湖北省武汉为明实验学校初中英语教学论文 On the Strategies of the Design and Organization of Classroom Activity.doc

on the strategies of the design and organization of classroom activityabstract: we pay more attention to how teachers teach and how students learn all the time and ignore the strategies about how to design and organize classroom activities. however, it is also very important for the students learning to design and organize classroom activities efficiently. activities have become a vital part in a lesson with the reform of the national english curriculum. the new textbooks are featured as the interaction between teaching contents and activities, so we must make good use of activities in class to meet the teaching objectivities and improve students ability. but there still exist some problems in designing and organizing classroom activities that we must find ways to solve. this paper first gives the basic knowledge about classroom activity, then analyses the problem of current english classroom activity, and gives specific solutions at last.key words: classroom activity; design and organization; strategies1. introductionenglish is a discipline with strong practical use, which is a tool for communication. the aims and objectives of english teaching are to let students learn language knowledge, and improve language communication skills. and language teaching activities play an important role as transition in balancing language knowledge and communication skills. so designing classroom activity in scientific ways is helpful for students to learn in flexible ways, because classroom activity is the specific way for students to apply language knowledge into practical use and it can also help to arouse students interest and reduce polarization. but in actual english teaching classes, many activities are formalized and ritualized, putting emphasize on cognitive ability rather than ability for use. so teachers must pay attention to these things and reflect speech act theory, solving problems in real life in order to develop students language using ability. besides, teachers must design classroom activities in creative ways considering different students, different teaching contents and classroom environments. though designing classroom activities in appropriate ways meets the demands of the new national english curriculum for learning in happiness to a great extent, it is also difficult for the teacher to manage class. the students motivation in participation and their moods are often too high, which are difficult to self-control. meanwhile, if the teacher can not adjust the process of classroom activity, control students moods but ignore these problems; as a result the teacher wont continue classes smoothly. therefore, the teacher must grasp the rhythm in organizing and implementing classroom activity, with no “excessive” development. appropriate control over classroom activities is an effective guarantee for the success of english class activity.2. the necessity of designing and organizing classroom activitywith the development of english language teaching, we can not only rely on the traditional teaching methods, we must change, and add new blood on the requirements of the students, the new english curriculum, etc.2.1 students practical situation requirementstudents in elementary phrase are featured as curiosity, willing to play games and learning in activities, likely to express themselves and imitate, etc. they have a direct interest in learning english and courage to speak and express, with little shyness, sharp listening and speaking, and strong ability in imitation and mechanical memory. however their attention can not last long (to junior high school students): they do not know how to self-control and self-restraint. and the basic features of pupils thinking are that it transfers from specific thinking in images to abstract logical thinking. but the abstract logical thinking has a direct relationship with emotional experience. a research shows that elementary students main motivation and interest is a higher score, not falling behind or for being praised or encouraged, while putting finishing tasks and winning honor for his group in the second place. and first they pay more attention to the outer activities compared to the inner learning contents, then having more interest to the learning contents and the homework based on independent thinking. senior high school students thinking, imagination, emotion, and personality have apparent improvement compared to the primary students. the materials of domestic study also shows that logical thinking in senior high school students has played a dominant part but still belongs to the experience logical thinking to a large extent. gradually, they begin to keen on all kinds of creative activities with the widening of interest, growth of knowledge, formation of skills and ability. so teachers should consider all these psychological and thinking features, motivation and interest in learning while carrying out classroom activities and fully mobilize their enthusiasm and initiative. only the design of the teachers activities meet students actual circumstances can the teacher fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the students, ensure the smooth progress of classroom activities and be conductive to the improvement of teaching quality. 2.2 the basic concept of new national english curriculumone of the concepts of the new national english curriculum is to employ activities and advocate experience and participation, and to achieve aims and objectives by perception, experience, and practice under teachers guidance, which provide strong evidence for carrying out classroom activities. teachers should treat helping students to obtain language knowledge and skills as the premise when designing tasks, and let the students be the main body in class by completing some activities themselves. under the new national english curriculum, the difference between the new and the old english curriculum lies on that courses are textbooks, textbooks are the carrier of knowledge, teachers are transistors and centre of language, students are the acceptors of knowledge in the old one. however, in the new one course are the mixture of teaching material, teacher, students and environment. class is not only about knowledge but also experience and activity. it emphasizes the employ of knowledge, and the process of learning is a process of self-construction for the students. classroom activity is an important expression of the new english national curriculum in teaching which is an efficient method of learning language and forming communication skills. it help students develop comprehensive skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing by encouraging them to employ such ways as experience, practice, discussion, study and so on and promoting them to learn from each other, help each other, experience community honor and success. all these reflect the core concept and the value of ideas of the new english national curriculum. therefore, our teachers should notice the importance of classroom activity theoretically as well as study the design and innovation of it.2.3 the inevitable seeking of classroom activitythe main purpose of english teaching is to enable students to master the use of english, so english class requires to achieve the dynamic of teaching activity, and activity, interaction, mobility, positively, lively have become the key words in english teaching class. only realizing the interaction of classroom activity, mobilizing the enthusiasm and initiative of students, making class interesting shall we make students learn in happiness and the teaching target easier to meet.3. cognition to classroom activityin this part we will talk about the basic knowledge of classroom activity. only knowing these things clearly can we use them freely.3.1 the definition of classroom activitythe explanation in the oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary is: a thing that you do for interest or pleasure, or in order to achieve a particular aim. long (1985:89) defines activities as pieces of work, usually with a specified objective, undertaken as part of an education course, at work, or used to elicit data for research. in other words, an activity is meant the hundred and one things people do in everyday life, at work, at play and in between. according to breen (1987:23), basically, a classroom activity is anything the learners are given to do (or choose to) in the language classroom to further the process of language learning. ur (1996:123) gives us a clear and simple definition: a classroom activity is describe as a task that has been selected to achieve a particular learning or teaching goal. from the definition given above, it can be seen that the researchers emphasize different aspects of classroom activities, but there is something in common: it is implied that classroom activities involve learners in commutative language use and help learners acquire communicative competence. thus, classroom activities are a meaningful learning process in which students actively use target language in real communication in order to achieve real competence.3.2 the components of classroom activity and the factors that influence it as for classroom activity components, nunan, richards and rogers (1986) have summarized as follows: a. goal(s) are the general intentions behind any given learning activity, which provide a point of contact between the activity and the boarder curriculum.b. input refers to the data that form the point of departure for the activity.c. procedures are what learners actually do with the input.d. order is the location of an activity within a sequence of other activities.e. pacing is the amount of time that is spent on an activity.f. settings refer to the classroom arrangements specified or implied in the activity (individual, pairs or groups).g. language is the language learners use in completing an activity. (e.g. mother tongue or english).h. product is the outcome or outcomes students produce.i. learner roles is the part that learners are expected to play in carrying out learning activities as well as the social and impersonal relationships between participants.from the above, we can see a classroom language learning activity is a quite complicated matter. it combines, more or less, more elements concerning any language teaching. thus, designing and carrying out a classroom activity requires careful and scientific consideration. 3.3 classifications of classroom activitydifferent researchers have different classification in activity types. in this section, i concluded three major classifications of classroom activity on the basis of their researches.in broad sense, classroom activity can be divided into knowledge activity, communicative activity, and emotional activity.knowledge activity is to consolidate the students knowledge, increase their practice opportunities, and reduce the difficulty in memorizing language points (1) designing activities by guessing riddles. in order to review the boring language points that have learned before, teachers can use this method to help students to memorize. for example, after learning pen, pencil, book and eraser and so on, the teacher can take a pencil-box to the class and ask the students:” can you guess whats in my bag?” then they will all guess at the same time, in which the students can remember what they have learned. (2) designing activities by practicing articulation. there must have some important phrases and sentences in each chapter. the students must feel much more monotonous in remembering them. for this，the teacher can use this type of classroom activity to let the students to say these important points repeatedly in class. by competing who says faster without swallow any voices can help students to master phrases and sentences well and practice speaking and set foundations for their further study as well.(3) using english songs to design. beautiful music can promote students memory, so the teacher can fill the important points that have learned in the songs enjoyed by the students, by which the students will master what have taught by the teacher as well as enjoy beautiful music. (4) using cards to design. cards are easy to be made and convenient in using. if teaching present progressive, teachers can ask students to pick out a card at random and do as the card signs, then ask the students what he is doing. in this way students can practice present progressive naturally in describing the actions. another example, teachers can write the important phrases and sentences on the cards and ask the first student in each row to pick out one, and then pass on what is in it to the back one, then again the back, and then ask the last student to write on the blackboard. see which row is the best and fastest. in this way, they can learn in competition. the activity aims for communication. the main purpose of learning language is to communicate. so applying communicative activities in class is very important. (1) consider designing communicative activities using props. the use of props in class can play a multiplier role, letting activities happen in relatively real situations. if teaching “giving somebody a call”, you can take some phones to classroom; if teaching “seeing a doctor” you can take some white coats to classroom, some of the students being doctor, the rest being patients, etc.(2) consider designing activities in scenes. in order to improve students communication skills in real situations, the teacher can decorate the classroom in a certain style while teaching. for example, if teaching “christmas” you can prepare a christmas tree, color lights, christmas food and so on. in this way, students can learn in exciting and in curious minds and you can achieve unexpected outcomes naturally. the designing of scenes stimulates students passion in learning and promote their communication skills in a rapid speed at the same time. consider emotional activity. such activities are to stimulate the outer power in learning, and letting students participate in class in full spirits so as to improve learning efficiency and outcomes. this kind of activity can be carried out in competitions between groups which exist in the whole class. every question can be competition item. the teacher concludes the result of competition before class over and encourages the winner in spirits or materials in proper ways.according to the development of a class, classroom activity can be divided into nine categories, which focus on the relationship between activity types and the purpose of language teaching.a. presentation activities serve to introduce and clarify the new learning item.b. practice activities involve performance or learning of an item that has been previously presented.c. memorization activities involve memorization of information or learning material.d. comprehension activities require students to develop or demonstrate their understanding of written or spoken textse. application activities require learner to use in creative way knowledge or skills that have been previously presented or practiced.f. strategy activities develop particular learning strategies and approaches to learning.g. affective activities improve the motivational climate of the classroom and develop the students interests, confidence and positive attitudes toward learning.h. feedback activities are used to give feedback on learning or on some aspect of performance on the activity.i. assessment activities enable the teacher or learner to evaluate the extent to which the goals of an activity or lesson have been successfully accomplished.the notion of classroom activity is central to an understanding of teaching. it influences both how teachers conceptualize teaching as well as the ways they organize their lessons. therefore, teachers need to have very careful considerations when they select the types of classroom activities, and it is even more challenging for them to make those activities more communicative and effective.the third classification and their advantages and disadvantagesan important feature of todays language classroom is that students do not always study as one group. rather, for much of the class time, students are put into groups of different sizes by the teacher in processing classroom activities conveniently and effectively. the most common student grouping is whole class work, pair work, group work, and individual study.(1) whole class work refers to the time when all the students are under the control of the teacher. they are all doing the same activity at the same rhythm and pace. whole class work is often adopted when the teacher is presenting new language, giving explanations, checking answers, doing accuracy-based reproduction, or summarizing learning. during whole class work, the teacher asks questions and students answer either together or one by one as indicated by the teacher. the best advantage of whole-class activities is just it can help to overcome students obstructive psychological factors motivate students learning interest. though whole-class activity can make a relaxed class it always gives rise to noise. moreover somehow it is mechanical. it takes the whole class at the same language level but ignores that there are many differences existing in a class. such as the limited-english-proficient students may not finish within the time limit or english-proficient students may finish earlier and feel boring. obviously whole-class activities are not a good kind of activity in todays english class. an english class not only needs a relaxed atmosphere for optimal learning but also needs to consider the differences between students. so well organized group work is much needed.(2) pair work refers to the time when students work in pairs on an ex