的變化和發(fā)展。評價手段和形式應多樣化,過程評價與結果評價相結合,定性評價與定量評價相結合,關注學生個性差異,發(fā)揮評價激勵作用,保護學生的自尊心和自信心。
2、理論成果
在研究過程中,我們不僅讓學生學到有利于學生自身發(fā)展的知識、技能,獲得為今后的發(fā)展而有價值的知識和學習方法,還充分關注學生發(fā)展的需求,讓課堂成為培養(yǎng)學生終生發(fā)展的肥沃土壤和廣闊天地。在有效合作學習與創(chuàng)造行為訓練評價過程中,做到:
[Key Words] English videos; situation; advantages and disadvantages; teaching methods and activities
【摘 要】 近年來隨著科技的發(fā)展和素質教育越來越受社會的重視,英語教學的改革也不斷受到重視,其目的是使學生更有效地運用英語。而通過英文原版影視劇進行英語教學作為一種新的教學方法,已在許多高校得到開展。這種教學方式可以在語音、用詞、會話、思維和文化等進一步提高學生的英語應用能力。如今英語影視不僅是一種娛樂方式,更是人們學習外語的好幫手,它具有廣大的發(fā)展空間。本文根據(jù)影視英語教學現(xiàn)狀及優(yōu)缺點的分析,著重強調了教師在影視教學中的作用及要求、影片選擇和時間安排的重要性。最后本文在對英語影視教學中如何更有效地使用英語影片分別從課前、課時、課后三方面來提出一些教學方法和活動類型。本文的目的是為了使影視片在英語教學中發(fā)揮最大的效用。
【關鍵詞】 英語影視、教學現(xiàn)狀、優(yōu)缺點、教學方法和活動類型
1. Introduction
Since the open-up in China these decades and the development of science, the video is widely used in English class. A shift of emphasis in foreign language teaching and learning from Grammar-Translation Approach to Communicative Approach has taken place in recent years. Now the communicative competence of English is essential for English learners. Meanwhile, there have been remarkable developments in English language teaching and learning. Teachers have been employing various ways to develop students’ abilities and improve the quality of ELT. Although various methods and techniques have been used to try to improve students’ ability to communicate in English, studies have proved that videos are quite an effective medium for English teaching and learning. “Harmer (1983:21) thinks that ‘the idea of simulation is to create the pretence of a real life situation in the classroom where students simulate the real world.’” [1] The videos just have this effect as it can offer us a real life world. Teaching and learning English through videos makes the process natural, educational and enjoyable. This article reveals the situations of using videos in English teaching and learning, advantages and disadvantages. This paper also discusses how to improve English teaching and learning with this effective media.
2. The present situations of using videos
In recent years, the use of videos in English classes has grown rapidly in China as a result of the increasing emphasis on communicative teaching techniques. Being a rich and valuable resource, videos are popular with both students and teachers in China, now videos not only provide a form of entertainment to people, but also are used as a way to learn English language. “The video course offered to college and university students of a conversation class is called shitingshuo. In Chinese shiting means ‘watching and listening’ and shuo means ‘speaking’. As listening and speaking are the two major skills students should acquire, the video course not only teaches English through video but also gets students to use the English they have learnt in talking about the video.”[2]
Some students like video course, because they can learn a lot from people about their personality, their attitudes towards life, and cultural background in different countries besides language. They can also enjoy many activities such as role-play, group discussion, debates and so on. While other students who are used to spoon-feeding teaching method are worried about the video, they think watching videos will waste their limited learning time and large class size brings about great difficulties in oral practice activities. Teachers also have their opinions on it, some think that videos can help them motivate their students’ activity, encourage them to practice their oral English and provide a lot of cultural information. However, there are also some teachers not good at using machines and are uncomfortable with using new equipments. They just play the video from beginning to the end in class.
Therefore, in video course, if the students just take watching video for fun or entertainment; if the students lack in due attention or anxiety; if the time of watching is so little that they cannot thoroughly understand the plot; if there is even no activity or exercise after a video sequence and teachers let it go at that, video becomes totally an entertainment rather than serving as a teaching aid for certain purposes, whichever will cause a great waste to the basic modern appliances or equipments in the facility, and teachers should pay more attention to English teaching through videos, as they are not only widely used in English teaching but also their advantages out weight their disadvantages.
3. Advantages and disadvantages of using videos
3.1 Advantages of using videos
Even though a great number of media have tried to improve students’ English especially their speaking and listening ability, there are few that can be compared to videos. This effective media can be seen in the following reasons:
3.1.1 Videos provide motivating materials to both students and teachers
“Motivation and attitudes are important factors, which help to determine the level of proficiency achieved by different learners.”[3] An original video can be very motivating and interesting if it describes real-life situations, real-life people and real-life language. During the learning process, if we employ films as the teaching material, language learning will become enjoyable.
The materials that films provide are both audio and visual, which help students learn English more easily. That’s because while students are watching a film, students not only listen to the characters’ speech but also watch their movements, beautiful heroines and handsome heroes, appreciate beautiful scenery and listen to pleasant songs and fluent dialogues. These can really motivate students’ initiative and enable them to learn in a relaxing and cheerful atmosphere. In addition, the scenes, the lines or other aspects that films bring will probably influence learners’ capacity as they do in real life. When they finish the film and return to the real life, they may think of some topics related to the film and speak out the language more spontaneously. For example, when they watch Kramer vs. Kramer, they may think of the women problems in present society: Should a woman’s place be limited to her own home or not? After they watch Saving Private Ryan, they may think about the problem between war and humanist: Is it worthy of risking eight soldiers’ lives to save Ryan for the purpose of booting morale on the homefront? [4] The teachers can also ask students to discuss these questions after seeing the film. Films are the motivating materials of learning English for students and teachers.
3.1.2 Videos show real-life situations in which characters speak their own language
For most Chinese learners, they lack the authentic English language-learning environment. So in most cases, they always speak English in their own ways and don’t consider whether it’s accurate or not. As time goes by, they get used to expressing “Chinese English”, which is full of mistakes and feels so strange to foreigners. On one hand, they are also amused in some sentences. Because the language in a book they usually learn has been polished again and again by the writer, and even the communication in it is polished. Thus it is unreal and not suitable for being used in films. [5] What’s more, there are many calumnies, slangs, idioms in videos, so it is hard enough to become proficient in different styles of the language. However, learning to speak depends upon hearing someone else speak,so English films do have positive effects in this respect. For example:
(1) You don’t say.
(2) Cops, freeze.
The first sentence is wrong if you understand it in this way “You’d better not speak more”. The real meaning is “Really?” The second sentence is often heard in some action films. “Freeze” here not means cold storage. In America, it means “Don’t move” The whole sentence means “We are polices, don’t move.” Sometime the same sentence has different meanings, such as “take care of him” (from the film Graduation), surface meaning is “l(fā)ook after”, while the deep meaning is “deal with”. It also has different meanings in different situations. The police said it with his teeth gnashed means “kill him”. [6]
In a word, the language that characters speak is original; therefore, students can use English in more appropriate way through videos.
3.1.3 Videos are also a good source of classroom activity
The source of classroom activity is a concern for most English teachers. Because of the difficulties in looking for suitable video materials, teachers often cancel classroom activity. Then teachers actually become speech deliverers and students play the part of listeners instead of active participants in this teaching and learning process. But films provide a good source of classroom activity and motivate students to join in it. While watching the video, teachers can pause the film to let the students think about some certain questions in the film, for example answer some questions, and act out the play and so on. In a word, during watching the video the teacher can provide more opportunities for students to take part in it, as videos are a good source of classroom activity.
3.1.4 Videos are a good source of information about culture
“Compared with any other kind of teaching aid, video has quite a unique advantage in introducing foreign culture. Video works could show the actual situation of a town, a city, or a country and the real structure of culture, things like geographic features, national customs and citizen characteristics and so on.” [7] Culture is the necessary context for language learning. Videos just can be used as vehicles for teaching different culture, like literature videos are rich in the cultural background of those English-speaking countries; they consciously or unconsciously transmit the views, values, beliefs, attitudes and feelings of English-speaking society, which can help students to know that culture from various angles. For example, the film Gone with the Wind provides a great deal of information about American Civil War. In the film Forrest Gump, we can learn not only some history events, such as the Ku Klux Klan, Civil War, sexual liberation, the assassination of American president, the Blackman movement, Vietnam War, Watergate scandal and so on, but also learn some local customs and practices like the school bus, single parent family, the rugby match, the students’ life in kindergarten, primary school and university. Just the sentence in the beginning of the film “My momma always said life was a box of chocolates. You never know what you get” puzzles us a lot, and it refers to the different packages and contents between America and China.[8] So watching videos is an effective teaching method in learning foreign culture, they help students have a better understanding of the cultural knowledge in foreign countries, and to some extent avoid leading to cross-cultural misunderstanding.
Due to these advantages, films have become more and more popular with English learners. But is it perfect to be employed totally to conduct through the whole English teaching and learning? Are there any problems that will be encountered in a video course? What difficulties will the students have? These years, in order to create an authentic language-learning environment, many colleges and universities have provided students an opportunity to watch movies once or twice a week. However, to most students, this weekly event is more like an entertainment than a learning activity. Without any guidance or instruction from teachers, students just enjoy the experience of watching, they are unlikely to benefit from movies.
3.2 Disadvantages of using videos
Although there are many advantages of using videos through English teaching and learning, the problems raised during practical teaching and learning cannot be ignored.
3.2.1 Only some videos can be adopted as teaching and learning materials
On one hand, class teaching is based on textbook; teachers only can choose some videos that are fit for the content in the textbook. “On the other hand due to different cultural background and social value, some of the video from the West World contain some certain kind of content, which is not appropriate for the unprepared and immature minds, such as films with some scenes of violence, despair, drugs, pornography and so on.” [9] And though the English videos are related to our life, they more or less create some unreal, heroic images that often appear unruly and without discipline. What’s more, in some videos their language is vulgar; words like “shit, fuck, damn, a son of bitch …”have appeared more and more frequently in youngsters’ lips. Imitation is important for language study, but it is not wise to imitate the language of bad impacts on students’ morality. Some films even have some false ideas against the history. [10] What’s more, the time for class teaching is limited, but the films chosen for textbook teaching always take long time to be finished. So it is hard to select a suitable film for teaching.
3.2.2 Videos cannot satisfy different levels of students
Certainly, there are different levels of students’ proficiency in class. Generally, according to their level of proficiency of English, students can be pided into three groups: elementary (students who usually have small vocabulary and cultural knowledge of English, [11] limited in listening and speaking), intermediate (students who are reasonable at listening and speaking), advanced (students who have both developed their linguistic and communicative competence).[12] For those advanced and intermediate students, a video course is good for them to better improve and even consolidate their listening and speaking ability. But it’s not so reasonable for those elementary students, because the video language is spoken too fast or naturally to understand. There are few they can catch or understand, so it’s harder for them to get the whole idea of the video and the purpose for teaching the textbook through a related video fails.
3.2.3 Videos can be a distractive thing during the learning
As we know, videos gather the text, mark, animation, sound and image, which provide the lifelike seeing and hearing effect for English teaching. The combination of sound vision is dynamic, immediate and quite easily accessible. It is much more attractive, interesting and impressive than common material printed in books or audible material in tape. It could greatly increase the students’ enthusiasm and imagination. [13] However, just because of these wonderful abilities of video, the students pay less attention to what they actually heard. When watching the video, they are often distracted by the lively visual senses. Some also worry students might treat it as they treat watching television, lazily, uncritically. So Jack Wang thinks that video is less useful for teaching listening and speaking than audiotape. [14]
Although these weaknesses of using videos have been an obstacle during the teaching and learning process, people still persist in employing it as an important medium. If there will be more and more videos chosen to fit the textbook, and if the video course could be satisfactorily carried out with both the help of students and teachers, the advantages of using videos will ultimately outweigh its disadvantages. What’s more in order to make the video class effective, we should know the teachers’ role and requirement. There must be some methods to be used and some activities to be prepared and to be best utilized for English teaching and learning. As mentioned above, one problem of using films is the difficulty in serving different levels of students. So the methods used and the activities designed must target different levels of students’ proficiency in class, otherwise, those advanced students will learn English better and better, but those elementary will lose interest in English. Then both teachers and learners won’t achieve their desired goals.
轉貼于 4. Some points worthy of attention in teaching through videos
4.1 The teacher’s role and requirement
In order to have an efficient video class, we should well know the teacher’s role first. Because whether the students can achieve a good memory and high efficiency of what they have learned depends on the scientific design and careful implementation, without them the gain cannot be satisfactorily obtained. The teacher is an organizer, controller, participant, facilitator and evaluators as well as researcher or investigator, he /she plays a very important role in video class. [15] So the teacher’s main responsibility is to design tasks that can be carried out in class. Before the activity the teacher should give instruction clearly and concisely. In order to make the activity run smoothly and efficiently, the teacher also has to control the pace. During the role-play, the teacher can join one or two groups as an ordinary participant. As far as the video is concerned the teacher should help students by designing handouts and guiding them to watch. “According to Harmer (1997:237), as an assessor or evaluator, the teacher does two things that are correcting mistakes and organizing feedback. Harmer insists that correcting should be gentle.”, “Organizing feedback is an effective way to assess student’s performances so that they see how well they are doing.” [16] Here the teacher should focus on student’s success or progress so that a success-oriented learning atmosphere can be created. What’s more, surveys and interviews are indispensable steps for the teacher. Through the research or investigation, the teacher can get to know the perception of his /her students about videos, what activities they like much and what videos are their favorites. Then the teacher will adopt the material and teaching method according to the need and interests of students. By these ways his/her teaching will be more motivating and effective.
In a word, in video course teacher’s role is not only on playing the films but also on transmitting this material in to students’ real acquired experience.
4.2 Criteria for video option
Films are available on VCD, DVD, tape, disc or TV. There are also many kinds of films, comedy, tragedy, science fiction, thriller, documentary, etc. Although there are various kinds of video materials, few can be adopted as teaching and learning material in a video course, and what kind of films is suitable for a video course is the key question for teachers. Selecting a suitable film is very important for a teacher to organize a good class, teachers should be careful in choosing films to use in video courses. Teachers should apply different methods to design some activities in different types of films. For example, documentaries often include large information such as news, commentary, and the development of them is always based on an event. When watching this kind of film, the teacher should lead students’ attention on what, who, where, when, how, why questions on the film. [17]
The video materials’ selection is significant in English teaching and learning, but the same material cannot meet the whole students’ need. What’s more, they are in different levels and abilities. Look at following table:
The Students’ Perceptions of the Selection of Films [18]
Items A B C D E
1 28.67% 8.29% 15% 28.71% 18.33%
2 11.25% 18.85% 28.75% 5% 37.15%
3 5% 18.75% 37.5% 5% 27.5%
4 0% 5% 42.64% 33.62% 18.7%
5 2.5% 11.25% 13.75% 60% 12.5%
6 3.75% 38.93% 38.57% 10% 8.75%
(See Appendix1 for the wording of the items)
Item1 in table displays the learners’ perceptions or opinions of the selection of films. Nearly 30% learners like films about love; also nearly 30% learners like watching videos about life. Only nearly 9% learners like watching videos about war. This indicates that most learners love life and treasure the most beautiful affection. When they watch videos, they want to be in a relaxing stage. Item2 in table show that nearly 40% of learners prefer that the film be connected with what they have learned. It suggests that the learners want to decode the plots using their existing knowledge and prior experience. It also illustrates nearly 30% of learners like to watch films that are thought provoking. This indicates that students like thinking about life, the theme and value of viewers’ thinking and imagination. Item3 in table shows that nearly 40% learners prefer the ideological content within their understanding. As is shows in Item4 in table, 42.64% learners prefer that the selection of films should be of variety. This maybe shows that learners want to enrich their knowledge since authentic materials are clear and essential source and an important trigger of comprehensible output as well. As is illustrated in Item5 in table, 60% learners prefer videos/films a little above their linguistic competence. If a video is too difficult or easy, then the language acquisition will not occur spontaneously.
From the above analyses we can get some principles of selecting a suitable film for teaching and learning. First, films chosen for video course should be based on the students’ interests and also helpful for learning and teaching rather than entertainment. They must be good for teaching purpose, for example, to provide an opportunity for students to improve their listening or speaking ability. If students are especially weak in picking up daily conversations, it is better that the film should include enough dialogues. In addition, the film shouldn’t be too easy or too hard for students according to students’ different levels of proficiency of English. If the film is too easy, the advanced students can benefit little from it. On the contrary, the elementary students will probably lose interest in it if the film is too difficult to understand. Last but not least, young people can be easily influenced by movies. The films worldwide are both good and bad, so teachers should consider the ideological content of films. Teachers should be patient and careful enough to choose films. If the film is consisted of violence or sex, etc, it is a bad source for teaching and learning.
4.3 Time arrangement
Another problem for teachers is time arrangement. As for the duration of the video, Item6 in table shows that “the length of a video should be between one and half hours and two hours. It will appear to students’ psychological characteristics as far as their span of attention is concerned.”[19] Normally, it takes 2 to 3 hours to finish playing a whole film, so we need at least 4-class time (45 minutes per class). However, as we have many activities designed to conduct during each stage, it is essential to arrange time as reasonable as possible. It requires teachers’ full preparation before video course and puts time arrangement into consideration. In addition, a film is pided into several class-times to finish, so when it is to be continued, students should memorize the scene of the film played in previous classes. Therefore, how to properly arrange time not only depends on the performance of students and teachers, but also depends on how much time the film takes. In this perspective of time, we’d better not choose those films which take too long to finish.
5. Some methods and activities to be used in video course
The book English Through Movies intends to help learners go through the journey of learning English through movies in 4 stages. It has 4 units. Each unit is a movie. There are 4 parts in every unit. Part one: understanding of the movie, which includes the cultural background of the movie, the genre of the movie and the summary of the movie. Part two: close study of the movie, which contains excerpts from the movie. Part three: reflection of the movie, which includes recordings of interview. Part four: act out the movie. [20] Learning from the design of this book, we know something must be done before we start a video course. On one hand, we can conduct a questionnaire to know students’ specific needs. Questions can be raised in the questionnaire like this: Do they really like watching a movie in class? If they do, in what ways can it motivate students? On the other hand, teachers should check up whether the teaching facilities are available or not. A film class needs certain facilities like a TV set, a videocassette recorder (VCR) or a videodisc player, videotapes or discs. Now, it is time to consider how to fully use films to teach. There are three stages for preparing and teaching a video course.
5.1 Pre-watching [21]
The first stage is preparation. Both teachers and students should well prepare. For the part of teachers, all the equipments and other facilities should be checked to be in a good state. Teachers also need to get all the teaching materials (the textbook, pictures, or poster etc.) prepared to help students get to know anything about the movie. Then teachers can design some exercises to be presented and activities to be worked out in class. As for students, they should read the reference materials or they can look for other related materials to understand the film better.
Pre-watching activities:
If the students have already known something about the film, they will not be so tense, so activities also should not be neglected in pre-watching stage. They can be designed as following:
(1) Introduce the topic and cultural background of the video.
(2) Vocabulary guessing: Give students a list of words and let them guess which word will be appeared in what context. If there are some words they don’t know, ask them to look up in a dictionary immediately or turn to the teacher for help.
(3) Set one or two general questions to meet the main content points in the film.
(4) Discussion: Discuss what the film will be about according to the title of the film.
These activities serve as a warming-up exercise before watching the movie. It is a good previewing activity for different levels of students in class, and it aims to help students have a better understanding of the film.
5.2 While-watching [22]
The second stage is watching the film. When students have a basic idea of the film, it is time to view the movie. The film can be played twice or more to strengthen their impression of the movie. Students watch the film straight through at the first time to strengthen their understanding from their preparation. The second time, teachers only choose certain episode of the film. During this process, teachers can suddenly stop and ask students to do the exercise given in advance. As for the third time or more, students can completely appreciate the film without any exercises.
While-watching activities: (the first time)
(1) Gap-filling.
Provide some key sentences and paragraphs based on the video with blanks. This exercise requires students remember key words, slang, phrases or important information to fill the gaps. This activity can be easy for some advanced students. However, it can help those elementary and intermediate students to practice their spoken English.
(2) Multiple-choice
List words with four explanations. Among these explanations, certain or all could be possible for answers. Students are asked to choose those, which are fit to the meaning appears in the video.
(3) True or false
Give students worksheets with some statements. Ask students to decide whether it is true or false according to the film (with information available in the video).
(4) Check the answers and give explanations as well.
In these activities, students are given a worksheet while viewing at the first time. This activity needs a little writing, so the film will not be interrupted.
While-watching activities: (the second time)
(1) Complete a sentence or a paragraph dictation.
When it comes to a sentence dictation, teachers play the disc twice. For the first time, students are asked to watch only. When playing the second time, students must write down what they have heard to complete the whole sentence. When it comes to a paragraph dictation, teachers play the video three times. For the first time, students must watch and listen only to get the general idea. For the second time, students take down the notes. The last time, students must write down the whole paragraph as much as possible based on the notes they’ve taken.
(2) Sound off
Play the video through once with the sound turned off. Ask students to watch the screen only to predict the verbal content of the film. This prediction may include who the characters are, what they are talking about, etc. [23]
(3) Play the video again and check the answers.
In these activities, teachers just choose a part of the film (3 to 4 minutes) and present it to the class. The purpose of a sentence or a paragraph is to help students focus on key words and phrases. It is particularly effective with both elementary and intermediate students. And the sound off exercise is to help students to use extra linguistic clues to understand what is being said.
5.3 Post-watching [24]
The final stage is the advanced stage. To have a comprehensive review of the advanced students, teachers must adopt various methods.
Post-watching activities:
(1) Group discussion
Students are pided into 4 or 5 groups, and then each group selects one leader to present their group members’ idea after discussion. Each group is given different tasks (such as the summary of the story, the comments on the film, the performance of the characters, etc). When the discussion is over, every representative of each group is asked to share and exchange their ideas to the whole class.
(2) Role playing
When students have a clear understanding of the presentation, teachers select certain part of the scene, and ask students to act out in front of class by using as much of the original version as they can remember.
(3) Writing
Ask students to write a short summary or comments on any issues or characters they like in the film. These activities aim to check whether students have understood the film and also provide feedbacks to teachers. From this stage, teachers can see where still needs to be improved.
6. Conclusion
English teaching and learning through films has both positive and negative parts, in terms of providing material source. Compared to other media, it’s ultimately good for conducting classroom activity, practicing students’ speaking and listening ability, etc. Even though there are also many methods proved to be efficient for English teaching and learning, videos are still worth trying to put into teaching practice. Apart from its advantages introduced above, video itself has its own characteristics, which combine nature and society, culture and history, science and art, religion and morality, dream and reality. Although its advantages outweigh its disadvantages, we still should be aware of its limitations during teaching. We also have suggested some activities in each stage, it is obvious that activities aim to help students have a better understanding of the film; however, they still need to be improved as more and more video courses are put into practice. The video class makes language teaching more attractive and interesting, and it requires both the effort of teachers and students.
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