Lesson Five Language Teaching and Learning.ppt

LessonFiveLanguageTeachingandLearning ChenJinzhongDepartmentofForeignLanguagesShaoxingUniversityMarch11th 2006Email john18582004 BackgroundInformationStructuralAnalysisoftheTextDetailedStudyoftheTextTheStyleoftheTextExercises Homework BackgroundInformation 1 Theauthor WilgaM Rivers PhD UniversityofIllinois Dr RiversisProfessorEmeritusofRomanceLanguagesandLiteraturesandCoordinatorofLanguageInstructionatHarvardUniversity Shehaspublishednumerousbooksandarticlesonthetheoryandpracticeoflanguageteachingmethodology drawinginsightsfrompsychologyandlinguistics SpecificbooksdealwiththeteachingofFrench German Spanish andHebrew Shehaslecturedin28countriesandherpublicationshavebeentranslatedintoninelanguages Duringrecentyears Dr Rivershasbecomeincreasinglyinvolvedincomputer assistedlanguageinstructionandparticipatesinseveraltaskforcesoncomputersinforeignlanguageteaching Dr Riverswilladviseandmonitorprojectswithparticularreferencetoinnovativeteaching learningstrategies GuidelinesforWritingaPreface ASeniorEssayprefacetypicallycoversthefivebroadtopicsbelow onetopicatatime Backgroundofthewriter history academicpreparationandgoals futureplans WhydidIchoosethistopic WhatothertopicshaveIconsidered andwhyhaveIsettledonthisone HowdidIcarryoutyourresearch Whatweremymainsources Whichsourcesinfluencedmethemost Whatistheessayallabout Whatisitnotabout Whatwillareadergainbyreadingit WhataudiencedoIhaveinmindforthisessay Howistheessayorganized Whatareitsmainconclusions Whatareitsweaknesses WhatdidIgain losefromthelongprocessofwritingthisessay 5 Acknowledgments Attheend Ithankanyonewhohelpedmetogettothispoint includingmytwopanelists ifIfeeltheyhavedoneagoodjob DefinitionofLanguage Languageisasystemofconventionalspokenorwrittensymbolsbymeansofwhichhumanbeings asmembersofasocialgroupandparticipantsinitsculture communicate Languageistheessentialmediaofcommunication FeaturesofLanguage 1 Languageisanimportantpartofculture 语言是文化的重要组成部分 Languageisthesymbolandcarrierofculture 语言是文化的表现形式和承载形式 Languageisthemeansofthinking 语言是思维的工具 Languageisthetieandbridgeofhumancivilization 语言是维系人类社会文明的纽带 FunctionsofLanguage 1 Languageistheessentialinstrumentthatcanbeusedtoconveyinformation Forexample Itisverycoldoutside 2 Languageisthetieandbridgetoestablishrelationshipbetweenpeople Example1 A It safinedaytoday isn tit B Afinedaytoday AreyouEnglish Example2 A Excuseme canyoutellmethewaytotherailwaystation B Yes Ican 3 Languageisoftenusedasastrategyfordifferencepurposesuchasinpolitics economy dailylifeandsoon Whataremajorconsiderationsforsuccessfullanguageteaching Themajorconsiderationsforsuccessfullanguageteachingareasfollows Acquisitionofalanguagecannotbemodularizedbecausesuccessfullanguageusemustinvolvetheoperationofdifferentaspectoflanguage Languageteachinghavetobringtheoriesoflanguageandlanguagelearningintocontactwithpracticalconstrains Languageteachingmustrevealtherelationshipbetweenlanguageknowledgeandlanguageuse Languagelearningrequireslearners emotionalandmentalinvolvement Languageteachingmustgoinallofthedirectionstopromotelanguagelearning Cook Seidlhofer1995 8 14 9 35 Cook G andB Seidlhofer eds 1995 PrinciplesandPracticeinAppliedLinguistics OxfordUniversityPress 3currentapproachestolanguageteaching Content basedinstruction Itisdesignedtoputintellectualcontentandculturalcomponentintothelanguageskillscurriculum Task basedinstruction Itisdesignedtoencouragethelocaltreatmentoflocalproblemsthroughlocalsolutions Strategy basedinstruction Itisdesignedtoactivateproceduralknowledgetoachieveproblem solvinggoals Kramsch1995 48 11 36 Kramsch C 1995 Theappliedlinguistandtheforeignlanguageteacher cantheytalktoeachother InCook G andB Seidlhofer eds PrinciplesandPracticeinAppliedLinguistics OxfordUniversityPress 43 56 Howwastheterm communicativecompetence firstdefinedinsociologyandredefinedinappliedlinguistics 1 CommunicativecompetencewasfirstdefinedbyGumperzinsociologicaltermsastheabilitytoselectappropriateformsfromallthecorrectexpressions 2 CommunicativecompetencewasthenredefinedbySavignoninappliedlinguistictermsastheexpression interpretation andnegotiationofmeaningbetweentwoormorepeople Note Thisisacaseofapplyingaconceptofanotherdisciplineinappliedlinguistics 3 CommunicativecompetencewaslaterredefinedbyTerrellinindividual interlocutor directedtermsastheabilitytounderstandanativespeakerandtogivehimorherresponsesrathereasilyandcomprehensibly 4 CommunicativecompetencewasfinallyredefinedbyOmaggioinmethodologicaltermsasanindividual slinguisticabilitytohandleeverydaysocialencountersfairlyappropriatelyandcontinueconversationbymakinginquiriesandofferingmoreelaborateresponses Discusstheconceptsof1 language 2 languagecompetence 3 languageuse 4 languagelearning 1 Language Languageisasetofconstructedwordsandexpressionsinassociationwithvariouscontexts 2 Languagecompetence Languagecompetenceisaformofpatternedhabitualbehaviourdevelopedthroughimitationandrehearsal 3 Languageuse Languageuseisthecreationofexpressionsaccordingtoasetofrules 4 Languagelearning Languagelearningmeans forlearnerstolearnlanguagerulesexplicitly becausethereisnosubstantialdifferencebetweentherulesintheuser learner smindandtherulesformulatedbylinguists Languagelearningmeans forlearnerstocreateandre createlanguageruleswhilereceivingactualexpressionsbecausethelinguist srulesprovidesnopsychologicalmodellingoftheuser smentalrules Howdolanguagelearningandlanguageteachingdifferinnature Whatarethemajorfeaturesoftheteachingprocess Teachingisaplannedactivity Teachingisaprocessofinteractionbetweentheteacherandstudents Teachingischaracterizedbythegradualdevelopmentoftheteacher sfeelforlearning thatis gainingclassroomexperiencetounderstandthelearningprocessbetterandbetter Teachingisconstantlychangingbecausetheteacher sclassroomexperiencecontinuallyreshapeshisorherconceptsoflearning Inthepast teachingwasregardedasmerelyfillingintheblanksheetsofstudents TEACHINGMETHODSANDTEACHER LEARNERROLES Rivers modeloflanguageteachingandlearningprocesses perception ofunits categoriesandfunctions cognition knowledge abstraction internalizingrulesrelatingcategoriesandfunctions Skill gettingarticulation practiceofsequencesofsounds production pseudo communication construction practiceinformulatingcommunications reception comprehensionofamessage Skill using interaction realcommunication motivation tocommunicate expression conveyingpersonalmeaning Halliday sdefinitionofRegister Threemainvariablesaredistinguishedwhicharefelttobesignificantforthechoiceofsituationalfeatures Field 话语范围 subjectmatter Mode 话语方式 speechorwriting format etc Tenor 话语体式 therelationsbetweentheparticipants e gsocialroles whichinfluencedegreeofformality 3 style Whatisstyle 1 mannerofexpressioninwritingandspeaking justlikeamannerofdoingthingsbad good2 theregister whichreferstothespecialvarietyoflanguageusedbyaparticularspecialgroupthathaveacommonprofession e g doctors lawyers teachers orthesameinterests3 thesetoflinguisticfeaturesthatseemtobethecharacteristicsofatext 4 choiceofitems theirdistributionandpatterning whichispartlydeterminedbythedemandsofgenre form theme etc partlybythelikesoftheauthore g Peterpassedawaylastsummer Peterkickedthebucketlastsummer 5 deviationfromthenorme g thewidow makingunchildingunfatheringdeeps thedeepswhichdeprive wives ofhusbands children offathersand parents ofchildren Introduction Haveyoueverwonderedwhatyourinstructorsmeanwhentheywrite wordy or passivevoice or awk inthemarginsofyourpaper Doyousometimessensethatyoursentencescouldbestronger clearer shorter moreeffective Doyouoftenfeelthatyouknowwhatyoumeanbutdonotknowhowtosayit Ifyouoftengetfeedbackfromyourinstructorsthatyouneedto tightenyourprose or lookatyourwordchoice youmayneedtoworkonyourwritingstyle It simportantthatyoudevelopawritingstylewhichmakesitpossibleforyoutosaywhatyoumean StyleMarkers A phonology elision B syntax sentencetypes clauses phrases words wordorder C lexicalchoice general specific D graphology punctuation capitalization paragraphing italicization Choiceismeaning StyleoftheText IntroductionIt sobviousthatweallwritedifferentlyindifferentsituations Writinganassignmentisdifferentfromwritinganotetothemilkman oraloveletter orapostcardtoafriend Inallthesekindsofwriting weusethestylewhichsoundsrightforthesituation Lotsofthedifferencesbetweenthedifferentstylesaretodowithformalityandinformality Wecansaythatapostcardtoafriendisatthe informal endofthespectrum andthatthingslikelegaldocumentsarerightatthe formal end Herearetwosmallbitsofwritingtoillustratethedifferencesbetweenformalandinformalstyles Whatisanargument Inacademicwriting anargumentisusuallyamainidea oftencalleda claim or thesisstatement backedupwithevidencethatsupportstheidea Infact makinganargument expressingapointofviewonasubjectandsupportingitwithevidence isoftentheaimofacademicwriting 2 LanguageVariation fromQianYuan 1991 Stylistics ACoursebookforChineseEFLStudents 上 北京师范大学出版社 p141 StyleoftheTextImpersonalstylewithitsdistancingeffect useofpassives sentencesbeginningwithintroductory it abstractnouns thirdpersonnouns postponement useofcleftstructure Highlyformalstyleofwriting Dealswitheducationalscience apieceofacademicwriting Highlytechnicalvocabularylikeinteraction prototype recognition presuppose fundamental elicitetc 5 LongandComplexsentencestructure subordinationandcoordination 6 Highlytechnicalstyleofwriting writingstyle Writingstylemeansthewayinwhichaparticularwritermanageshisorherwordsandsentences Itisthecreativepartofwriting givinglifetothewriter spersonality Awriteralwayshaschoiceswhenitcomestosentenceform Thethreemaintypesofsentencesaresimple compound complexandcompound complex Inadditiontoavarietyofsentenceforms awritermayuseotherelementssuchasfiguresofspeech parallelism modifiers eventheso called periodic sentenceinordertoindividualizehisstyle Hereisaparagraphwrittenwithnoattentiontostyle Iamayoung strongwoman Iamnotverybrave Myfriendstoldmetheyweregoingonaskiingtrip Iagreedtogowiththem Ineverhadskied Ididn tadmitittoanyone Abigskilifttookusuptothetopofthemountain Iwasfrightenedtodeath Iwentoverthemountain sedge Itumbledallthewaydown butdidn tgethurt Myfriendsallsaid Whydidn tyoutellus Theabovewaswrittenentirelywithsimplesentences subject verb object Togivethepapermorelifeandthereadermorevariety thewritershouldusecompoundandcomplexsentencesinadditiontothesimpleones Acompoundsentencesimplycombinesthoughtsbyconnectingtwosentences orindependentclauses withacoordinatingconjunction Shecouldcombinethefirsttwosentencesbysaying Iamayoung strongwoman butIamnotterriblybrave Anotheroptionistouseacomplexsentence Thisincludesadependentclauseandagaincarriestwoormorethoughtsintoonesentence Adependentclausetendstoexplaintherestofthesentence Inthethird fourthandfifthsentencesabove shecanmakeitflowbetterbyusingadependentclause Whenmyfriendstoldmetheyweregoingonaskiingtrip Ithoughtlesslyagreed althoughIhadneverskiedbefore Nowweswitchtotheskiingareawithanewparagraph usingdependentclausestosetthescene Aswerodetothetopofthemountainonthehugeskilift IwastooproudtotalkaboutthemessIwasbeingdrawninto WhenIlookedfardownatthedistantparkinglot Iwasfrightenedtodeath However nothingwouldhaveforcedmetoconfessthetruth thatoutofagroupofhighschoolstudents theonlyonewhohadneverbeenonskiswasI Havingachievedsmoothnessandrhythm shecancreateamorevividpicturebyusingfiguresofspeech similes metaphorsoranaphorism Shecouldwrite AsIglancedatthedistantmountainsfrommyloftyperch Ifeltlikeaneaglegazingdownontheworld aneaglewithoutwings Insteadofadeadlyswoopafterprey howwouldIland Igaveanuneagle likeshiver Here themetaphorinvolvingtheeagleaddsanotherdimensiontothestory herfeelingofunworthinesswasoutlinedclearly alongwithaself deprecatingsenseofhumor Anotherdeviceusedtoaddpowertoacompositionisparallelism arepetitionofsentenceformtoemphasizeapoint Returningtotheskier Igatheredmynerve Iplungedovertheedge Itumbleddownthemountaininawhirlofskis sweatersandpoles Ilandedinapileofsoftsnow Iwasstillalive ParallelismcanalsobeusedfordramaticeffectasinPresidentKennedy splea Asknotwhatyourcountrycandoforyou askwhatyoucandoforyourcountry Itisparticularlyusefulforconcludingaspeechoranessay Writingstyleisapersonalthing yoursshouldbedifferentfromanyoneelse s Intheskier sstoryyougetanideaoftheyounglady spersonality hervulnerability ayouthfulurgetokeepupwithherpeers andaself savingsenseofhumor Writingisabitlikedancing Youhavebasicmovestofollow butthebestdancershavetheirownrhythm theirownflair Writersoffiction infact maybecomeknownfortheirstrikingindividualstyles F ScottFitzgeraldandErnestHemingway tonametwo Fitzgeraldfavoredsubtlepsychologicalflourishesinhisdescriptions whileHemingwaywrote hard masculineprosecomprisingterse brusquesentences Contrastthetwoauthors stylesintheseselections FitzgeralddescribesGatsby Hesmiledunderstandinglymuchmorethanunderstandingly Itwasoneofthoseraresmileswithaqualityofeternalreassuranceinit thatyoumaycomeacrossfourorfivetimesinlife Itfaced orseemedtoface thewholeexternalworldforaninstantandthenconcentratedonyouwithanirresistibleprejudiceinyourfavor Itunderstoodyou justasyouwantedtobeunderstood believedinyou justasyouwouldliketobelieveinyourself andassuredyouthatithadpreciselytheimpressionofyouthat atyourbest youhopedtoconvey HemingwaydescribesBrett Brettwasdamnedgoodlooking Sheworeaslipoverjerseysweaterwithatweedskirt andherhairwasbrushedbacklikeaboy s Shestartedallthat Shewasbuiltwithcurveslikethehullofaracingyacht andyoumissednoneofitwiththatwooljersey TIPSonBETTERINGYOURSTYLE 1 Saywhatyoumeanandmeanwhatyousay Makesureyourmessageisnotvaguetothereader Ifthemessageisnotclearinyourownmind thatsentence paragraphoressayofyoursstillneedswork 2 Saywhatyoumeannotonlyclearly butconcisely e g usingasfewwordsaspossible Studentsoftenworryhowtheywillever get750words foranessaysotheyshiftintoautomaticpilot repeatingthemselves writingincircles andpaddinglikemad Yetthisisawasteroftime foolsnoone andearnsapoorgrade HowdoIget750words then Astudentmayask Theanswer writeconcreteexample descriptivedetail abitofdialogue Ifyoumakeeachwordcountinthiswayyouwillgetyour quota derivesatisfactioninyourwork bothstyleandcontent andearnabettermark StructuralAnalysisoftheText 1 Introduction Para1 Languageservesasavehicleofexpression metaphor 2 Thebulkofthepaper Paras2 12 Paras 2 4 languageascommunication Skill usingandskill gettingisdistinguishedherePara 5 7 thenatureofclassroominteraction interpersonalnature anditsimportanceinsuccessfulcommunicationintheclassroomParas 8 9 discussesthemethodology nobestmethodworkingwellunderallcircumstanceswithallstudentsParas 10 12 demandsontheteacherswhoshouldberesponsibleforhowtoteach autonomouslearningofstudents successfulteachersarehighlyidiosyncraticandprofessionallyalive3 Conclusion para13 callsfortheneedforpluralityofteachingapproaches LanguageTeachingandLearningByWilgaM Rivers Weoftenspeakoflanguageasavehicleofexpression ametaphorthatcanilluminemanyaspectsofourforeignlanguageteachingsituation Languageisavehicleofmeaningthatwedonotevenrealizeweareusing inotherwords avehiclethatistransportingaperson smessagesomewherebutisnotitselftheobjectofthetrip Beforestudentscanusesuchavehiclefortheirpurposesitmustbeconstructed andthisconstructionrequiresablueprintandvariousstagesofproduction withtryoutsasthevarioussectionsand combinationsareassembled tryoutsduringwhichwhathasbeenassembledtodateisused ifonlymomentarily foritsultimatepurpose Withourlanguagevehiclethisultimatepurposeisexpressionpeoplerevealingthemselvesto ordisguisingorhidingthemselvesfrom otherpeople Expressioninvolvesalltheproblemsofinterpersonalrelations Forthisreasonitisfrequentlylesspainfulforteachersandstudentstocontinueworkingontheconstructionofthevehiclethantotryitoutforlevelofperformance Inamodelofforeign languageteachingandlearningprocessesthatisnowquitewellknown Ihavedistinguishedskill getting representedbybothcognitionandproduction orpseudo communication fromskill usingininteraction whichinvolvesbothreceptionandexpressionandisdependentonmotivationtocommunicate Theconstructionofourvehiclepresupposesadesign Someparticularlytalentedindividualscanputthedesignintoeffectwithoutthehelpoftheblueprint theyappeartomovedirectlyfromtheprototypetoproduction whichmeansthattheydeveloptheirowninternalrepresentationfromacquaintancewiththeprototype Thesearetheexceptions however Mostneedhelpindevelopingaseriesofblueprintsofincreasingcomplexityasabasisforproduction Somepreferlessonsindraftingblueprints whereasotherscandrawthemupfromexperiencewithaprototypeofthevehicle Theseblueprintsrepresentthesystemunderlyingbothreceptionandexpression Ourstudentsdependontheirblueprintsastheyputthepartstogetherinproductionsothatthevehiclewillfunction Sometimesstudentstrymerelytocopysomeoneelse sassembly Thismayworkforatimebutleavesthestudentbewilderedastheassemblybecomesmorecomplicatedly Atthisstageonlythosewithcomprehensiveblueprints orinternalrepresentations areabletomakethemechanismoperateastheywouldlike Constructionisnot however theuseofthevehicle Thisisrepresentedbythetryingoutthatcontinuallytakesplaceastheassemblytakesformitisonlythroughsuchtryoutsthattheoperationofthevehiclecanbesmoothlyintegrated thefaultscorrected andtheusergainconfidenceinhandlingit Noanalogyshouldbepushedtoofar Ihaveemphasizedthatmereproductionofitselfisnotsufficient Ineverylessonitmustberegardedaspreliminarytoactuallytryingoutwhatisbeinglearnedsothatfromtheearlieststagesalllearningactivitiesleadtosomeformofrealcommunicationratherthanremainingatthelevelofpseudocommunicationthroughimposedutterances Interactionhasalwaysbeenthemostneglectedpartofthelanguageactivitiesinwhichweengageintheclassroom Thissituationwillnotimproveunlessdefinitestepsaretakentoincludesubstantialinteractionactivitiesineachlesson Because real communicationforourstudentstakesplaceinthenativelanguage itisnotsurprisingthattheyneedsomestimulustousetheforeignlanguagefornaturalpurposes Interactiondoesnottakeplaceinavoid Itisnotenoughtoputseveralpeopletogether theremustalsobesomesituationalelementthatnaturallyelicitsaninterchange Interactionisapurposefulperson to personaffairinspeechandinmostkindsofwriting This