Functions of Modern Equipment in Classroom(英语教学论文)

FunctionsofModernEquipmentinClassroom(英语)

摘要

TherapiddevelopmentofmodernscienceandtechnologymakesEnglishteachingbecomeapossibilitythatteachersuseelectricteachingequipmentinclass.TheteachingequipmentadvancestheappearanceofteachingmethodsinEnglishteaching.Sotheteachersarepayingmoreandmoreattentiontotheuseofelectricteachingequipment.Thecombinationbetweenteachingmaterialsandteachingaidspopularizestheelectricteachingequipment.WecanfindmanyadvantagesinusingtheequipmentinEnglishteaching.Duringtheteaching,theteachercanachievethebestteachingresultsbypresentingperceptualmaterialsandcreatinganingeniously-madesituationwiththemedia.Theteachingequipmentisplayingaverypositiveandfar-reachingroleindevelopingEnglishteachingresourcesandraisingteachingefficiency,etc.Itissousefulandhelpful.ToimproveEnglish,lotsofteachersareusingsomemodernteachingmachines.Inseniormiddleschool,moreandmoreteachers,tomaketheirclasseslivelyandinteresting,tomakeclassescolorful,toactivatetheatmosphereofclassroomteachingandtoimproveteachingquality,aretryingtouseallkindsofthemedia.Radio,taperecorders,slideprojectors,filmprojectorsandevencomputersandInternetarebeingmadefulluseofinEnglishteaching.Anewrevolutioninteachingtools—fromauditorymediatoaudiovisualmedia--istakingplace.Byusingthem,theteacherscansaveplentyoftimeandenergyandteachmoreEnglishknowledgeinclass.Inaword,weshouldhaveallkindsofmediausedinourclasstoletourstudentslearnEnglishbetter.

FunctionsofModernEquipment

in

Classroom

The21st

centuryisabrilliantandgloriouscenturyinwhich

China

isconfrontedwithfavorablecircumstancesandnumerouschallenges.Tostrengthenthecooperationwithallcountries,

China

needlearnfromdevelopedcountries.LearningEnglishisachancethat

China

makesgoodsenseoftheworld,somoreandmorepeoplearelearningEnglish.TolearnEnglishwell,lotsofpeoplearetryingtouseallkindsofthemedia.Asteachers,tomakeourclassesmorecolorfulandtoimproveourteachingquality,weshouldmakefulluseoftheelectricteachingequipment.Nowadays,thestudentshavenointerestandpositivityinEnglishbecauseofreallanguagesurroundings.SoduringEnglishteaching,theteachersshoulduseelectricteachingequipmenttocreateavividsituationforstudentstomakestudentsplacethemselvesinakindofreallanguagesurroundings.Byusingthemedia,teacherscanteachstudentsinaccordancewiththeiraptitudeandimprovetheatmosphereoflearning.Meanwhile,thestudentscangetmorechancesofpracticeandstrengthentheirfacultyofmemory.

Bymediawemeanallaidswhichmaybeusedbyteachersandlearnerstoattaincertaineducationalobjectives.Onlythoseelectricteachingequipmentwhichhasadirectcontributiontomaketotheteachingprocesswillbediscuss.Weshoulddevoteourselvestotheuseofmediaintheclassroom.Weshoulddiscusstheuseofmediainthevariousformsofdistancestudysuchaslanguagecoursesonradioortelevision.Variousconsiderationshavetraditionallyledpeopletoadvocatetheuseofmediainforeignlanguagelearning.Thedevelopmentscanbeattributedontheonehandtotechnologicalinnovationswhichcontinuedtoexpandtherangeofreliablelandaccessiblemediaandanotherimportantfactorisconstitutedbythechangesineducationitself,e.g.NowwewilldiscussthedifferentteachingmachinesusedinEnglishteaching.

Auditorymedia.

Thereisconsiderableagreementonthepositiveroleofauditorymediainforeignlanguageteachinganditcanalsobeobservedthathardlyanynewpointsofviewhavebeenadvancedinthelastfewyears.Thereisagreatvarietyofauditorymediaavailabletoday.Atatimewhenoralskillsfeatureprominentlyinforeignlanguageteachingobjectives,itishardlysurprisingthatsuchmediaasradios,taperecorders,televisionsandvideorecordersreceiveconsiderableattention.Theuseofsuchmediarequiresaspecifictypeofcoursematerial.Althoughespeciallyintheearlydaysbytheteachersthemselves,itisafactthattheconstructionofhigh-qualitycoursematerialsrequiressuchanextensiveinvestmentoftimeandsuchadegreeofexpertisethatthiswilloftenhavetobedonebyexperts,incollaborationwithteachers.Inauditoryteachingequipment,wecanfinmanyadvantages.(1)Inclass,auditorymediaofferstudentstheopportunitytopractisewithspokenmaterialswithouttheteacherorsomeother‘informant’beingpresent;thiscanevenbedoneoutsidetheclassroom.(2)Thevoiceofmanynativespeakerscanbepresentedinclass,withanydesiredvariationwithrespecttoage,rateofspeech,clarityofdiction,situationalcontextandtypeoflanguageuse.(3)Theycanpresentaninvariablemodelfortasksinvolvingfrequentrepetition,inforinstancepronunciationcorrection,resolvingdifficultiesinunderstandingspokentexts,andprovidingfeedbackinpatterndrills.Themodelmaybepresentedasfrequentlyasnecessarywithoutanychangeinquality;(4)Mediawhichcanrecordsoundmakeitpossibletocheckstudentsutterances,whichallowsacertaindegreeofobjectivenessintestingandevaluationtobeachieved.Therecordedutterancesarethenalsoavailableforlateruse,forinstanceforsubsequentevaluationbyexternaljudges.

Summarizing,wecansaythatgenerallyinforeignlanguageteachingtheauditorymediaareofinestimablevalue.

Theycanpresentspokentextsandprovideopportunityforpracticingwiththem.Theysupplementtheteacherwithregardtohisoralproficiencyandmayalsomakehisphysicalpresencesuperfluousatcertainmoments.Thismakesitpossibleforastudenttopractiseathisownspeedandaslongashewantsto.Thatthesefactorsdonotapplytoallmediainthesamewaywillbecomeclearinthefollowingparagraphs,wherewewilldealwitheachoftheauditorymediaseparately.

Radio.

Theradioisanimportantsourceofhigh-qualitymaterials.Interviews,newsbroadcasts,quizzes,etc.makeanenormousvarietyoflanguagematerialavailablewhichisveryusefulinteaching.Thedisadvantageofsuchmaterialisthatveryoftenithastobeeditedforclassroomuse,whiletheadvantageisthatbecauseitistopicalandauthentic,studentsfinditmotivating.Theamountandvarietyoftopicalandauthenticmaterialtheteachermayrecordfromradiobroadcastscouldneverbeequaledincommercialpublishing.

Theflexibilityoftheradioasateachingaidmaybeincreasedsignificantly,andaconsiderabledegreeofeditingandpreparationbytheteacherbecomespossible,ifradioprogrammesarenotpresenteddirectlyastheyarebroadcast,butrecordedontape.Thegreatadvantageoftape-recordedmaterialisthatespeciallyrepetitionandexploitationcanbearrangedmoreflexibly.

Themainfunctionofradioprogrammesinforeignlanguageteachingisthattheycanbeusedintraininglisteningproficiency,asabasisforconversationalactivities,andasameanstoimproveculturalbackgroundknowledge.

Taperecorder.

Taperecorders,aswehavealreadyseen,playasupportingroleintheuseofradioprogrammes.Inclassroom,usingtaperecorderscanremedyteachers’defectinpronunciation.ItcanmakestudentsimitatethestandardBritishandAmericanintonationandalsoitcanactivatetheatmosphereofclassroomteaching.Thetaperecorderisthemostwidelyusableauditorymedium.Itcanbeusedinallphasesofthecycleofteachingactivities,canbothreproduceandrecordspokenlanguage,canbeusedforindividualaswellasforgroupwork,itisflexible,anditisnotveryexpensive.Furthermore,alargequantityofcoursematerialssuitableforthetaperecorderisavailable,anditisrelativelyeasytodevelopone’sownmaterialsforit.Thetechnicalqualitiesofmosttaperecordersaresuchthathighqualityrecordingandreproduction,whichareindispensableinforeignlanguageteaching,areguaranteed.Althoughspeechcontainsalotofredundantinformationwhichatrainedlistenerdoesnotneedtobeabletounderstandwhatisbeingsaid,inEnglishteachingmoststudentsarenottrainedlisteners.Thestudentswillhavetobeabletoreceivealloftheinformationasfullyaspossible.Thesamedemandsoftechnicalexcellencealsoapplytomicrophones,headphones,speakersandtapes,anditgoeswithoutsayingthattaperecordersshouldbesoeasytooperatethattheydisrupttheteachingprocessaslittleaspossible.

Languagelaboratory

Thefoundationoflanguagelaboratoryisbasedonthetheoryofpsychology.Thedevelopmentofthelanguagelaboratoryiscloselyrelatedtothedevelopmentofthetaperecorder,whichisthecentralpieceofequipmentinlanguagelaboratories.Todaylanguagelaboratoriesoccupyapositionwithinthewholerangeofaudiovisualmediawhichisratherdifferentfromwhatitwasafewdecadesago.Aftertheboomofthe1960s,andasubsequentrelativelygeneralrejectionofthisnumberofreadersandmonographsinthe1970s.Intheliteratureofthelastfewyears,wefindpredictionsofa‘resurrection’oflanguagelaboratories,albeitinasomewhatdifferentformandundersomewhatdifferentcircumstances.Bylanguagelaboratorieswemeanmechanicalandelectronicequipmentwhichmakesitpossibleforspokenlanguagetobepresentedinsuchawaythatstudentscanreacttoitindividually,allatthesametime.Itcanremoveanyobstaclesandmakeeverystudentconcentrateattentiononlisteningandpractising.LanguagelaboratoryprovidesconveniencetoEnglishteaching,anditcanmaketeachersteachstudentsinaccordancewiththeiraptitudeandalsoitcandevelopstudents’listening,speaking,readingandwriting.Duringtheteaching,theteachercantalkwithanystudent;astudentalsotalkwiththeothers.Theteachercanmonitorthestudentsatanytime.Thestudentscanusuallyalsobemonitoredindividuallybytheteacher.

Forastudent,hecanrecordhisownvoiceindependentlyofthegroup.Forateacher,hecanmonitorthestudents’utterances.Inalanguagelaboratorystudentshaveheadphoneswithamicrophone,whichmeansthattheycanheartheirownvoicesundistorted.Thisalsomakesitpossiblefortheteachertoplaybackthevoicesofeachindividualstudent.Itsupplementsthepossibilitiesfortherecordingofehutterancesofindividualstudentswithsomefacilitiesforself-correctiononthepartofthestudents,andforcorrectionoftheutterancesproducedbyindividualstudentsbytheteacher.Allinall,thelanguagelaboratorycanbeeffectiveinlearningintermsoftherepetitionandoverlearningofbehaviorpatternsthataretobecomehabitual.Theadvantageofthemachineoverthelivingpersonforpurposesofsustainedrepetitionisobvious:themachinecanrepeatinidenticalfashionwhatwassaidbefore,anditcandosowithoutfatigueorirritation(Books1964:189).

Auditoryequipmentcanonlybeusedsuccessfullyandefficiently,ifcertainconditionsarefulfilled.Thesefirstofallconcerntheequipmentitself(suchtechnicalaspectsaseaseofoperationandreliability),organizationalaspects(suchasaccessibilityandmaintenance)andfinancialaspects.Secondly,teachersareneededwhoknowhowtousethemediaefficiently.Soteachersmustfirstofallbefamiliarwiththepossibilitiesandlimitationsofthemediawhichareusedinforeignlanguageteaching;anawarenessofthepossibilitiesandimpossibilitiesmaypreventsomedisappointments.Suchawarenessenablesteacherstojudgetherelevanceofthemainfunctionsofauditorymediaforhisownteaching.Auditorymediacanbeusedforpresentation,repetitionandexploitation,frotraininglisteningandspeakingskills,butalsofordictation,spellingexercisesandvariousotheraspectsofwriting,aswellasforthetestingoftheseskills.Whethertheyareusedornotwilldepend,aswehavearguedearlier,ontheobjectivesofheteachingprogramme.Anauditorymediumlikethetaperecorderisnotmaximallyusefulfortheteachingofmeaning,ifitisnotsupportedbyvisualmedia,butitiseminentlysuitedforthepresentationofspokentexts,forrepetitionexercises,forpatterndrills,andforguidingoralproductivelanguageuse.

Visualequipment.

Thevisualelementhaslongplayedanimportantroleinforeignlanguageteaching.Inclassroomtheteachersoftenuseslideprojectorsandprojectingapparatuswhichareeconomicalandpractical.Theygivestudentssomevividandcolorfulpictures.Theycancausethestudents’interestanddrawstudents’attention.Theteacherscanexerttheequipmenttopresentandexplainnewlanguagematerialsandcheckthestudents.Byusingtheequipment,studentscanretellthetexts,whichwillhelpimprovestudents’abilityofspeaking.Nowthevisualequipmentisnolongerjustameansofmakingforeignlanguageteachingmorelively,tointensifyit,andaddsomefrillstoit(mainlytomotivatethestudents),buttheyhavenowalsoacquiredthefunctionof‘didacticintermediary’inthesensethattheycanbeusedtoprovideprestructuredguidanceofthestudents’useofanL2structurethroughavisualrepresentationofthatstructure.

Thereisconsiderableagreementintheliteratureonthepositiveeffectwhichtheuseofvisualmediahasonourteaching.Butitisalsogenerallyagreedthatanumberofconditionsmustbemetiftheuseofvisualmediaistobeeffective