运用外显互动式任务模式教授语法的实证研究

AnExperimentalStudyontheApplicationofExplicitInteractiveTaskInstructiontotheTeachingofEnglishGrammar

运用外显互动式任务模式教授语法的实证研究

ByWuFangGannanTeachers’College,Jiangxi,ChinaAbstractThispaperisanexperimentalstudybasedonthetheoreticalresearchofexplicitinteractivetaskputforwardbyDaiWeidongandRen

Qingmei.Theparticipantsintheexperimentwere75first-yearstudentswhocamefromChineseDepartmentofGanNanTeachers’College.Theaimistocomparetheteachingeffectofexplicitinteractivetaskinstructionandexplicitinstruction,interactiveinstruction.Intheexperiment,twogrammaritemswereadopted,oneisInversion,andtheotherisThePresentProgressivetoExpressFuturity.Apre-testandtwolater-testsweredid,andaccordingtothepre-test,22studentswereinexplicitgroup,22ininteractivegroup,31inexplicitinteractivetaskgroup(experimentalgroup).TheZ-testofthetwolater-testsshowthatexplicitinteractivetaskinstructionissuperiortoexplicitinstruction,interactiveinstruction.Itiscompletelyidenticalwiththeproposalthatstructure-basedinteractivetaskbeappliedtoimprovethegrammarteaching(Fotos).Thispaperalsopointsouttheteachingenlightenmentofthisexperiment.Ⅰ.TheCurrentSituationofGrammarTeachinginChina

Therehavebeenmanymethodologiesthroughouttheagesofforeignlanguageteaching,andmanyevenseemtorepeatthemselves.Thiscyclicalpatternoflanguageteachingmethodologieswascalled“thechangingwindsandshiftingsands.”Thereisstillagooddealofcurrentdebateontheparticularapproachthatteachersshouldtakeinofferinggrammaticalinstruction.Fourprimaryissuescharacterizethisongoingprofessionaldiscussion:1.Shouldgrammarbepresentedinductivelyordeductively?2.ShouldweusegrammaticalexplanationsandtechnicalterminologyinaCLTclassroom?3.Shouldgrammarbetaughtinseparate“grammaronly”classes?4.Shouldteacherscorrectgrammaticalerrors?InChinatheteachingofgrammarisanareaofsomecontroversyanddebate.Inthegrammarteachingclassroom,someteachersexcessivelypayattentiontotheimportanceofteachingrulesandgrammaticalstructures,however,therearenotmanygrammarrulesthatcanbeclearlyformulatedandeasilytaughtorlearned.Somerulesareeasytoformulateandsomearerelativelydifficult.Hardrulesaretooabstracttobedescribedandcannotbeappliedmechanically.Thesemoredifficultrulesarenotalwaysgovernedbytheimmediatelinguisticenvironmentandthusaredifficulttopracticeinsimplecontexts.SothestudentsgraduallyarenotinterestedinlearningEnglish.Theynegativelyaccept,processandstorethegrammarknowledge.Theyaresuccessfulinmasteringonlysmallamountofstructuralformswhichareuselessinimprovingtheirintegrativecommunicativecompetence.Someotherteachersexcessivelypursuethecommunicativefunction,emphasizethenotional-function,andtotallyrejectgrammarinstruction.Themethodofignoringstructureisasputtingthecartbeforethehorse.Theresultislearners,whoinRichard’swords(1985:152)are“successfulbutgrammaticallyinaccuratecommunicators.”ItisnotsurprisingthataChinesestudentcan’texpresshimselffluentlyandaccuratelyafterspendingmorethantenyearsinlearningEnglish.II.ExplicitGrammarInstruction

andClassroomInteraction

AccordingtoMichaelSharwoodSmith,explicitknowledgeinvolvesaconsciousandanalyticalawarenessofformalpropertiesinlanguage.Itfacilitatestheintakeanddevelopmentofimplicitlanguage.Itiseasiertoteachandithelpsyoumonitorlanguageoutput.Implicitknowledgeshowsintuitivefeelingforwhatmaybecorrectoracceptable.Itisautomaticandeasilyaccessed,andneedstobedevelopedtobuildcommunicativeskills.Implicitknowledgeisseenasacomplexnetworkofneuralconnectionsthatstorechunksoflanguage.Interactionisthecollaborativeexchangeofthoughts,feelings,orideasbetweentwoormorepeopleresultinginareciprocaleffectoneachother.III.Methodology

ResearchApproachTheSettingParticipantsandPre-testProceduresandAnalysis:Step1:ExplicitgrammarinstructionStep2:InteractivegrammarpracticeStep3:Simulatereal-lifesituationsTheFirstLaterTestTheSecondLaterTestAnEvaluativeQuestionnaire

Ⅳ.DataCollectionandAnalysis

IusedMicrosoft-ExceltodoZ-test,p=0.05.Thedatacollectedinthepre-testmeansthereisnoobviousdifferencebetweenthreegroups.(Z=0.45＜1.96,P＜0.05)Accordingtolatertest1,theExplicitInteractiveTaskInstructionissuperiortotheExplicitInstructionandInteractiveInstruction(Z=2.2958＞1.96,p＜0.05).Afterfurtheranalysis,wealsofindoutthemeaninExplicitInteractiveTaskInstructionishighthanthatinExplicitInstructionandInteractiveInstruction,whiletheSDinExplicitInstructionandInteractiveInstructionishighthanthatinExplicitInteractiveTaskInstruction.ThehighSDmeansthescoresinthisgrouparenotbalance,thatistosay,somestudentsgethighscores,butsomegetlowscores.ThelowSDmeansthescoresinthisgrouparebalance.Nowadaysqualityeducationfocusesonfaireducationandbalanceddevelopment,soweshouldaimtogetlowSD.Accordingtolatertest2,theExplicitInteractiveTaskInstructionisalsosuperiortotheExplicitInstructionandInteractiveInstruction(Z=2.3140＞1.96,p＜0.05).V.Conclusions

Basedontheresultsofthislimitedinvestigation,wecanperhapsdrawonecautiousconclusion:Ifweteachgrammarforcommunicativecompetence,wewouldbewelladvisedtoapplyExplicitInteractiveTaskInstructioninacommunicativeframeworkfocusedontask-basedcommunicativeactivities.Studentsmayindeedbeexpectedtorespondnegativelytoclassroomswhereconsciousnessraisingisthesolemeansofgrammarinstruction.Theproposedmodelforgrammarteachingiscompatiblewith

research.Withinthismodel,explicitgrammarknowledgewillberealizedthroughcontextualizedlanguagepracticeincommunicativeactivities.ThiscombinationofExplicitGrammarInstructionandCommunicativeLanguageTeachingenableslearnerstoattendtogrammaticalformsandlanguagecodetoresolvethecommunicationdilemma.IbelieveExplicitInterac