英语本科毕业论文-The Interactive English Teaching Based on Constructivism in Junior Middle School.doc

此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 题目 The Interactive English Teaching Method Based on Constructivism in Junior Middle School 学生姓名 系 别 外语系 专 业 英语本科 班 级 一 班 学 号 指导老师 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 二 一一年四月 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 Acknowledgements Fist of all I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisor Zhou Dongbiao for his encouragement and guidance He provides me with enough considerations to revise my draft Besides his patience gives me great confidence to finish this thesis Secondly my deep gratitude would go to my sincere friends and classmates who always offer help to me Last but not the least my beloved family also plays an important role in helping me to settle down some difficult problems 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 Abstract With the promotion of teaching reforms many scientific and efficient teaching methods are strongly advocated in classroom teaching Among these interactive teaching method is an effective and popular method In recent years constructivist theory which emphasizes students initiative learning has been widely applied into education in all parts of the world However the traditional teacher centered method has dominated English teaching for a long time which makes students bored and accept knowledge passively For the sake of inadequate interaction students communicative competence and second language acquisition are not well developed Neither is their initiative learning Constructivism holds that students are an essential part in classroom teaching They construct knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their own experiences and ideas Therefore it is quite essential that teachers should provide more interactions with students to communicate This thesis combines these two theories trying to show their importance and to find an effective way to learn English Key words Constructivism Interactive teaching method Classroom teaching 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 摘要摘要 随着教学改革的推进 很多科学而有效的教学方法展现在课堂中 其中 互 动教学法就是一种有效而受欢迎的教学方法 近些年来 注重学生主动学习的 建构主义理论也被广泛运用到全世界的教学中 然而 传统的以教师为中心的教学方法一直在英语教学中处于领导地位 这 种教学模式使学生感到厌烦并且被动地接受知识 由于缺少足够的互动 学生 的交际能力和第二语言习得能力没有得到很好的发展 学生的主动学习能力同 样没有提高 建构主义认为学生是课堂教学的主体 他们对自己的经验和思想 进行互动从而达到知识和意义的建构 因此 教师给学生提供更多的互动机会 进行交流是非常必要的 本文结合建构主义理论和互动式教学 体现两者对学 习英语的重要意义并尝试探求学习英语的有效途径 关键词关键词 建构主义 互动教学法 课堂教学 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Abstract ii 摘要 iii 1 Introduction 1 2 The overview of constructivist theory 2 2 1 Constructivist learning theory 3 2 2 Constructivist based teaching theory 4 3 Basic concepts of interaction and classroom interaction 5 3 1 Teacher student interaction 6 3 2 Student student interaction 7 4 The relationship between constructivism and interactive teaching method 8 4 1 The similarity in theoretic foundation 9 4 2 The similarity in teaching approaches 9 5 The application of interactive English teaching method based on constructivism in junior middle school 11 5 1 Creation of a constructivist environment 11 5 2 Enhancement of interactive patterns 12 5 3 Improvement of an awareness of questioning 13 5 4 Assessment of students performance 14 6 Conclusion 16 Works Cited 18 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 The Interactive English Teaching Method Based on Constructivism in Junior Middle School 1 Introduction English as a foreign language has existed for a long time in China A growing number of people have paid much attention to English teaching due to the practice of the Opening and Reform Policy Besides English has been considered as one of the fundamental subjects in the curriculum of middle school since the early 1990s However it cannot be neglected that English teaching still has a long way to reach the national English level on account of Chinese traditional teaching method Therefore how to change the traditional cramming method of English teaching and fostering students interests in learning English is the issue that all the countries encounter nowadays Although there are many teaching approaches available it is still difficult to find an effective and satisfactory approach in English teaching of junior middle school As constructivism gets more concerns from the researchers in teaching some constructivists have put forward a series of reforms which attempt to shape student centered model in classroom teaching trying to cultivate students motivation and initiation of learning interaction with teachers Furthermore teachers serving as guiders can stimulate students interests and encourage them to have enough interaction both in and out of class Junior middle school students are in the second important period of acquiring a foreign language However in Chinese traditional classroom the students just listen to teachers take notes and take in knowledge passively There is little or no exchange of information and interactions with teachers It is safe to conclude that this teaching method is not consistent with students psychological characteristics it just makes the students acquire English passively rather than helps them have a desire to learn As for the teacher he or she only plays as a transmitter So take the quality of English teaching into consideration optimizing English teaching method in junior middle 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 school is fairly necessary Constructivism holds that teaching should be built based on what learners have already known and teachers should guide them to different kinds of activities This idea has fully illustrated the importance of interactive activities which can help students to stimulate their interest and consolidate the knowledge they have learnt The traditional teaching method not only depresses the atmosphere of the classroom but also erases students initiation of learning and self construction learning 2 The overview of constructivist theory Constructivism is a fairly advanced theory system which develops further from behaviorism to cognitivism It refers to the idea that the learner constructs knowledge from experience In other words the acquisition of knowledge happens in the process of self construction Knowing is a process of self construction learners need to transform the knowledge provided by teachers or books and comprehend it by themselves In terms of constructivism there are many historical scholars making contribution to its development First it is generally put forward by Jean Piaget who articulates mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners He suggests that through processes of accommodation and assimilation individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences What s more he argues knowledge is constructed through social collaboration and learning arises from interactions with others 郑勇 陶三发 2007 Piaget s theory of constructivist learning has had wide ranging impact on learning theories and teaching methods in education and is an underlying theme of many education reform movements John Dewey has provided a foundation for Constructivism He believes that learning occurs when children are experiencing something Teachers need to design environments and interact with learners to foster inventive creative critical learners Archambault 1964 Therefore teachers should have an understanding of learners characteristics as well as personalities And another understanding of arousing learners interest and curiosity for learning also need teachers attention As teachers they must balance these two understandings 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 Psychologist Vygotsky represents socio constructivist theory which holds learning is best achieved through the dynamic interaction between teacher and learner and between learners Vygotsky 1978 With the help of the teacher or another learner the learner can move to a new level of understanding Modern constructivists pay much attention to Vygotsky s theories which have been used to support classroom instructional methods that emphasize cooperative learning project based learning and discovery Holliday 1994 It can be concluded that the development of constructivism theory is closely connected with interactions and it attaches great importance to learners self exploration self discovery and self construction of knowledge The term knowledge can be seen as a product of humans and it is socially and culturally constructed by human themselves Today there is much pedagogy related to constructivist theory Most teaching approaches developing from constructivism advocate that knowledge is constructed by learners themselves Moreover constructivist learning theory and constructivist based teaching theory which will be discussed in the following sections also have captured great attention nowadays 2 1 Constructivist learning theory According to constructivism it points out that knowledge is not acquired from teachers instead its acquisition depends on learners themselves teachers are just viewed as guiders and promoters from whom learners can get some help Through making good use of materials under a certain circumstance they can construct meanings finally The constructivist learning theory involves four factors They are circumstance cooperation discussion and meaning construction Constructivism plays an important role in learning it aims at consolidating meaning construction Therefore lesson planning should not only pay attention to teaching goals but also to circumstance which is helpful for learners to construct meanings Cooperation which focuses on interactions between learners functions greatly in the whole process of learning it can improve students ability of communicating Furthermore it concerns about material collecting and analysis questions and discovery assessment and 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 meaning construction As for discussion it is an indispensable part in cooperation including group discussion and group communication In accordance with students characteristics of psychology discussion can give students some chances to show themselves To some extent it strengthens students communicative competence Last but not least meaning construction is the final purpose of learning It consists of the nature regularity and inner connections of leaning 何克抗 2009 Constructivist defines that learning is a process of learners self construction instead of teachers controlling In other words what a learner gets is proportional to his ability of meaning construction So take the features of constructivist learning theory into account a constructivist classroom should be managed by teachers who can help students to construct meanings in an appropriate environment 2 2 Constructivist based teaching theory Constructivism which develops from cognitive theory of children has formed a new learning theory and a new teaching theory as well According to constructivism mentioned above this learning theory stresses the importance of individuals It advocates students initiation of constructing meaning Although constructivism maintains students are the main part in classroom teaching it does not mean that teachers can be neglected By contrary it puts emphasis on teachers roles in helping students to love learning Additionally the new curriculum also stipulates that the teacher should function as a facilitator of students learning rather than simply transmitting knowledge This means that the teacher needs to create a positive learning environment to motivate learners and interact with them guide them to acquire knowledge by themselves The learning environment should also be designed to support and challenge the learner s thinking This reform is consistent with constructivism the teacher is considered as an organizer a guider and a promoter in learners self construction 付春玲 2010 As a result to learn English well does not only depend on learners themselves but also depend on teachers Teachers roles involve helping students to develop their ability of self construction activate their motivation in learning and shape an appropriate learning environment Thus teachers 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 need to have a better understanding of constructivism and bring it into classroom teaching In addition to the constructivist learning and teaching theory constructivism also pours attention into the teaching models At present there have been three mature and popular teaching approaches influenced by constructivism They are scaffolding instruction anchored instruction and random access instruction 张其云 2003 Although there are some differences among them the core idea is the same That is learners complete meaning construction by themselves through interactions 3 Basic concepts of interaction and classroom interaction The concepts of interaction vary from scholars to scholars As for the interaction it refers to a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another In terms of interactive teaching method it is seen as a branch of CLT Communicative Language Teaching that was developed in early 1970s in Europe It focuses on speaking and listening skills with which learners can communicate easily Ellis defines interaction from the perspective of language acquisition Interaction consists of the discourse jointly constructed by the learner and his interlocutors input therefore is the result of interaction Ellis 1999 However such skills have not made any progress through the traditional way of teaching where the emphasis was on the learning of grammar rules and translation In the traditional classroom students could not have enough chances to apply the language although CLT promotes that people use language to fulfill functional purposes to interact with people In other words the purpose of language learning is not to learn its grammatical structures but to be able to use the structures for communication As for classroom teaching interaction is a collaborative exchange of thoughts feelings or ideas between two or more students in classroom teaching from the point of pedagogy Through interactions learners can get some improvement of their ideas English is learnt not taught it can not arouse students interest as a language instead teachers imagination and teaching approach have an affect on it Therefore the 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 application of interaction is an important faction in a successful classroom teaching Students can interact with each other they can show their ideas and share their ideas Generally speaking interactions reflect a teaching statement Learning by doing Furthermore classroom interaction involves many activities such as discussion pair work games role play and group work Learners can enhance the comprehension of knowledge through these kinds of activities Littlewood introduced a classification of social interaction activities Role playing through cued dialogues Role playing through cues and information Role playing through situation and goals Role playing through debate or discussion Large scale simulation activities Improvisation Littlewood 1981 With regard to what Littlewood put forward these social interaction activities can be applied in classroom teaching Various interactions can help both students and teachers to achieve the aim of courses What s more they can cultivate learners communicative competence and show learners the way to study by themselves in other words self construction 3 1 Teacher student interaction As for teacher student interaction it is different from traditional teaching pedagogy In a traditional language classroom the teaching focus is often on forms rather than functions The teacher occupies most of the time to read and translate texts which makes the atmosphere dull Without enough opportunities to speak English the students just listen to the teachers take notes and learn English in a passive way What needs to be pointed out is students are spending a long time in classroom every day if the organization of teaching is under teachers control without any students participance students will feel bored and lose interest in learning On the contrary if teachers adopt interactions in classroom teaching and invite students to participate in them they will be more interested in pursuing English studying Different teaching 此文档收集于网络 如有侵权 请联系网站删除 精品文档 methods will work differently In an interactive classroom students are dominant they can have a lot of interactive activities with teachers Besides the goal of teaching is not just delivering grammatical structures to students any more instead teachers are giving students some ways to help them construct knowledge by themselves From this point of view a harmonious relationship between teachers and students is built up Furthermore group discussion role play pair work games asking questions etc are feasible ways that teachers design for students to arouse their interest and ability to construct meanings and help them have a good understanding of what they have learnt Students participation can make the classroom active More importantly students can concentrate easily when they interact with teachers This teaching approach reflects student centered model and constructivist learning theory 3 2 Student student interaction When it comes to student student interaction students characteristics of psychology in junior middle school can not be ignored Students are energetic and talkative in this period they need more communications to move to a high level of self learning to the fullest potential However the traditional teaching pedagogy prevents students from presenting their psychological characteristics In the traditional classroom teachers just treat students as individuals rather than a whole class and students are separated from each other Seldom do they interact with each other This kind of learning situation will cause students to be lack of cooperation and become silent learners However with interactive teaching method adopted in classroom the atmosphere of studying English has been changed Students are encouraged to give their own ideas in classroom and share them with their classmates After expressing their own opinions they will understand how to