课外活动在小学英语教学中的理论思考与实践.docx

课外活动在小学英语教学中的理论思考与实践.docx

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课外活动在小学英语教学中的理论思考与实践

TheoreticalandPracticalConsiderationsofExtracurricularActivitiesinELTinPrimarySchool

（中文）课外活动在小学英语教学中的理论思考与实践_

Abstract:

Throughtheoreticalandpracticalconsiderations,thisthesisaimstoillustratetheimportantroleofextracurricularactivitiesinEnglishlanguageteaching（ELT）inChineseprimaryschools,deepenteachers’andstudents'understandingofthevalueofextracurricularactivities,explorenewlearningstrategies,andimprovethequalityofELT.Withthedevelopmentofpsycholinguisticsandteachingmethodology,moreandmoreexpertsandteacherscometorealizethevalueofextracurricularactivitiesinELT,buttheylackcomprehensiveandprofoundunderstandingofextracurricularactivitiesandhavelittleexperienceinpractice.Attheendofthethesis,theauthorintroducessomepracticaltechniquesofapplyingextracurricularactivitiesinELT,whichincludesdesigningtechniquesandapplicationtechniques,encouragesteacherstocarryoutusefulextra-curricularactivitiesandprovidesthemwithpracticalguidance.

Keywords:

extracurricularactivities;languageInput;affectivefilter;context;communicativelanguageteaching

1.Introduction

WithmoreandmorelanguageteachersandscholarscometorealizethevalueofextracurricularactivitiesinELTandafewstudieshavebeenmadeinthisfield.Inthispaper,withaninvestigationbeingmadeintothepresentsituationofextracurricularactivitiesinprimaryschools,theauthorwillmainlyfocusonthetheoriesandpracticalmethodsinextracurricularactivitiessoastodeepenteachers’andstudents'understandingofthevalueofextracurricularactivitiesinEnglishlanguagelearningandteaching.

Thispaperconsistsoffiveparts:

partoneisareviewofthepreviousstudiesconcerningextracurricularactivitiesandabriefintroductiontothewholethesis.ParttwoprovidestheoreticalbasisandpedagogicalreasonsfortheimportanceofconductingextracurricularactivitiesinELT.Partthreeintroducesthebasicfeaturesandpracticaltechniqueofdevelopingextracurricularactivities.Partfourisaninvestigationintothepresentsituationofextracurricularactivitiesinprimaryschools.Partfiveconcludestheabovefourchaptersandpointsouttheproblemstobesolvedinextracurricularactivities.

2.Thetheoreticalbackgroundoftheresearch

Withthedevelopmentofpsycholinguisticsandteachingmethodology,moreandmoreexpertshaveputforwardthestrongtheorytosupporttoextracurricularactivities.

2.1 Krashen'stwo languageacquisitiontheory

Krashen,Americanfamouslinguist,said,"comprehensibleinputisthetruecauseofsecondlanguageacquisition"（Krashen1982:

33）.Krashen'sInputHypothesisclaimstoexplaintherelationshipbetweenwhatthelearnerisexposedtoofalanguage（theInput）andlanguageacquisition."Humanacquireslanguageinonlyonewaybyunderstandingmessagesorbyreceiving'comprehensibleinput'"（Krashen1982）.AccordingtoKrashen（1982:

63-72）,optimalinputshouldbe:

a.comprehensible

b.Interestingandrelevanttotheacquire

c.notgrammaticallysequenced

d.providedinsufficientquantity

TheInputHypothesishasobviousimplicationsforlanguageteaching.

First,asmuchcomprehensibleinputaspossiblemustbepresented.Ontheonehand,theteachershouldselectthebestwaytocreatearichenvironmentforEnglishteaching.Ontheotherhand,theteachershouldincreaseallkindsofInput.

Second,whateverhelpingcomprehensionisimportant.Themainfunctionofthesecondlanguageteacheristohelpmakeusebothlinguisticandnon-linguisticmeanstoaidcomprehension.

Third,createdmaterialsandprovidedinputshouldbeinterestingandrelevanttotheacquirers.

"AffectiveFilterHypothesis"considersthatalargenumberofsuitableinputenvironmentsdonotmeanthestudentscanlearnthepurposeoflanguage.Andtheprocessofsecondlanguageacquisitionisinfluencedbymanyaffectivefactors.LanguageInputcanturnintolanguage"intake"justthroughtheaffectivefilter.Thatistosay,theemotionalfactorsplayaroleinpromotingorhindering.Sointheprocessofteaching,teachersshouldnotonlyenablethelearnerstocontactalotofmeaningful,interestingorsecondlanguageInputmaterials,butalsotoprovidethemwithanenvironmentoflowaffectivefilter.

2.2Theoryofcontext

Herethenatureofcontextanditsrelationtolanguageuseisintroducedexplicitlyorbyimplication.Thesecategoriesofcontextprovideconditionsfordeterminingthepragmaticmeaningofwhatpeoplesaywhentheyuselanguage.ContexthasthefollowingfunctionsinELT:

Firstly,contexthelpstocomprehendvagueorambiguouslanguage.Thespecificmeaningofpoly-semiscanonlybedeterminedbycontext.Itisveryhardtogettherealmeaningofawordifwestudyitwithouttakingthecontextintoconsideration.

Secondly,contexthelpstodeterminethereferentofthedepiction.Thecomprehensionofdepictiondependsonthecontextandthereferentofdepictionexistsinthecontext.

Thirdly,contexthelpstodeterminethemeaningoflinguisticsformsorphrases.Themeaningofsomelinguisticsformsorphrasesisindefiniteandrelatestocertainpersons,events,time,places,etc.therefore,ithastobedeterminedbycontext.

Fourthly,contexthelpstocomprehendculture-loadedwords.Linguisticformsreflectthesocialculture.Therefore,thecomprehensionofculture-loadedwordsdependsonthesocialcontext.

3.Thebasicfeaturesandprincipleofextracurricularactivities

3.1Thebasicfeatures（HuChundong1990：

316-327）

3.1.1Asupplementtoclassroomteaching

InELTinChina,classroomteachinghasalwaysbeenthechiefmeansofELTandextracurricularactivitiesplayaprimaryrole.Asasupplement,theymustbecombinedwithclassroomteaching.Thepurposeofconductingextracurricularactivitiesistomakeupthelimitationsofclassroomteachingandhelptofulfilltheteachingtasks,thatis,toconsolidatestudents'basicEnglishknowledgeandtoimprovetheirabilitiesoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting（LSRW）.Thelimitationsofclassroomteachingareshowninthefollowingaspects.

Firstofall,insituationoutsidetheclassroom,thelearnerswillneedtosatisfyamuchwidervarietyofcommunicativeneeds,copewithagreatervarietyofpatternsofinteractionandbecomeinvolvedindifferentkindsofsocialrelationships,forwhichdifferentkindsoflanguagewillappropriate.

Furthermore,itistooeasyforaforeignlanguageclassroomtocreateinhibitionsandanxiety.

What'smore,theInputthatclassroomteachingsuppliesareinsufficiently.Toacquireaforeignlanguageisnotanessaything.Thelearnersshouldbeexposedtoasmuchcomprehensibleinputaspossible.Inaddition,theclasshoursarelimited.

Finally,sincethesizeoftheclassesinChineseprimaryschoolsisrelativelybig,itisimpossiblefortheteachertoconsiderindividualdifferencesamongstudentsandtoteachtheminaccordancewiththeirownaptitudewithinthelimitedhoursofclassroomteaching.

3.1.2Student-centered

Inextracurricularactivitiesstudentsplayakeyroleandmuchfreedomislefttothem.Inclassroomteaching,themorecommonlyusedactivityisthequestion-answertypethoughthereismuchimprovementinrecentyears.Evenindiscussions,onlyasmallpartoftheclassisinvolvedandtheotherswouldloseinterest.Thusitisveryhardforthemtotaketheirinitiative.However,nearlyalltheextracurricularactivities,includingLSRWactivities,arestudent-centered.Thisisamuchhighlyorganizedtechniqueandkeepsthewholeclassinvolved.Insuchactivitieseachofthestudentsplaysarole.Theyworkinpairsoringroupsmostofthetime.Thismakesstudentsfeelsecureandcanespeciallyhelpstudentsfeelshywhowouldneversayanythinginawhole-classactivity.

3.1.3Varied,flexibleandfulloffun

Harmerheldthat‘variety’and‘flexibility’arethetwooverridingprinciplesbehindgoodlessonplanning（Harmer1983:

220）.Extracurricularactivitiesarevaried,flexibleandfulloffun.Whileinextracurricularactivities,studentscanconductvariousinterestingactivities,suchasEnglishwallpaper,Englishcorner,Englishevening,Englishlisteningandspeechcontest;variousgamessuchasrole-play,interview,mime,tonguetwisters,guessgame,musicandsongs,riddles,quizzes,naughtandcrosses,storyconstruction,describingandidentifying,etc.,outdooractivitiessuchasgoingshopping,flyingkites,plantingtrees,etc.Theseentertainingactivitiesareinformativeandinstructiveaswell.Theycanhelptomotivatestudents'initiativeandenablethemtolearninlightandcheerfulatmosphere.

3.2Theintroductionofvariousformsofactivities:

（李庭芗1983:

296-304）

（1）Game

EnglishgamescanenhancestudentinterestandconfidenceinlearningEnglish.Itisaneffectivemeanstodeveloporalproficiencyandconsolidatethevocabulary,grammar,pronunciationtraining.Englishgamegenerallyhasthenatureofthegame,toparticipateinthegamepeopleisheldthepsychologicaldesiretowin,whichwillnotonlyencouragethemtopositivethinking,butalsohelptoovercometheirpsychologicalbarriersshy.Forexample,wordgames.Participantsinacircle,eachpersonspeakawordinEnglish,requiringthesewordstogetherintoacompletestory.Apersonmakesastart,thenthenextpersonspeaks,andaconstantlygoon.Whopausesalongertime,orspeaksthesentenceornot,ormakesthestoryinterrupted,whoevenlost.Thematerialtalkingaboutshouldhavebeenlearned.Inthisway,studentscannotonlytellaveryinterestingstory,butalsoplayaroleinthereviewofthetext.

（2）Performance