On Strategies of Improving the English Listening Abilities of junior middle school studentsWord下载.docx

On Strategies of Improving the English Listening Abilities of junior middle school studentsWord下载.docx

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listening;

teacher;

student;

environment

摘要

随着社会的发展，为满足21世纪--知识经济时代的要求，我国不断进行教育改革。

人们越来越多的重视并倡导“均衡发展计划”。

与此同时，人们还认为英语的学习和教学应该被视为是英语学习的四项技能（听，说，读，写）全面发展的过程。

不过，听力学习这一技能对于英语学习者是相对困难的一项技能。

在21世纪，学生听力差这一问题变的越来越严重，所以由教育部发布的新英语课程标准明确表明了提高初中学生的听力的重要性。

为了解决这一问题，英语教学改革家开始把训练学生的听力能力放在优先发展的地位。

关键词：

听力；

教师；

学生；

环境。

OnStrategiesofImprovingtheEnglishListeningAbilities

ofJuniorMiddleSchoolStudents

Introduction

Astechnologyadvancesandtradeandexchangesbetweencountriesincrease,itisbecomingmoreandmoreimportanttounderstandEnglishinmanysituations,suchasface-to-face,onthetelephone,inbusinessmeetinglectures,speeches,television,andsoon.So,atpresent,Englisheducationbecomesmoreandmoreimportantandlotsofsignificantachievementshavealsobeenmadeinit.English,atoolforcommunication,hasaprofoundinfluenceonthestudents’futuredevelopment.

Itistruethatlistening,speaking,reading,andwritingarefourbasicskillsinEnglishteachingandlearning.InthefourskillsofEnglish,listeningisthebasic,andthemostimportantskill.However,foreignlanguagelearnersoftencomplainthatlisteningisoneofthemostdifficultskillstoacquire.Atthesametime,ListeningisanimportantstepinthelearningofEnglishbutitisoftenneglected.Asteachers,theyshouldpaymoreattentiontolisteningteaching,sotheycanperfecttheirteachingskills,findouttheirstudents’weaknessandimperfectionandimprovetheirabilities.

1.ThecurrentsituationoftheteachingofEnglishlisteninginmiddleschool

Imaginewhatwillhappenifwecan’tfollowwhatotherssaywhilewemustmakesomeresponsetoitduringaconversation?

Itisthemostimportantthatwemustmakeourselvesunderstandwhatpeoplesaybeforewegiveanyproperresponse.Listeningcomesfirst.

1.1Theimportanceoflistening

Asweknow,listeningisanessentialpartofthecommunicationprocess.Listeningisthefirstlanguagemodethatchildrenacquire.Itprovidesafoundationforallaspectsoflanguageandcognitivedevelopment,anditplaysalife-longroleintheprocessesoflearningandcommunicationessentialtoproductiveparticipationinlife.“ItisoneoftheimportantwaysinEnglishlanguagecommunication.AccordingtoRiversstudyindications,listeningoccupies45%ofthewholesocialinteractions.Fromthis,wecanseethatgoodlisteningcanhelptoimprovestudents’abilityoflanguageunderstanding.Andsomestatisticsshowthatnearly50%ofthestudentsregardlisteningcomprehensionasthemostdifficultpartamongallkindsofexaminations.”[1]（P1-2）.

1.2Theproblemoftheteachingoflistening

AlthoughmoststudentsbegintokeepintouchwithEnglishaslongastheyentertheirprimaryschool,evenwhentheyarestillinkindergarten,theyreallystarttomastercomprehensiveEnglishabilitieswhentheybecomejuniormiddleschoolstudents.Tothem,listeningisoneofthemostdifficultskillstoacquire.Whetherthoselisteningproblemscanbesolvedproperlyplaysaveryimportantroletothelearners’futurelanguagestudy.Thus,theemphasisofthisthesisisonstrategiesofEnglishteachersofimprovingtheEnglishlisteningabilityofjuniormiddleschoolstudents.

2.Theanalysisofthereasonsforstudents’poorlisteningability

InEnglishteaching,theweaknessofstudents'

listeningmainlydependsonthreeaspects,oneisfromtheteachers,andoneisfromthestudentsthemselvesandthethirdisfromtheenvironment.

2.1Teacher’sfactor

Themostimportantandmostdifficultpartofthemakingofagoodlanguageteacheristhedevelopmentofprofessionalcompetence,whichisthestateorqualityofbeingadequatelyqualifiedfortheprofessionandarmedwithaspecificrangeofskills,strategies,knowledgeandabilities.

ForalongtimeinChina,thegrammar-orientedperspectivehasledtotheemphasisonlanguagelearners'

grammaticalcompetenceinsteadoftheircommunicativecompetence.AlthoughstudentshavestudiedEnglishatschoolforseveralyearsandevengethighmarksinexaminations,theyarepoorinactuallyusingandlisteningtothelanguage.InmostEnglishclasses,theteacherisusedtoanalyzingsentences,explaininggrammaticalrulesandlanguagepoints.Thenthestudentsbegintobeinvolvedingrammarexercise,sentencemakingandtranslation.Itistheteacherthatdominatestheclassandpoursouthisorherknowledge.Whileteaching,theteacherpayslittleattentiontostudents'

responseandstudentsaregivenafewchancestopracticewhattheyhavelearnedinclass.Afterclass,itisthesamethatmostofthetimeandenergyofstudentsarestillspentingrammarexerciseandvocabularybuilding.Althoughsometeachershavetriedapplyingthecommunicativeapproachtolanguagelisteningteaching,thisisonlyaminority.ThatisoneoftheimportantreasonswhymanyforeignlanguagelearnersfeelitdifficulttocommunicateinEnglish.

2.2Student’sfactor

Understandinglearner’slisteningproblemsisperhapsthefirststepfordevelopingeffectiveteachingstrategies.InChina，manyChinesestudentsalsohavesomeproblemswhilelistening.Suchas:

2.2.1Phoneticsandphonologyfactor

“Everybodyknowsthatphoneticsstudieshumanspeechsoundsandthewaytheyarearticulated,andphonologydealswiththesoundsystemofaparticularlanguage.”[2] 

（p39）“AccordingtoanAmericanscholar,RitaWong,phoneticsiscrucialinlisteningcomprehension.Thisisbecausesoundisthedirectmediumoflisteningandspeaking.Onlybyusingcorrectsound,canweexpressourviewsandideasaccurately.Similarly,itisinevitablythatpoorpronunciationwillcauseauraldifficultiesinsmoothacceptanceofothers’ideasexpressedincorrectpronunciation.”[3]（p96）Unfortunately,wefoundthatmanyChinesestudentslackbasicknowledgeofsounddiscriminationandphoneticchanges,whichseverelyhinderstheirimprovementinlisteningability.

2.2.2VocabularyfactorandGrammarfactor

“Vocabularyisthemajorcomponentoflanguage;

peoplealwayscomparevocabularytobuildingmaterial.ForeveryEnglishlearner,studyEnglishwithoutacertainamountofvocabularyisjustlikebuildersbuildinghouseswithoutbricks”[4]（p56）.Vocabularyisthebuildingmaterialsoflanguages,sostudentsmustmasterenoughvocabulariesiftheywanttoimprovetheirlisteningability.However,inchina,manymiddleschoolstudentsdonothaveabundantvocabulary.So,whentheyhearunfamiliarwordsinlistening,theybecomenervousandpondertheword.

Grammarplaysanimportantpartintheanalysisofwrittensentencestructureandsentencepattern.Systematicgrammarknowledgeislikeastrongframeofabuilding,itcanhelpstudentstocatchtheimplicationofvocalsounds,andunderstandthemwell,anditcanalsotellstudentsthetense,voiceandmood.However,inchinamanymiddleschoolstudentsalsolackofsystematicgrammarknowledge.

2.2.3Listeninghabits

Forexample,theyalwaystrytheirbesttogetthemeaningofeachwords,eachsentences.Oncetheymeetanewwordoradifficultysentence,theywillstoptothink.Itisdoubtlesstheycan’tcatchupwiththespeedanymore.Stillsomestudentscan’tdirectlyunderstandmaterialsinEnglish,butwiththehelpofChinese,experiencedtheprocessofahearttranslation.Thesebadhabitsarethemainfactorsinfluencingtheirlisteningcomprehension.Infact,itisunnecessarytoknoweveryword,everysentence;

theyshouldonlycatchthemainideaandgraspthemajorpoint.Ifyouconcentratetothink,youcan’tcatchupwiththematerials,andalsothat’swhyyouhavenotimetoattendtothemaincontent,letaloneseizetheimplicationofit.

2.2.4Backgroundknowledge

“Languageisakindofculturalexpression.ItisverynecessaryforstudentstoknowsomebackgroundaboutEnglishcountries,suchasthehistory,culture,customsandhabits,evenlifestyles”[5]（p13）.Languageisakindofculturalexpression.ItisnecessaryforstudentstoknowsomebackgroundknowledgeabouttheEnglishcountries,suchasthehistory,culture,customs,lifestylesandhabits.Ifstudentslackthesekindsofknowledge,theycannotunderstandthelisteningmaterialscorrectly.Forexample,therearetwopassagesofthesamedifficulty.OneexplainssomethingaboutChina’sSpringFestival;

theotherisaboutChristmasDayofthewestcountries.Theformeriseasytounderstandbutthelatterismoredifficult,why?

Itisclearthatthestudentsknowlittleaboutthelatter.

2.2.5Psychologicalfactor

Listener’slisteningabilityisalsoinfluencedbypsychologicalfactors.Duringlistening,thelistenermaymeetsomewordsorsentencestheydonotknow,itwillmakethemfeelverynervous.“Anxietyhasanegativeeffectonlisteningcompreh