On Foreign Language Teaching 论外语教学.doc

foreign language teaching abstractit is not easy to learn a foreign language and it is more difficult to teach a foreign language the teacher has not only to make her students understand the language namely the pronunciation vocabulary grammar etc she she is used to refer to teachers in general and he to learners must also help develop their communicative competence so that they can use the language they have learned correctly appropriately and expressively in real situations so here we talk about aspects of foreign language teaching including reasons the nature syllabus aims and objectiveskey words foreign language teaching reasons syllabus aims and objectives内容摘要学习一门外语十分不容易要教好一门外语则更不易作为英语老师不仅要让他的学生理解英语这门语言也就是所谓的发音词汇语法等等同时他必须还得帮忙去提高他们的交流能力这样他们才可以正确的使用他们学习的语言在现实情境中准确无误地表达自己想要表达的内容因此在这里我们探讨一下外语教学的有关方面包括原因本质大纲安排目标关键词 外语教学原因大纲安排目标 191 introductionover the last several decades linguists have put a great emphasis on the research of foreign language teaching in foreign language teaching we have to carry out our work with four key concepts language learning teaching and context any particular language teaching theory can be regarded as an expression of these four key conceptsthis thesis includes three parts aspects of foreign language teaching the syllabus and the aims through the three parts we just want to give a general description of foreign language teachingthis paper mainly adopts three approaches 1 language teaching requires an understanding of the nature of language 2 language teaching demands a view of the learners and the nature of language learning 3 language teaching occurs in a given contextby asking these questions and by attempting to answer them we can develop refine probe and evaluate language teaching theories more scientifically and our foreign language teaching practice can be better guided and oriented 2 aspects of foreign language teaching21 reasons for studying foreign language teachingforeign language teachers know that knowing a language well does not necessarily mean that you can teach the language well teaching is an art as well as a science if you do not understand the theories principles methods or techniques of teaching you could as well be able to teach a foreign language based on your experience but you cannot hope to achieve good results nor can you give your or your colleagues teaching a rational evaluation or a critical appraisal there are surely limitations in teaching by drawing only on experience though experience is important the theories youll learn from the methodology course can guide support and conceptualize your teaching practice and the new insights youll get by sharing ideas with other people can bring you great benefit as the old saying goes travel broadens the mind in the same way learning foreign language teaching methodology will surely broaden the mind of teachers methodology courses exist to help prospective as well as in service teachers develop their own teaching styles and pedagogy rather than to indoctrinate them to the use of specific models and techniques the nature of foreign language teachingforeign language teaching methodology is the study of the practices and procedures used in teaching and the principles and beliefs that underlie them methodology includes first the study of the nature of language skills such as reading writing speaking and listening and procedures for teaching them second methodology studies the preparation of lesson plans materials and textbooks for teaching language skills methodology includes the evaluation and comparison of language teaching methods example the audiolingual method versus the oral-situational method and other related issues concerning effective teaching and learning such as classroom management the use of technology the assessment of teaching and learning outcomes and so on foreign language teaching is sometimes discussed in terms of three related aspects approach method and technique it is worth discussing briefly the differences between the three conceptswhen we use the word approach we mean that an idea or theory is being applied that whatever the teacher does in a classroom certain theoretical principles are always borne in her mind when we talk about a technique we mean a procedure used in the classroom finally a method is a set of procedures or a collection of techniques used in a systematic way which it is hoped will result in efficient learninga technique then is the narrowest term meaning one single procedure a method will consist a lot of techniques probably arranged in a specific order the word approach is much more general and has the implication that whatever methods or techniques the teacher uses she does not feel bound by these but only by the theory in which she believes if she can find new and better methods or techniques which will fit in with her approach then she will adopt them we therefore have a hierarchical system it follows from this that different approaches may share the same techniques and even the same methods and different methods may share the same techniquesat the level of approach there are at least three different theorectical views of language explicitly or implicitly underlying currently popular language teaching methodsthe structural viewlanguage is a system of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning the learning of a target language is seen to be the acquisition of the elements of this systemthe functional viewlanguage is a vehicle for the expression of meaning this approach emphasizes the semantic rather than the grammatical potential of language and leads to a specification or organization of language teaching content by categories of function rather than by categories of formthe interactional viewlanguage is a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social transactions between individuals interactional theories focus on the pattern of moves acts and exchanges in communication language teaching content may be specified or organized by patterns of exchange or may be left unspecifiedto be shaped by the inclination of the learner as interactorbut these theories of language are in themselves incomplete and need to be complemented by theories of language learning eg the linking of structuralisma language theory to behaviorisma learning theory produces audiolingualism the cognitive proponents have attempted to link structuralism to a more mentalistic and less behavioristic brand of learning theory we may think that studying a language is primarily learning a set of physical habits of that it is the produce of a special language acquisition device peculiar to the human species that students are motivated principally by a desire to get the right answer or by a desire to enhance their own self-esteem etcin other words an approach provides principles to decide what kind of content and what sort of procedures are appropriate the philosophical principles provided by an approach have something to do with the nature of studying and the social-political educational principles have to do with the purpose of educationmethod is a set of procedures or a collection of techniques in a systematic way which will result in efficient learning a method is based on systemstic principles and procedures ie it is an application of views on how a language is best taught and learned different methods may result from different views of1 the nature of language2 the nature of language learning3aims and objectives in teaching4 the type of syllabus to use5 the role of teachers and instructional materials and6 the techniques and procedures to usethe method used has usualy been said to be the cause of success or failure in language learning for ultimately it is the what and the how of language instruction at the other extreme is the view that methods are of little importance wherever there is a will to learn the quality of the learning is what counts there is also the view that the teacher is the only important element methods are only as good as the teacher who uses themthey are simply instruments in the hands of the teachertechnique is simply something we do showing a picture to our students and talking about it with them in a certain way having the class repeat sentences in chorus drills dialogues role-plays sentence completion etc they are the tricks in classroom teachinganother concept in foreign language teaching is methodology methodology is the principles and techniques of teaching with no necessary reference to linguistics it is the implementation or practice of the approach it is procedural selection of language presentation concerned with how to teach in class it studies the practices and procedures used in teaching and the principles and beliefs that underlie them methodology includes1the study of the nature of language skills eg reading writing speaking listening and procedures for teaching them2 the study of the preparation of lessons plans materials and textbooks for teaching language skills3 the evaluation and comparison of language teaching methods eg the audiolingual method versus the oral-situational method 4 such practices procedures principles and beliefs themselves richards et al 1985 177 in short different theories about the nature of language and how languages are learnt the approach imply different ways of teaching language the method and different methods make use of different kinds of classroom activities the technique 23 disciplines contributing to foreign language teaching flt in order to know the theory and skills in teaching we should deal with some basic principles derived from the interaction of aspects of those fields of study which contribute to the theory and practice of foreign language teachinglanguage teaching involves three main disciplines linguistics psychology and pedagogy linguistics provides information about language in general and about the specific language being taught psychology describes how learning takes place and pedagogy blends the information from linguistics and psychology into a compatible method of presentation in the classroomlinguistics is the study of language as a system of human communication it covers a wide field with different approaches and different areas of investigation such as sound system sentence structure and meaning system linguistics has drawn on ideas from sociology to establish the place and role of language in the sociology of human behavior and from psychology to investigate among other things how language is learned the result is two new disciplines sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics which together with linguistics proper form the central area of applied linguisticssociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to social factors that is social class educational level and type of education age sex ethic origin etc linguists differ as to what they include under sociolinguistics many would include the detailed study of interpersonal communication and also those investigations which relate variations in the language use by a group of people to social factorspsycholinguistics is the study of mental processes that a person undergoes in producing and understanding language and how humans learn language psycholinguistics includes the study of speech perception the role of memory concepts and other processes in language use and how social and psychological factors affect the use of languageapplied linguistics is the study of second and foreign language learning and teaching it also studies language and linguistics in relation to practical problems such as lexicography translation speech phonology etc applied linguistics uses information from sociology psychology anthopology and information theory as well as from linguistics in order to develop its own theoretical models of language and language use and then uses this information and theory in practical areas such as syllabus design speech therapy language planning stylistics etcthis last field is concerned with many language activities eg speech pathology machine translation mother tongue acquisition literary analysis etc but for the present purpose its chief relevance is to language teaching see the following diagramthe conjunction of sociology and psychology with the theory and practice of english language teaching elt is a reminder that teaching of any kind draws upon knowledge from these fields quite apart from language considerations we get insights from sociology about such matters as group interaction the status of the teacher and the school in the local culture the social role of education as a whole from psychology we understand facts about memory span motivation cognitive development relating to the process of learning understanding and representing knowledge mental process of knowing and pedagogy is concerned with class management questioning techniques lesson planning and teaching strategies etc language teaching presupposes a set of operational principles of language and this is supplied by applied linguistics24 factors influencing foreign language teaching and learningteaching and learning a foreign language inevitably involves relationships between different aspects of life and teaching english successfully is not just a question of method other things influence english language teaching greatly it is worth trying to examine some of the underlying factors which can indirectly affect both the learner and the teacher at a macro levelthe study of foreign language teaching and learning reveals that it is a complex process involving many variables more specifically or at a micro level the following variables are related to this field of studyforeign language education policythe status and roles of a foreign language in society are determined by the long-term and short-term needs of the country the making of foreign language education policy must take into consideration the economic and educational situations of the country with these needs and situations in mind the government determines the place and proportion of a foreign language education in primary secondary and tertiary education considering things such as when the student begins to learn a foreign language how many hours they need what foreign languages should be learned what is the percentage of foreign language in the college entrance examination what is the requirement of a foreign language for university teachers or science personnel and engineers when they are sent abroad to study or when they are to be promoted etcthe goal of foreign language educationin order to advance foreign language education more systematically and avoid waste of money and resources we need to set a goal in foreign language education for long-term and short-term needs different goals are set for different learners for example the goals for secondary education are different from those for higher education foreign language education goals for foreign language majors are different from those for non-majors goals for training teachers are different from those for people who learn a foreign language for specific purposeslearnerslearners are an important variable in foreign language teaching the learners motivation intelligence language aptitude educational level age sex learning strategies individual differences etc all play a part in foreign language teaching and influence their learning resultteachersthere are differences in teachers which definitely influence foreign language teaching their attitudes towards their job language expertise professionalism teaching experiences specialist training in foreign language teaching flexibility in teaching age sex etc contribute to the success or failure of their worksyllabusa syllabus determines teaching aims objectives contents and methods the aims might be teaching a dead language for academic research or a living language for communication training learners abilities of reading and writing or their abilities of listening and speaking teaching a foreign language for a specific purpose or for enhancing learners general proficiencyaccording to the writers views of language and views of language teaching and learning syllabus describes the contents of a language course and the order in which they are to be taught language teaching syllabus may be based on grammatical items and vocabulary then it is a structural syllabus it may be based on the language needed for different types of situations then it is a structural-situational syllabus and if it is based on meanings and communicative functions which the learner needs to express in the foreign language it is a notional-functional syllabusteaching methodteaching method the way of teaching a foreign language is determined by syllabus you might use grammar translation method audiolingual method cognitive-code learning communicative approach and so on according to your views of language and language learning according to the specific course you are teaching and your learners you may choose to use a deductive method or an inductive method or a mixture of the two in addition method is affected by the size of the class big or small type of class intensive or regular in-class teaching or out-class activity target learners children teenagers or adults etc the coursebook you are using also determines to a certain extent your teaching methodteaching materialsteaching materials or coursebooks generally agree with or reflect teaching principles teaching aims and objectives and teaching methods however there are specific principles in the selection and gradation of materials the design of exercises and activities coordination of titles and pictures layout etcteaching aidsforeign language teaching is constrained or facilitat