英语本科毕业论文-The Analysis and Solutions to Problems of Teaching in Big Classes of College English.doc

The Analysis and Solutions to Problems of Teaching in Big Classes of College EnglishDepartment of Foreign LanguagesBingjiang College, NUIST, Nanjing, 210044.Abstract: With a great number of students entering into colleges and universities, it is inevitable to adopt the way of teaching college English in big classes for higher schools in our country. At the same time, with the teaching object of college English transferred from imparting linguistic knowledge to cultivating the communicative ability in English, the problem of lacking communication and interaction within a big class of college English is becoming more and more urgent. Therefore, this article firstly gives a brief introduction to the causes and the current situation of big classes teaching of College English and then elaborates the advantages and disadvantages. In the third part, it gives some suggestions on the problems of lacking enough communication and interaction among teachers and students within a big class of college English. On one thing, this paper aims to promote sufficient communication and mutual understanding among teachers and students. On another thing, it is to improve the communicative ability of English learners. Key Words: teaching in big classes; causes and current situation; advantages and disadvantages; communication and interaction摘要：随着大批学生进入大学，我国高等院校中普片采取了大学英语大班教学的模式。同时，随着大学英语教学的目标从传授语言知识向培养学生语言交际能力的转变，大学英语大班教学下缺乏交流与互动的问题变得越来越突出。因此，本文首先简要介绍了大学英语大班教学的成因及现状；其次，本文详细分析了大学英语大班教学的利弊；最后，本文对大学英语大班教学下的师生以及学生与学生之间的有效交流与互动问题提出一些自己的建议。因此，一方面，本文旨在促进大班英语教学下的师生交流与理解；另一方面，本文旨在提高英语学习者的交际能力。关键词：大班教学；原因及现状；利弊分析；交流与互动1 IntroductionWhat does big classes teaching mean? Firstly, a class with more than 30 students is a big class according to the standard of specialized English. However, college English is different from the specialized English courses, so a class with more than 50 students is a big class of college English. At present, the phenomenon of teaching in big classes exists not only in specialized English classes, but also in college English classes (Yu Jianqiong,). But why does the phenomenon of big class teaching occur? With the fast development of economy and technology and the increasing need of talents, our country has carried out Grand College Enrollment Plan since 1999. Of course, there are some other reasons responsible for this Plan such as improving the qualities of the people in our country. As a result, more and more students have been enrolled into many colleges and universities. And with China entering into WTO in 2001 and expanding more exchanges with foreign countries in economy, politics, culture, etc., talents who have a good master of English have been in a great need. In addition, it is required to learn English for all the students in spite of their majors in colleges and universities. Therefore, English teachers and teaching facilities and so on are in a great need for many colleges and universities. So it is now a normal phenomenon that teachers teach college English in a large class in which there are more than fifty students.2 Advantages and DisadvantagesIt is well-known that everything is a sword with two blades. Although teaching in big classes has improved the efficiency of teaching, its disadvantages are obvious and can not be ignored compared with classes with a small groups of students in many aspects. In the first place, many students in a big class are very energetic and fun. For example, when asked the same question, different students hold a variety of opinions and their opinions are reasonable and right in some ways. So it helps to draw on the wisdom of the masses. However, so many students in a big class also make a lot of noise. More often than not, the voices of students have a bad influence on teaching because their voices may cover teachers voices though teachers have used the amplifier during classes. It is difficult to hear clearly what teachers are talking and it causes troubles for those students who are eager to learn. And as for teachers, they feel tired because they have to raise their voices. And due to many students studying in a big class, we can easily find that only some students give response to what teachers are saying, but some students may have a sleep, eat, listen to music by MP3, watch films via MP4, play games and even answer the call and so on. What is more, teaching in big classes is conducive to make best use of teaching resources in colleges and universities such as teachers and teaching facilities, for students can share one teacher and one classroom with each other at the same time to learn what they are required to learn, which in some ways improve the efficiency of teaching. But because different students have different characters and teachers can not get a full understanding of their students in a big class, it is difficult to teach efficiently and purposefully according to students characters. For instance, some students are poor with spoken English, some with reading but the teachers can not teach them according to the students different situations to help them with their poor aspects. In addition, although it is easy for teachers to teach so many students at a time in a multi-media classroom, it is difficult for teachers to realize the teaching object. Even a majority of teachers have no time to contact and tutor them and they have no time to upgrade and improve themselves. Eventually, they become teaching robots (Gao Yan). Besides, some students who are introvert feel easy to get along with their classmates in a big class; especially they are easily affected by the extrovert students and become opener than before. However, students whose school achievements are poor and students who are introvert are also liable to feel that they are ignored by teachers and other students in big classes. Also, since big classes have many a students, it helps to compete with each other and form a good atmosphere for learning. Through competition and by contrast with other students, students can constantly improve themselves. And learning within a big class is also helpful to unite with each other and strengthen the ideas of values of collectivism. It helps them learn to care and help their classmates in learning or in daily life. But it seems that some students do not care their study and that they have something more important to deal with. They often skip class and fail to pass the exams. Of course, this is relevant with teachers because some teachers think that calling the roll is waste of time, which leaves opportunity to those students who skip class. Moreover, some students do not like to take part in the activities held by classes. It seems that they do not belong to the collective, but just on-lookers. For example, once we invited some students who do not often attend extracurricular activities to compete for the hosts of English Corner or to be audience. But they refused and said that there were so many students here, why did you ask us only. Last but the most important, as students come from different places including urban areas and rural areas; they can gain precious opportunities to expand their horizons through their mutual conversations. For example, if one student is from Jiangsu Province and another student comes from Shandong Province, they can communicate with each other about the customs, cultures and so forth in their hometowns. Thus, they both can benefit a lot from their talk. However, the problem of lacking enough communication and interaction in big classes of college English between teachers and students and between students and students is becoming pressing. More often than not, during big classes, teachers dominate the class and have no interaction with students. According to a survey by some experts, 88% of teachers put emphasis on explaining the difficult sentences; 87% on the explanation of some important words and grammar; 82% on doing some model tests; 27.6% on group discussion; 15.7% on course-play during college English classes in our country. (Gao Yan). It makes students very passive and it is also not conducive to realize the teaching goal for teachers.3. Some Suggestions on Communication and InteractionThough we are now in face of some disadvantages and shortcomings on teaching in big classes of college English, I believe that there are some solutions to overcome these disadvantages and shortcomings. As a famous saying in philosophy goes that problems and the solutions to the problems emerge at the same time. The above analysis of the disadvantages about teaching in big classes of college English is to offer some suggestions on enough communication and interaction among teachers and students. It is a good way to promote the communication and interaction and improve the communicative ability of students through some teaching activities. Of course, students are the main parts of the activities. However, this does not mean that once an activity is in progress, the teacher should become a passive observer. His function becomes less dominant than before, but no less important. For example, if students find themselves unable to cope with the demands of the situation, the teacher can offer advice or provide necessary language items. If students can not agree on any point, he can resolve their disagreement. In other words, he is available as a source of guidance and help. His presence in this capability may be an important psychological support for many learners, especially for those who are slow to develop independence (William Littlewood, 2000:19). The following are the activities proper to be used in big classes teaching of college English. 3.1 Topic DiscussionTopic discussion means that students express what they would like to express freely in their minds when given a topic during classes of college English. To be more detailed, English teachers give some topics during classes, then asks some students at random to talk something about the designated topic and gives comments on what the students have said or invites some other students to make their comments. Before talking, students are required to introduce themselves briefly in order to let teachers and other students know their names. For instance, during the Advanced English classes, when we finish learning a unit, our teacher leaves some time to do some topic discussions to cultivate our communicative competence in English. More often than not, our teacher leaves more or less ten minutes for us and then asks three or four students to say something about the given topic. Through this way, students in our class all have the opportunity to do topic discussion at least one time. We also get known that some students are fluent in English; some poor at the oral English; some introvert; some open-minded. By this way, not only can we practice our spoken English, but also almost every student can make a deep impression on teachers and the other students. Meanwhile, teachers have an opportunity to know more about his or her students and the students know more about their classmates. Maybe someone doubts whether there is enough spare time to do topic discussion in a big class. To be frank, time in a big class is limited, but it does not mean there is no spare time left. It is said that time is like water in a sponge. There is water as long as you press the sponge. Therefore, there is little left for one student to do topic discussion, the number of students who have taken part in topic discussion will be a large number when the semester comes to an end. Topic discussion is a good way to promote the communication and interaction between teachers and students within a big class in college English, There are also some other benefits for topic discussion. For example, the introvert students who are shy when speaking before the public, especially those who are of little courage to communicate and interact with teachers during classes can grasp this opportunity to improve themselves and let teachers and other students know more about them. For another example, students can improve their quick response abilities through topic discussion.3.2 Group Work Group work, as the term suggests, is that students in the same group are required to finish some tasks assigned by their teacher (Xu Qiang, 2000:125). To some degree, group work means cooperative learning. That is students within a group discuss and exchange ideas and experiences with each other to finish a task. At present, cooperative learning is a very popular and effective way of teaching. It is based on a theory of group dynamics. In simple words, the theory means that the success depends on the mutual efforts when people get together to realize one common goal (Du Weiwei). For example, our class with another two English classes together learned the course of the American Literature last semester. We were required to write some our own understanding of a book written by Americans. When we handed in what we wrote, our teacher divided us into different groups. That is students whose comments are on the same book they read are divided into the same group no matter which class you are in. Then those who read the same book discussed with each other. And then each group chose a representative to tell something about the book his or her group had read. This is just a kind of group work. The concrete forms of group work are as following:3.2.1 Lecturing by StudentsTeachers spare ten minutes to let one student hold a lecture during every class. The first five minutes are used to lecture; the second five minutes are used to discuss and answer questions asked by other students. In the spare time, the group makes preparation for the lecture. And there are no limitations with the contents of the lecture. They can choose what they are interested in. Before the lecture during classes, the student should give a brief introduction to his or her group. Of course, it is necessary to write the new words and the outline of the lecture on the blackboard before the student starts to give his or her lecture. Although at present this way of teaching is not often adopted in big classes of college English, it is worth having a try. Through this form of teaching and learning, it is conducive to expand the communication and interaction among teachers and students in big classes of college English. Of there are some other benefits by this way of teaching and learning such as improving the organizing ability of English language.3.2.2 Teaching by StudentsStudents are divided into several groups in which they choose their own representatives to play the role of teachers. They are required to make enough preparations and collect some topics related to what they will teach. As for the way of teaching, there are no specific requirements. For example, they can use PowerPoint to teach; they can teach by video. Students can choose any way which is proper for them. During classes, it will take 30 minutes to teach and another 15 minutes to make comments by the teacher and answer questions from other students. For example, when I was a sophomore, I was chosen by my group to teach before so many students in a business English class. Although I performed not as well as my English teacher, I left a deep impression to my teacher and my classmates because of my humorous way of teaching. Through this interaction, my teacher and my classmates get a more understanding of me. And also I know more about my classmates through this communication and interaction.3.2.3 Role PlayThe activity of role play is not unfamiliar to English teachers and students. Role play, as the term suggests, is an activity in which students perform according to some scripts written by others or by themselves. The programs of their performance are various such as crosstalk, classic plays, fairy tales and so on. Due to the limited time and a large number of students in a big class, the role play takes five to ten minutes in general. After the performance, teachers and students can make their comments on their performance. Of course, we should ensure that each student has one opportunity to do role play at least in a semester. For instance, my classmates and I performed a story named “Golden Axe, Silver Axe”. For another example, once one of my classmates and I were invited to imitate the NBA commentators to host a basketball game between Huston Rockets and Los angles Lakers. By the role play, we know that some classmates are good at performance; some at singing; some at dancing; some at writing. To put it into a nutshell, all these activities not only improves students competence of using English and cultivate their team spirits and imagination and creativity, but also promote the communication and interaction among teachers and students. And as we know that it is impossible for teachers to communicate and interact with every student face to face, so this problem can be solved through group work to some degree. There is no denying that group work can hit a heated discussion during the process of communication and interaction in classes or after classes. Therefore, it is safe to say that group work plays an important role in promoting enough communication and interaction between teachers and students and between students and students within a big class in college English. It also makes teaching in big classes of college English fun and effective.3.3 Self-representationThat teachers invite students to do self-representation is a very common way of teaching often seen in big classes of college English. To some degree, self-representation belongs to topic discussion, but it also can be classified as group work from another perspective. So I list it here solely. However, there is something different from self-representation to topic discussion for generally students can make preparations for the former i