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激發(fā)初中英語課堂活力的策略初探教育論文
【摘 要】 隨著社會(huì)的發(fā)展，為了滿足21世紀(jì)這個(gè)知識(shí)經(jīng)濟(jì)年代的要求，我們國(guó)家也一直不斷地在進(jìn)行著教育改革。2001年7月教育部頒布了《英語課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)》，新課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的要求體現(xiàn)了激發(fā)初中英語課堂活力的重要性。課堂活力是作用于教學(xué)系統(tǒng)的動(dòng)力。它直接影響教學(xué)活動(dòng)的開展，并推動(dòng)教學(xué)的進(jìn)程。積極的課堂活力不但對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)者的精神面貌，學(xué)習(xí)動(dòng)力和自我形象的形成會(huì)產(chǎn)生良好的影響，從而使學(xué)習(xí)者對(duì)所學(xué)的語言，學(xué)習(xí)的過程和作為學(xué)習(xí)主體本身持積極的態(tài)度，而且有利于教師的課堂管理，使教學(xué)過程生動(dòng)活潑，從而達(dá)到提高課堂教學(xué)時(shí)效的目的。本文通過對(duì)傳統(tǒng)與現(xiàn)代的初中英語課堂活力的分析對(duì)比以及影響課堂活力的因素的探討，展示激發(fā)初中英語課堂活力的重要性，并介紹了一些教學(xué)策略及手段來激發(fā)和增強(qiáng)初中英語課堂活力。
【關(guān)鍵詞】 激發(fā)；初中英語；課堂活力；以學(xué)生為主體
1. Introduction
With the rapid development of foreign language teaching and consequent deepening reform of educational methodology, creating dynamics shows its importance in junior English classroom. More and more teachers have accepted a communicative approach and have become more concerned with the effectiveness of classroom teaching. In traditional English teaching, the teacher is the main speaker who explains words, phrases and sentences, analytic grammatical structures and language points can no longer meet the need of students to cope with their future professions and practical uses in society. To change the situation, the ELT classroom should be made as learner-centered as possible. Our new language teaching goal enables students to learn by using the target language in meaningful interactive situations. The aim of the teacher’s work is not only to offer a description of the language but also through materials to create conditions in the classroom that will help the students learn through active and dynamic involvement and tasks. “Teaching and learning can and should be a joyful experience for both teacher and learner, and most teachers, except the very lucky or the very talented, will know from bitter experience that there is no more miserable teaching experience than to be shut up inside the four walls of your classroom with a prickly and uncooperative group.”[1] So activating the classroom dynamics and promoting students to learn English is an indispensable factor in the process of successful language learning and teaching.
To begin with, we should firstly clarify some questions as in: What is classroom dynamics? Why do we need to study it? What is the importance of it? Then we can have a decent reason to move on and talk about how to create and promote it. For dynamics, definitions are varied. Longman Dictionary of American says: The forces that work in any system or matter. The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary tells us: The motive forces, physical or moral, affecting behavior and change in any sphere. So we may say, in the classroom setting, dynamics is a kind of force that works in the system of language teaching and learning. It influences classroom activities and advances in the process of language learning and teaching. In another words, it is the cohesion of a class, a positive atmosphere conducive to learning and teaching. Especially for learners, as Jill Hadfield says：“A positive group atmosphere can have a beneficial effect on the morale motivation and self-image of its members, and thus significantly affect their learning, by developing in them a positive attitude to the language being learned, to the learning process, and to themselves as learners.” [2]
2. The problems in junior English classroom
2.1 Situations and disadvantages of the traditional English classroom
In the traditional junior English classroom, the teacher is regarded as an authority who dominates the whole class. They are supposed to be knowledgeable and respectable. In general, being the “older” and “wiser” people in class, they are given the power to award or punish students. In such a tradition, it is clear that they are the controllers in the classroom.
The teacher sits or stands behind a desk which symbolizes his authority, spends a large proportion of his time lecturing, tries to put everything into students’ heads and pays scant notice of the feelings and reactions of students. There is little cooperation between teachers and students and the productive skills such as speaking and writing are almost ignored.
On the other hand, students are considered as “slaves of knowledge” or “receiving machines”. They are expected to learn structural knowledge and assessment which are often based on the information they derive from their rote skills. The students do not have to prepare much for the class. They sit in straight rows facing the teacher and the blackboard. They sit passively listening and busily taking notes. Needless to say, they have no opportunity to ask questions and participate in learning activities of their own accord. Students are just “ignorant audiences” waiting to be filled up with knowledge by the teacher. All the activities in the classroom are teacher-centered. “This teaching style is sometimes characterized as ‘jug and mug’– The knowledge being poured from one receptacle into another empty one.”[3]
Besides, in China, a good student will timely complete all the assignments given by the teacher, do whatever he is told to do by the teacher and he will actually have a very similar opinion or conclusion to the teacher. What is more, a student with more independent thinking or a questioning spirit is less likely to win the favor of the teacher. As a consequence, students’ motivation of learning will soon disappear even though they are junior students who are curious and eager to do well in everything. The whole class is quite dull and boring.
2.2 New requirements in a modern English classroom
With the rapid growth in interaction with the outside world and consequent deepening reform of foreign language teaching, the traditional teacher-centered teaching is not adequate for the classroom teaching. Now a lot of Chinese teachers are conscious of the importance of training students’ communicative ability in the junior English classroom teaching and traditional teacher-dominated approach is gradually being shifted to a learner-centered one. The teacher tends to adopt a more flexible teaching style in the ELT classroom and provides more opportunities for students to practise and talk freely in English. And the teacher needs to think of language learning as students’ personal “business”, no one else including the teacher can do the learning for them. They are the “information processors”, “l(fā)anguage performers”, “initiators”, “problem solvers”, etc. No matter what names are given to them, their roles as the learners should be emphasized. But this does not imply that teachers are not needed any more. Their ultimate role is to facilitate students’ learning. From this perspective, teachers should disperse more and more responsibility for learning among students and create space for them to pursue their own learning paths by avoiding talking a lot or dominating the class. As classroom organizers, they have to design learner-focused activities to give rise to students’ dynamic participation in learning and encourage active involvement in learning.
In order to adapt to the education requirements and target of new era, the Educational Ministry issued the New English Curriculum Standard in July, 2001. In the process of this teaching reform, the teacher’s quality and the ways of classroom teaching are emphasized. The new curriculum requires a open, free and happy classroom atmosphere not a dull one which only has discipline, authority and submission for junior students. In fact, the aim of the new curriculum which takes the development of students as the key is to put the dynamics into the English classroom. Classroom dynamics not only can motivate students to learn pleasantly and effectively but also can help teachers to teach English easily and happily. Then where does classroom dynamics come from? It comes from the optimum state of all components, especially the learning component in the system of language teaching and learning. That’s to say, if teachers want to stimulate the English classroom dynamics, they must adapt to the learner-centered teaching way in which students have more opportunities to interact with the teacher and their classmates and all the four basic skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing are fully trained.
3. The importance of promoting junior English classroom dynamics
“Since junior students have completed primary schooling and moved into lower secondary, their status as members of the school community have increased and with it, their confidence has increased too. A strong characteristic of the secondary is students’ enthusiasm. Since young students tend to be unaware of their personal limitations, this enthusiasm may need more guidance. They are keen to do things well and ready to receive encouragement.”[4] They are curious and active. They come to middle school with high enthusiasm and strong curiosities to everything, especially to English. All these encourage the teacher to change the traditional, rigid classroom atmosphere. It’s important to find ways to increase the classroom dynamics and promote a communication language classroom.
Besides a large number of researchers on group dynamics and the language learning show us the importance of dynamics in language learning. As Jane Arnold in the book Affect in Language Learning says: “We should suggest that an awareness of classroom dynamics may help teachers establish firm footing; the time and effort invested in establishing a solid ‘a(chǎn)ffective group ground’ will pay off in the long run as it will lead to an experience that is rewarding interpersonally, linguistically, pedagogically and developmentally for teacher and students alike.”[5] A positive classroom dynamics in the English language classroom will benefit both the teacher and the learners in a number of ways. Firstly, it will largely determine the success of the less controlled, “USE” part of any learning course. It will mean the learners are cooperative as regards the organizing and carrying out of freer, learner-centered activities. They will take the opportunities to practice what they know seriously. Secondly, it will ensure that both introvert and extrovert learners are more likely to feel confident enough to participate in the class. Thirdly, it will make it easier and more attractive for learners to develop empathy for new lesson identity. Fourthly, it will mean that dependent learners, who need the chances to question or analyze the input that they get, will feel able to do so. “On the whole, a class full of dynamics is usually a successful learning group where:
– Students are active, self-confident, flexible, open-minded and receptive to new ideas.
– They are cohesive and have a definite sense of themselves as a group.
– They cooperate in the performing of tasks and are able to work together productively and happily.
– They have a positive attitude towards learning.
– There is a harmonious relationship between teachers and students.”[6]
In contrast, “a class lack of dynamics is usually an unsuccessful one where:
– Students are passive and will not like to participate classroom activities.
–They are not self-reliant but dependent on their teachers.
–They cannot cooperate well in the performing the tasks.
–They are reluctant to make an effort or take their initiative.
–They lack confidence and are slow in making progresses.
–They do not have a strong sense of class community and make little contribution to it.
–Learning is not a pleasant practice but a burden.”[7]
The list above shows us the necessity of studying classroom dynamics. Besides in a classroom full of dynamics, the teacher will have enough self-confidence to welcome learners’ questions about aspects of the language that seem unclear or inconsistent. He will be able to admit that he does not know or that he is wrong and will be willing to learn from learners as well as expecting them to learn from him. So the teacher should presumably try to make their class as pleasant as possible. That will make students feel interested in English learning. The students will study English conscientiously and actively and have a strong desire that craves for knowledge. In the language learning, the teacher should not only become good friends of students and learn about what they think and need, but also help improve their learning methods, and give them as many opportunities to practise English as possible. Under this condition, classroom dynamics in target language learning is vitally important. Social psychology research has proved: a cohesive group works more efficiently and productively. Classroom dynamics helps to foster such a cohesive group. It has a beneficial effect on both students and teachers. So the teacher should make efforts to promote it.
4. The factors involved in affecting the junior English classroom dynamics
4.1 Teachers’ factors
“The act of teaching is essentially a constant processing of options. At every point in each lesson a teacher has a number of options available; he or she can decide to do something, or to do something else, or not to do anything at all,”[8] so the teacher plays a very important role in English teaching and learning in junior classroom. The teacher is one of the significant factors in creating a group dynamic atmosphere in language learning. We often say if the teacher wants to give the students a glass of water, he must have a bucket of water. The teacher should not only have rich knowledge about the living world, but also have high teaching quality. And he should improve his knowledge of all fields in teaching to make his work successful. As an English teacher, firstly he must speak English fluently and try to get students to feel the beauty of English. Because the teachers teach English lesson mostly in Chinese, it is unfavorable for English study. Moreover the English-learners could be immersed in study environment which is rich and colorful, intensifying and continuous, and be able to understand, even accept, the content of language, it might achieve the most efficient result, so the teachers should try to do their best to create a kind of language atmosphere of English-speaking and make students think in English during the whole class.
The teacher should also love his students and love his teaching work. The teacher must be as kind and friendly as possible to them. The teacher should avoid differential treatment base on unjustified prejudices, show interest in and concern for students and have high but attainable expectations for students’ success. Try to make them learn English in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
The teacher’s body language and personality are also important when he teaches a new word, a phrase or a sentence, it is very important to use the body language and facial expression. It can improve students’ interest in English greatly. He should not only let the learners grasp the knowledge of the textbook, but also adopt some other steps to strengthen his teaching. In order to improve the atmosphere in the class, the teacher should be well-prepared. The teacher will have to play different roles at different time. He will have to play the role of controller, organizer, promoter, participant, resource, tutor and investigator according to the teaching situation. It’s a challenge for all the teachers but it’s worth doing.
In today’s language teaching, teacher also should be a good friend helping students learn English, helping them solve the problems patiently, alleviating their language anxiety and students will feel more comfortable in learning. The teacher who has a good sense of humor and a good personality will create a vivid environment for students to study.
4.2 Students’ factors
In the language teaching and learning, students are the major components. Only if students can be involved really and actively in the classroom, the classroom atmosphere can be dynamic, so the teacher must activate students to learn English and improve students’ interest about English.
4.2.1 Helping the students raise their self-esteem
“Self-esteem is a self-judgment of worth or value, based on feelings of efficacy, a sense of interacting effectively with one’s own environment.”[9] Learner’s self-esteem is one of the important factors in English learning. The students come from different social, economic backgrounds. They have different proficiency and different local dialect. Most of them believe their language skill is weaker than those of the others in the class. They are afraid of “l(fā)osing face”, if they don’t do a good job. When they face different troubles in pronunciation and oral practice in class, they feel nervous and embarrassed. They fear to speak in front of others and even keep silent. And then they wouldn’t like to take part in the communicative practice actively. But if they could speak English fluently and perform well in front of class, if they did the exercise well, if they made fewer mistakes and got the praise from the teacher, they would know they are not weaker than others. When they feel successful in learning, they will gradually feel confident. So in the language learning process, the teacher plays an important role in influencing the learner’s self-esteem. The teacher can encourage and motivate the learners by means of accomplishing something or achieving a potential success in language leaning to build their self-esteem, and more likely to feel motivated to continue to try and work hard to develop their language proficiency. In turn, their improvement in language proficiency will be conducive to raising their self-esteem. Besides “the teacher should focus their praise and evolution on effort, not ability. Even if not every student can get 100 percent on a test, every student can give 100 percent effort and it is this effort that should be recognized and reward.”[10]
4.2.2Motivating the students to study English
“Motivation is something that energizes, directs and sustains behavior; it gets students moving, points them in a particular direction and keeps them going,”[11] A learner’s motivation is not unique and unchangeable, so the teachers must often study every learner’s motivation. The teacher should try to motivate learners by means of explaining the final and practical aim of English language education. On one hand this is our country’s requirement, on the other hand it will be beneficial to them in future. Furthermore, English is very helpful to the computer study, which is becoming more and more popular all over the world.
When the students know this, they will be very eager to learn English. And it is necessary to tell the students about this. Because this motivation of the students is one of the most important factors which influence their success or failure in language learning. If the students perceive a goal they wish to achieve, or the goal is sufficiently attractive, the students will be likely to do whatever is necessary to reach the goal.
So far as we know that a learner’s learning should depend upon not only the external factors but also the internal factors which are of vital importance in learning English. A teacher of English not only try to use the most effective teaching method to attract students and help them learn English well but also study their internal factor to motivate them to learn English.
4.2.3 Giving the students more praise and less criticism
As we know, normally the teachers are critical of students’ mistakes, being afraid of their inaccurate English. In fact, if students are over criticized, particularly in frontof their peers, they will feel more embarrassed and humiliated, and their self-image might be damaged later, they might keep silent in the classroom, and give up trying; even if the task is theoretically within their intellectual ability, because they don’t like to appear foolish among other classmates. As a consequence, their emotional state is not favorable and they will have more anxiety. Negative attitudes toward the subject might also be formed. All these will lead to internal barriers against learning. So the teachers have to remove these detrimental obstacles to success and encourage students to feel free to express their opinions and feelings in their own way and often encourage them when they make progress. The teachers themselves should be more endurable about mistakes and correct them only if it is absolutely-necessary. Even in this case, the teachers shouldn’t do in a supportive way, and try to do it with individuals, rather than in public, in order to avoid students’ bad feelings associated with losing face. If they were given more time and more practice, mistakes will disappear sooner or later.
The famous American writer Mark Twain ever said, “A commendatory sentence can make people be in a good mood for two months”. Teachers are the most important parts in the students’ hearts. Every student hopes to get the teachers’ positive evaluation. A good teacher must give more praise and less criticism to his students. And classroom presentations and activities should be organized in such a way that each student might get some chance to succeed in carrying out a learning task. An appropriate degree of task complexity should be designed so that the high level students do not get bored and the low level students do not feel hopeless. Most important of all, teachers should treat all students without prejudice, show equal concern with their work and value that they have contributed to classroom activities, no matter what their English levels are. In this way, students will feel happy about their successful self-images and valued as a member of the whole class. All the above will guarantee that students won’t develop a fear of failure motivation and learn English in a more relaxed, unstrained way. Gradually they will become more interested in the subject and acquire favorite attitudes towards learning English.
5. The strategies of promoting junior English classroom dynamics
All this analysis has been discussed about the advantages of the classroom dynamics, the factors of affecting the classroom dynamics and the present situations of junior English classroom. In order to provide teachers and students with a dynamic English classroom in language learning and teaching, some measures are necessary. The followings are some tentative suggestions.
5.1 Using different teaching aids
5.1.1 Using the visual aids
“According to cognitive process, visual imagery can be a highly effective way of storing information in long-term memory. Supplementing verbal explanations with visual aids should promote more effective long-term memory storage and retrieval.”[12] Moreover, most of the language materials in junior English books are in connection with the daily life, so if it’s possible, the teacher should use the visual aids such as concrete objects, models, pictures etc, in order to improve students’ interest in English. These materials can help the teacher clearly show students the words, the expressions the sentences and the grammar; they can also help students to think in English avoiding unnecessary translation. The junior students are good at imitating. The concrete and imaginable contents are a little easier for them to accept. In this way, they can combine concrete objects with abstract thought, and thereby deepen their comprehension and memory.
For example, the teacher can teach the Present Continuous Tense in the objective scene. Give one student a cup full of water and ask him to drink it. When this student is acting, the teacher can ask the other students "What is he doing?" and at the same time enlightens them: "He is drinking." Then the teacher can give the student an apple, a book or a pen and so on to ask the students to drill again and again." What is he doing?" "He is eating /reading/writing." After practicing several times, the teacher asks the students to act at will, and summarizes the grammar structure "be + Ving". Thus such a dull grammar lesson will be interesting to these students. They will actively participate in the learning activities and the whole classroom atmosphere is dynamic and lively. So the teacher should also use the things in the classroom as many as possible, such as, the wall, the windows, the blackboard and the students’ belongings, including clothes, shoes and their pens, rulers, bags and so on.
If the teacher can not use the concrete objects, he can also use some models when teaching students to make telephone calls, the teacher can also take a toy telephone or paper telephone. And he can also get the students to prepare some toys or paper models, such as telephones, boats, baskets, clothes etc. The students will be very happy and eager to have a try when they see these things. And they will feel the happiness of success when they acquire some new knowledge through these things, especially their own toys and their self-made models. If the lesson is about describing some places, the teacher can find some relevant pictures and present them in the classroom as visual aids.
Here’s an example, in the Unit6 of Project English Book2B, there is a topic about “Is there a computer in your study”. After the students learn some describing phrases or sentences, the teacher can take the picture of his own study or let the students bring some pictures of their own studies. Then let the students guess firstly, and then show the pictures. These pictures are related closely to the students. The students must be interested in describingthem. The aim is to encourage students to speak and give them some purpose to express themselves. By using these things the students can learn English in a comparatively real circumstance, so that they can be interested in English learning and the classroom dynamics is increased at the same time.
5.1.2 Using modern teaching media
According to the audio-visual approach based on the behaviorist theory, audio-visual aids are very important. They can provide learners with a lot of comprehensible listening input related to pictures. Through the good coordination between visual and audio sense, they can create the lively situation, capture and hold learners’ attention and promote more affective long-term memory storage. What’s more, with the development of the science technology, the multimedia, audio-visual aids and other teaching media play a more and more important role in English language teaching and learning, and they change the traditional teaching way and arouse the students’ interests greatly. They can make the teaching more situational, more communicative and can create dynamic language environment and can increase the chance of using English language and reinforce the process of English language teaching. They are the necessary conditions of teaching English language with high speed and high quality in lack of language environment. So the teacher should use the electrical audio-visual aids widely in English language teaching. These are all very interesting and attractive for the students. For example, the computer can change the static content into the mobile pictures. By watching the English cartoons, the students can understand and master certain language knowledge in a relaxed circumstance. Besides it can make the abstract conception into concrete sound and pictures. Thereby the students can grasp the knowledge easily. By using these means, it will get twice the result with half the effort and create a relaxed and dynamic environment.
5.2 Setting situation
As we know, language is the tool for communication. The communication of language is a multilateral activity. As Wang Qiang says: “We don’t intend that the communicative approach is the magic tool in language teachings, but we do think language learning and teaching should be as close as possible to language use in real life.”[13] English teaching requires the students to take part in English practice. Moreover language communication is carried on in the certain environment or situation. Without situation, the communication is difficult to carry on. So classroom teaching must be lively, varied and close to the scene of life in order that it can arouse the students’ interest and create a dynamic atmosphere. Moreover the students in middle school are young. They are fond of observing and imitating. They will be very excited and try their best to learn something well from imitating. Setting situation means that in the course of English teaching, with the aids of the present conditions, the teacher partly or even wholly and the students take an active part in the activities, imitating the contents of the textbook and the scene of the communication. Under this condition, the students can find out the language sensation and grasp the contents nimbly with the inspiration of the imitated environment.
For example, in the Unit6 of Project English Book2B there is a topic about “How can I get to Peking University.” This is a lesson about getting the students to learn to get to some places. The teacher can organize the students as following: First ask the students to lay the desks as street. Four desks are put together. The desks are blocks and the space between them is the street. Then stick the colorful paper, on which are written the words such as Park, Hospital, School, Traffic lights and so on, on the desks. They represent the building in the street. The students are pedestrians. They can walk freely among these buildings. The teacher can ask the students to get to the designated place. As walking the students are asked to tell the lines they pass and the position they are in. This way can arouse their zeal for study, making the classroom lively and vivid. The students are also interested in the activities. While playing, they can grasp the patterns “Go along…” and “Take the … turning on the …” and so on.
5.3 Playing games
“The Natural Approach does not work systematically through a predetermined language syllabus, but progresses by focusing on communication in areas of need and interest to the learners. It emphasizes the importance of reducing stress and anxiety, and promoting the learners’ motivation and self-confidence.”[14] According to this view, games are an important part of a teacher’s equipment, not only for the language practice they provide, but also for the positive effect they have. Games can reduce students’ anxiety and increase their self-confidence. They provide amusing atmosphere and cheer for the students. “Most of games are fun, provide important learning experiences, and keep students highly involved and involve the teacher in the learning experience in a new and enjoyable ways. Using and even developing interactive games almost surely increase the classroom motivation of students and teachers.”[15] Traditional education has tended to concentrate on the cognitive domain, but ignore affective areas. Educators make on distinction between the cognitive and affective domain. They insist that both knowledge and feelings be a part of the learning process. The teacher should make exercises to allow students to develop personal meanings and feelings about objects, events and knowledge. These exercises are touching games and other games in which people practice putting their feelings into words. Moreover these games can stimulate students to learn English and increase the classroom dynamics. For example, playing games about words. Since Chinese language and English do not share the same writing systems, students usually find it very difficult and boring to memorize new words and phrases, but they have to do so because this is the preliminary requirement which they have to master. In this case, teachers can spare a few minutes to go through words learned by playing different games and giving small gifts to the winner or winners. In learning the words about fruit, the teacher can let the students play the “Touch and say” game. First, put some different kinds of fruit into a opaque bag. Then let the students touch and guess one by one with some sentences “Is it an apple?” … The students find it interesting and get fun out of doing it. At the same time, they have consolidated these words. At last, the teacher can give the fruit to the well-behaved students as prizes.
5.4 Strengthening the sense of competition
As the English beginners, the junior students have strong interest and active mind. At this age they are eager for recognition and prize. “They need activities which are exciting and stimulate their curiosity; they need to be involved in something active (they will usually not sit and listen).”[16] According to this psychological character, teachers should organize all kinds of competitions and form a new teaching way to attract students’ involvement, develop their intelligence, foster their ability and increase the classroom dynamics. In this way, not only the students’ interest but also the teaching effectiveness can be greatly improved. The middle-school students are quick in thinking and reacting. According to this characteristic, in the way of connection, teachers can help the students to remember the words in the form of “Rolling the ball of snow” to expand the vocabulary. Design the subject, limit the time and ask the students to write the words belonging to this subject. Teachers can divide the class into four parts, every competitor from the four groups should write out the words on the blackboard, and the other members can tell them the words that they think out. This method not only can increase the English classroom dynamics, but also can revise all kinds of words, such as synonym, antonym, the words of the same root, and affix and so on, and also deepen the memory. This kind of competition implies that all the member in one group work cohesively and cooperatively to achieve success. They cultivate cooperative social climate and get rid of the de-motivating the feeling of failure as an individual.
5.5 Changing seating arrangements and promoting the classroom interaction
“There is a principle underlying current ELT practice that interaction pushes learners to produce more accurate and appropriate language, which itself provides input for other students.”[17] Giving maximum interaction between the teacher and students or students and students can promote classroom dynamics and bring about successful learning. Changing seating arrangements can help students interact with each other. Especiallyfor junior students, it’s difficult to sit still for a long time; it’s worth including activities that involve some movements.
“One symptom of lack of cohesion in a group is ‘territoriality’. Group members show a marked preference for ‘their’ seats and they are reluctant to move to sit with other people.”[18] Obviously the fixed seating arrangement is harmful for creating a pleasant and dynamic atmosphere. So the teacher must often change seating arrangements in appropriate times. However the classroom is laid out, it is worth taking time to consider what variations are possible in the ways that students stand, move and sit. Similarly the teacher’s own position needs to be considered. For example, the teacher can change seating arrangements into horseshoe or a circle that are more effective for language teaching than straight rows. Because learners can make eye contact with everyone else in the classroom and thus interact much more naturally. Moreover this seating arrangement can create a much greater sense of equality. Weaker students tend to hide away less and stronger students to dominate less. The teacher in the circle helps to clarify his role as an equal rather than as someone dominates or separates.
Of course, there are also other kinds of seating arrangements, such as “separate tables” pattern, “face to face” pattern, etc. All these seating arrangements can change the traditional seating arrangement, promote the interaction between students and the teacher or students and students, create a relaxed and lively language learning atmosphere and activate and increase the classroom dynamics.
Different seating arrangements in class:
6. Conclusion
Students and the teacher are integral parts of the second language teaching. They exchange their feelings, ideas and information in class on an equal, compromised and cooperative base. They interact with each other. The forming of a dynamic classroom environment needs joint efforts of the teacher and students.
In the modern learner-centered teaching system, students play a main role while teacher is an important guide. Junior students come to the second language classroom mainly to learn English. So it is teachers’ duty to make the classroom conductive to the fulfillment of this goal. A happy and dynamic classroom full of English taste not only keeps students involved in English study and prompts them to work for achievement, but also shorten the distance between teachers and students. The class must be dynamic and interesting in order that all the students can take an active part in study. The teacher shall encourage the students to participate various activities such as telling stories, acting in the plays, giving a speech, carrying on a debate, listening to English songs and seeing English films and so on. It is proved that all these activities greatly arouse the students’ enthusiasm and strengthen their interest. An English teacher is not only students’ instructor, but also their friend, cooperator and a part in the classroom. They must make a free, relaxing and dynamic study atmosphere and merge teaching into interest and keep it in good order at the same time. What’s more, in order to equip students with qualities for the independent world as well as to raise their study efficiency, The teachers may encourage a cooperative learning or group learning. If the teachers can organize their classroom teaching nimbly and lively, they can achieve a great success in teaching and learners’ linguistic completely can be improved as well.
The teachers should think some methods to create the classroom dynamics that could motivate the students’ interest to participate in communicative activities in English teaching. But the methods should be varied according to different time, different students and different contents. Only when the teachers and students have a dynamic classroom atmosphere can the quality of teaching and learning be improved efficiently.
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