How to Stimulate Students’ Interest in English Learning 如何激发中学生学习英语的兴趣.doc

how to stimulate students interest in english learningabstractthere is no doubt that english plays increasingly important roles in educational system since coming a surge in english language learning, but not every english language learner (ell) must be fluent in english, just as not everyone is “fluent” in statistics. that comes from different reasons, i couldnt say the reason must be subjective-someone likes to learn it and someone not, but i agree with a famous saying: hobby is the first step to get the knowledge, when you adopt the knowledge and have interest in it, and you will remember it, just like goethe said “where there is no interest, where there is no memory”, interest is the motivation of learning a thing, nonetheless, how could we stimulate learners interest in english learning? when we attempt to motivate the learners, what methods are right or wrong? that is really a big nagging issue and worth researching for me a college student, in the following paper i will state my mind on it.key words: english learning, interest, differentiated instruction, rewarding system, environment如何激发中学生学习英语的兴趣摘 要自从学习英语的浪潮席卷而来，学习英语的人越来越多，英语教育在教育系统的地位越发重要了，但并不是每个学习英语的人都可以学好英语。原因有很多方面，以我之浅见，不能完全说是主观因素，但也可以部分归结为对于这种语言的爱好程度，一个学习者本着对知识的兴趣才会进而去研究记忆，就像歌德所说“哪里没有兴趣，哪里就没有记忆”，兴趣是一种驱动力。但是如何激发英语学习者的兴趣？当我们尝试培养兴趣之同时，什么方法是正确的？什么方法是错误的？对于我一个大学生来说，这是一个值得研究又令人困扰的大课题，在下文中我将陈述我的观点。当然不是社会所有阶层的学习者我都要去谈，我会集中于对中学学生的研究。关键字：英语学习;兴趣;差异教学法;奖励系统;环境table of contentacknowledgementiabstractii摘 要iiitable of contentiviintroduction1ii. using differentiated instruction to stimulate interest2adefinition of differentiated instruction2bthe reason for using differentiated instruction21students with different interest22arousing interest of different students3a. advocating “students first”3b. meeting students specific needs3c. adjusting the curriculum to students needs4d. arousing interest of every student5iii. stimulating interest of students by creating rewarding program6iv. stimulating interest by creating english learning environment7acontent of environment71changing structures7a. definition of structures7b. how to change a structure72making full use of instructional time8a. importance of instructional time8b. how to use instructional time83using tools9a. definition of tools9b. choosing a good tool9c. using tool “vision learning”9d. advantage of “vision learning”94. community11a. definition of community11b. advantages of community11bimportance of creating learning environment12v. conclusion12bibliography13iviintroduction“interest is the secret of success” yang zhenning said, who succeeded in the field of physics due to deeply interest in it. yes, if students have no interested in english, they may not have an excellent work on it. instead of inner, interest is gained from external factors. so, how to arouse the students interest in english learning by something outside is critical for improving students performance in english.this paper offers some approaches to arouse students interest in english teaching. i think these methods may be effective to that.in the beginning, i want to tell a story about experience of my english-learning. curious, depressed, monotonous and regrettable - these words were my feeling of english learning and took up my life in the middle school, why do i say that? because it was the first time to get in touch with english when i was enrolled in the middle school, im literally full of curiosity in my heart due to the new thing. unfortunately, the bigger expectation, the bigger disappointment, my “curiosity” was knocked over after few credit hours, im very depressed by - exam every day, reciting the text every day, the crazy homework and keeping silence in class except following my teachers (a good man) not-very-fluent accent, i was upset and willing to go back my elementary school but it was impossible. day by day, to get a high score forced me to repeat these monotonous things writing and reciting, passing the exam, but i could not fluently speak and i would not think, because i didnt like it. after graduating i came to the senior high school, i thought i should have kept my english life going, at that time another “unfortunate” happened - all english in class. i never had communicated with others in english, i couldnt follow, it was terrible feeling when my classmates answered the teachers question but i could not understand their meaning, i paid three years but received zero! didnt i work hard in the middle school, otherwise hardly working? i was regrettable and lost my self-confidence in english learning. it is a bad story, but what i want to say is the interest has been gone with the process of that, i am not willing to learn it unless the teacher pushes me, so its not possible for me to think of it deeply, while language is the very “stuff of thought,” to use steven pinkers term. why do i lose my interest in english learning? is this my english teachers fault? the answer is no, because his supervisor would ask him to train the student to pass the exam, he had to do that. but passing does not constitute mastery. i have been trained to be quiet in the classroom, and will not speak above a whisper not the best trait in a language learner; i was unhappily deprived time of rest because of huge number of homework and remedial classes, all about this have broken out my interest, if i am a english teacher, what i think is to put “students first”, students are not widgets, and not only teachers, but also educational leaders and test designers, need to recognize that.“a kid whos happy here will embrace the language and master it rapidly, while one who has been dragged kicking and screaming may fold his arms and refuse to learn a thing” said arthur goldstein, an e.s.l.( english as a second language) teacher and united federation of teachers chapter leader at francis lewis high school in queens. simply put, making students happy to learn.definitely exams, homework and remedial classes do not work, students will not be interest in english learning because of that, but what a good method for stimulating interest? this is what i want to talk in this paper.ii. using differentiated instruction to stimulate interestmy first viewpoint is to use differentiated instruction to stimulate all students interest in english learning.but what is differentiated instruction? why does it work?adefinition of differentiated instructiondifferentiated instruction (also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation) involves providing students with different avenues to acquiring content; to processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and to developing teaching materials so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of different interest. it makes sense to treat individuals differently, and to adapt communication toward what works for them.bthe reason for using differentiated instruction1students with different interestlets take following words for example, “when you teach the same lesson to the whole class, youll see it in their faces: some kids are completely lost, others are bored” ms. caggiano says, a differentiated instruction practitioner. absolutely the students who are bored are not interested in learning; the same lesson doesnt make sense for everyone. students included different abilities and ages, when piling them all into one class, the teachers cannot meet the different needs of them by using one teaching method. if you can not involve all students in, then some of them will lose their interest in your teaching method, so differentiated instruction is put forward to solve this problem.2arousing interest of different studentsa. advocating “students first”in differentiated instruction students are placed at the center of teaching and learning. kathy bigo defines differentiation as the right of each pupil to be taught in a way specifically tailored to their individual learning needs. because each learner comes to school with a different set of learning needs, examples of which include differing educational, personal, and communal contexts and varying degrees of academic skill development, differentiated instruction advocates that the educator proactively plans a variety of instruction methods so as to best facilitate effective learning experiences which are suited to the various learning needs within the student. in its pursuit of this foundational goal, differentiated instructional methods attempt to qualitatively, as opposed to quantitatively, match learners abilities with appropriate material; include a blend of whole-class, group, and individual instruction; use numerous approaches to facilitating input, processing, and output; and constantly adapt to learners needs based upon the teachers constant assessment of all students.b. meeting students specific needsdifferentiated instruction, according to carol ann tomlinson, is the process of “ensuring that what a student learns, how he/she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he/she has learned is a match for that students readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning”. differentiation stems from beliefs about differences among learners, how they learn, learning preferences and individual interests. research indicates that many of the emotional or social difficulties gifted students experience disappear when their educational climates are adapted to their level and pace of learning. differentiation in education can also include how a student shows that they have mastery of a concept. this could be through a research paper, role play, podcast, diagram, poster, etc. the key to differentiation is finding how your students learn and displays their learning that meets their specific needs.just like what lynda fote, an educational consultant who is working with teachers at the millstone elementary school in monmouth county, n.j. describes in a typical math class: the teacher begins by discussing a topic with the whole class, and then places students who work best with manipulative at one table and those who need direct help solving problems at another, which she personally supervises. those who have trouble with nines tables use flashcards at a separate table until they give only correct answers, while budding mathematicians collaborate on the days brain teaser at another table.“if we differentiate instruction, more kids with special needs will be able to be successful in a regular classroom,” ms. fote says.c. adjusting the curriculum to students needsthe perfect model of differentiated instruction rests upon an active, student centered, meaning-making approach to teaching and learning. the theoretical and philosophical influences embedded in differentiated instruction support the three key elements of differentiated instruction itself: readiness, interest, and learning profile.referred to as an educational philosophy, differentiated instruction is viewed as a proactive approach to instruction and an idea that has as many faces as practitioners. the model of differentiated instruction requires teachers to tailor their instruction and adjust the curriculum to students needs rather than expecting students to modify themselves to fit the curriculum. “differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to teaching and adjust the curriculum and presentation of information to learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum” david raubvogel says, the principal since 2008 at richard r. green high school of teaching. teachers who are committed to this approach believe that who they teach shapes how they teach because who the students are shapes how they learn. differentiated instruction requires the teacher to have sufficient appropriate knowledge of the pupils, plus the ability to plan and deliver suitable lessons effectively, so as to help all pupils individually to maximize their learning, whatever their individual situation. differentiation is not teaching at a slow pace so that everyone can keep up, allowing pupils and groups work through tasks at their own pace, or expecting some students to do better than others and calling it differentiation by outcome. bigio also cautions that differentiation is not humiliating the slow learners by drawing attention to their limitations.d. arousing interest of every studentmeg bell, an english teacher once made a good trial: “there was also the gender gap in treatment that i grappled with. girls were assumed to be sweet and clever, and boys were often called lazy and were ignored. i explained to my co-teachers that outside influences like name-calling and ascribing negative behavior to an entire gender cause children to give up and behave badly. after showing attention to the boys, calling on them in class, and challenging them to try just as hard as the girls, i noticed a significant shift in many of my classrooms. boys began to raise their hands without being asked and were participating more frequently and enthusiastically. this gave me a genuine feeling of accomplishment”. from here, we understand that girls are good enough, but boys not because of gender gap, so the teacher paid more attention to boys for balancing the difference, as a result, boys raised their hands spontaneously, she was succeeding in stimulating boys interest in learning english.the philosophical idea that interest based options seize on intrinsic motivation, supports the key element of differentiated instruction, student interest. according to jerome bruner, when interest is tapped, learning is more likely to be rewarding and the student becomes a more autonomous learner. an american psychologist, howard gardner, developed the theory of multiple intelligences. his theory states that people have different intelligences and learn in many different ways. gardners theory suggests that schools should offer individual-centered education, having curriculum tailored to a childs intelligence preference. essentially, gardner supports the third key element of differentiated instruction, which accounts for different students learning profiles.“differentiated instruction integrates constructivist learning theories, learning styles, and brain development with research on influencing factors of learner readiness, interest and intelligence preferences toward students motivation, engagement, and academic growth within schools”. by using differentiated instruction, educators can meet all individual student needs and stimulate every student interest. according to tomlinson, the perceived need for differentiated instruction lies in the fact that students vary in so many ways and student populations are becoming more academically diverse. chances are pretty good that the trend of diverse student populations will continue throughout our lifetimes.in short, differentiated instruction is using various instructional methods to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. this ensures an equal education opportunity for all students in the classroom so that to stimulate every student into a good learning status.iii. stimulating interest of students by creating rewarding programanother hand i want to say is to create a rewarding program. the prize can be given to the students who have a good performance in english learning, this is a kind of positive acknowledge for what they have done. they may work a little harder and may find that they arent so bad at it, which really help arouse interest.reward programs that pay students are under way in many cities. in some places, students can bring home hundreds of dollars for, say, taking an advanced placement course and scoring well on the exam. but not everyone agrees with that.barbara slatin, the principal of p.s. 188, said she was initially skeptical about paying students for doing well. her students, many of whom live in the nearby housing projects along avenue d, would surely welcome the money, she said, but she worried about sending the wrong message. “i didnt want to connect the notion of money with academic success,” she said. but after a sales pitch by dr. fryer, ms. slatin said she was persuaded to try. “we say we want to do whatever it takes, so if this is it, i am going to get on board,” she said. in 1996, p.s. 188 was considered to be failing by the state education department, but it has improved dramatically over the last decade. in the fall, it received an a on the citys report card. still, fewer than 60 percent of the students passed the state math test last year, and fewer than 40 percent did so in reading. teachers at the school said that this year, they had noticed a better interest among the students, which they attributed to the incentive program.“im not saying i know this is going to fix everything,” said roland g. fryer, the harvard economist who designed the student incentive program, “but i am saying its worth trying. what we need to try to do is start that spark.” yes, this is a good end words.iv. stimulating interest by creating english learning environmentacontent of environmentthe third viewpoint of mine is to create a supportive environment of english learning in the classroom, learning environments are support systems that accommodate learning needs of students and support the positive human relationships for effective learning. learning environments are the structures, time, tools, and communities that help students and educators to attain knowledge.1changing structuresa. definition of structuresstructures here refer to the physical settings of the class- classroom arrangements. they reflect teachers understanding of how students learn. while different te