美文教学的现状及探索

"美文"本应该是培养学生语言文字能力,带给学生美的熏陶的绝好材料,然而在教学中,貌似深刻科学的理性分析、玄乎的"说感想"模式、铺天盖地的多媒体课件、教师自身语言的"不合时宜"让我们常常感叹:教美文难,难于上青天!反躬自省,追本溯源后,笔者幡然醒悟:美文教学中,应该着重通过语言文字,将语文的工具作用与人文作用传于学生,流淌出生命快乐的灵动,架设出精神丰韵的崇高,它的教学不需要固定的模式,也没有固定的模式,要的是灵感、激情、感悟、想象力!感情朗读品美境、咬文嚼字悟美韵、添枝加叶明美意、个性创作表美情、自我提升铸美魂,一篇"美文"就能成为学生心中的一个永恒的语文经典,就能构建一片语文学习的天空。

浅谈目前乡村初中语文经典美文教学困惑的对策

经典美文是指传统的、具有权威性的、能作为独立文体的美文,实质是散文的一种。就目前乡村初中语文教学而言,经典美文教学的有效开展意义重大,既能提高学生的文学水平、语文素养、人文素养,又能在很大程度上丰富学生的精神世界,增强学生的审美体验、意志力。基于此,深入分析和探索目前乡村初中语文经典美文教学困惑的对策就显得尤为重要。

由“命题式”到“开放式”的美文地理教学——浅谈初中国家区域地理教学方法

国家区域地理是初中地理教学的落脚点,具有核心地位。以湘教版＂走近国家＂为案例,实施了由＂命题式＂到＂开放式＂的美文地理教学。在国家地理的前期学习中,实施＂命题式＂美文教学,客观上有利于帮助学生找到学习国家的方法。在国家地理的后期学习中,实施＂开放式＂美文教学,给了学生更多的自由发挥的空间,让学生欣赏到了每一个国家的多重魅力。

高中英语美文阅读USE模式教学实践

英语美文是指语言简洁地道、内容丰富多彩、思想健康向上的文学作品。美文教学具有增强语言输入、言语习得、言语产出等功能。采用USE模式进行美文阅读教学,有助于学生整体理解文本意义,分析文本的结构框架,促进可视化言语表达。

美文情境教学四步曲

情境教学对于美文教学来说有其独到之处。一般来说要经历四步：美读以感知情境i遵路以进入情境；体味以理解情境；触发以深化情境。

语文教师如何搭建传统经典美文与学生沟通的桥梁

中国传统经典美文以丰富生动的故事、感人肺腑的话语、浸入心脾的韵味、真挚单纯的情感,通过典型的人物形象、典型的事例,潜移默化地走进学生的心灵。就语文教师怎么样才能架起一座将美文的精髓要义转化为学生的人格情操的桥梁进行了探讨。

Question-Generation Reading Strategy of Iranian EFL Learners

This paper tries to explore the effect of question-generation reading strategy on the reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners. Since the researchers did not have any control over randomization of students and it was considered as one of the features of experimental method, this study is not a true experimental method. This method is called Intact Group Study. In this research there were experimental and control groups. The age range of the learners in both groups was between 19 to 22; the age range difference was so limited that we could neglect the difference concem. The number of students in both groups was closely the same. One of these groups received question-generation reading strategy instruction and the other group---control group--did not receive this instruction. Participants in both groups studied a task-based course book called New Interchange 3 by Richards （2005）. They studied the last eight units of this book during a whole term. The instruction was the same for both groups except for the reading parts. Participants in experimental group were taught how to generate questions as being linked to the main ideas of the text they were reading. They were also given feedback on the correctness of the questions they generated. Then they answered the follow-up questions However, participants in control group received a traditional method of reading for comprehension; they read the text on their own and answered the follow-up questions. Of course both groups enjoyed a warm-up before reading each text. The statistical independent group T-test of the reading comprehension posttest showed that participants in the experimental group performed better than the students in the control group

Facilitating Accessibility for EFL Learners to Articulation Through Praat

Acoustic terms are useful academic tools to help EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners to perceive pronunciation visually. Pratt is worldewide famous free acoustic professional software applied to the articulation with the help of the graph of ampplitude plotted and spectrogram. The paper will apply the professional acoustic tool Praat to pronunciation pedagogy to facilitate discrimination and articulation and suggests that the program can be adapted for the teaching of pronunciation to Chinese EFL learners.

National Nonsense and V. S. Naipaul＇s Ethical Distance

This paper examines two postcolonial writings by the Nobel Prize winner Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, The Mimic Men （1969） and In a Free State （1984）. In particular, it studies how Naipaul reflects on the historical experiences of national nonsense--the seemingly contradictory existence of transnationality in nationality--and how he manages in his writings to keep an ethical distance from both the colonial empires and the nation-states that came up to replace the colonial empires in the postcolonial world.

Are Terms ＂African（s）＂ or ＂Black（s）＂ Appropriate Substitutes for ＂Bantu（s）＂ in the South African Context？

The name, ＂Bantu＂, is a classificatory term which refers to a sub-group of the Niger-Congo languages, i.e., the Benue-Congo group of languages, which are spoken extensively in the equatorial and southern part of Africa, as well as the family of peoples speaking these languages. As a result of its association with racism during the Apartheid regime in South Africa, the term was heavily politicized and lost its original meaning to acquire racist connotations. In South Africa, the names ＂African（s）＂ or ＂Black（s）＂ are used as substitutes for the stigmatized name ＂Bantu（s）＂ with reference to the Bantu speaking peoples and their languages. This research investigates the use of the words, ＂Africans＂ and ＂Blacks＂ to assess their suitability as replacements for the word ＂Bantu＂. An intensive outline of the classification of the languages of Africa is given to authenticate the basic meaning of these classificatory terms, especially the term ＂Bantu＂

The Effect of Text Familiarity on Summary Writing Skill

Research has been done on the effects of text familiarity on reading comprehension. It has been shown that there is no relationship between familiarity with the content of a passage and better comprehension of that passage through reading it. More specifically, it has been indicated that students perform better on a passage with an unfamiliar content （Carrel, 1983）. This study focuses on the effect of text familiarity on summary writing skill of foreign language students. In order to achieve this goal, 60 male and female students participated in this study. Four passages were selected from among reading comprehension TOEFL （Test of English as a Foreign Language） texts Two passages were familiar and the other two were unfamiliar. They were given to students for summary writing Through the processes of test administration, each subject was tested on four passages. The subjects performed better on the passage with unfamiliar content.

The Other Part of the Story —— Chinese Students at American Universities

Chinese intemational students studying at American universities are generally believed to be intelligent, hard-working and high score achieving, which are confirmed by many sources. People tend to believe that it is simply easy for Chinese students to excel academically at US universities, but this is not necessarily true, especially for students fresh from China. Based on a survey of Chinese students studying at US universities and interviews with American professors, this essay reveals Chinese students＇ academic frustrations and struggles that have been overlooked due to their high scores, and points out that it is the mismatch between Chinese and American teaching and learning styles that leads to this difficulty. Furthermore, this essay concludes with the author providing suggestions for both Chinese and American educators to help future Chinese students make the most of their higher education opportunity at American universities.

Applying Consciousness-Raising Method to a Writing Class

C-R （Consciousness-Raising） has been around for some years, and while studies on the effectiveness of C-R have mainly focused on the learning of grammatical features, more attention needs to be paid to the mastery of other language areas. The present study is a small-scale research that explores the impact of C-R technique on the learning of some elements of written business communication. Several intermediate EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners were exposed to models of good business letters and instructed to notice three elements, namely, the rhetorical moves, the grammatical patterns, and the expressions. Afterwards, they were assigned to write letters on their own. Their mistakes were counted and analyzed for the kinds of mistakes in each of the elements above. The result shows that they did very well in arranging the ideas in correct rhetorical moves but made much more mistakes on grammatical features and appropriateness of expressions. The explanation offered to account for this finding concerns the learners＇ allocation of cognitive capacity to different demands of task complexity. The more complex the task, such as writing in correct grammar or writing appropriate expressions, the less they devote their attention and effort to language formal features. A suggestion concerning focus-on-form activities is then offered to teachers

What Motivate Them to Speak More A Study on Students＇ Perspective

This study is about factors that may facilitate students＇ willingness to speak more in English class. Previous research has shown certain factors would increase class participation from educators＇ view, while in this paper, a survey was designed to find out what students themselves think would motivate them to speak more in class. The survey was given to a group of grade 9 students in a middle school in China. Among the elements that were selected in the survey, the result shows students tend to favor a friendly relationship with the teacher, a warm learning atmosphere, a lively teaching style, and variety interesting learning activities as well as supplemental materials in terms of more verbal participation. The finding reinforces the previous studies on these factors＇ positive roles in promoting students＇ motivation to speak more. This paper is expected to serve as a resource for professionals who work in the relevant area and draw more attention from educators, in particular those in the China context, on this topic

Analyzing Tests for Curriculum and Materials Development

ELP （English Language Proficiency） testing is both time-consuming and wasteful if the texts are used merely as tools for assessment. CDA （Critical Discourse Analysis） is an approach that allows for text, processing and social analyses. This paper focuses on the problem-solution discourse pattern in a text selected from the responses of 86 Chinese law school freshmen to a writing test prompt that addressed problems with learning English. The text was compared and contrasted with the response of the same subject as a senior to the identical prompt. The objectives of the CDA were to investigate what constraints were placed on contents, relations and subjects in terms of discourse and to describe, interpret and explain formal features that function to elicit experiential, relational and expressive values simultaneously in the texts. Further analyses of such texts may contribute to ESP （English for Specific Purposes） curriculum and materials development for non-English majors

Using Drama Activities in Language Teaching in EFL

Drama is a powerful tool in language teaching. It develops students＇ ability to think and improves their communication skills. It raises their self-esteem when they develop confidence through active participation. Dramatisation also promotes students＇ creativity and encourages group cooperation. The paper offers some tips on how to integrate drama activities in the language classroom to make the lesson more meaningful. This paper concludes that students who role-play the characters in a play can better interpret the affective component of the text and gain a better understanding of the key scenes as they enact them through the dramatic form.

Communicative Approach in College English Teaching

The basic insight of Communicative Language Teaching is that language can be thought of as a tool for communication, and language teaching should be student-centered to cultivate their communicative competence. This paper explains the main methods in Communicative Language Teaching in college integrated English teaching, and elaborates that the teaching methods and classroom activities of the curriculum should be designed to develop students＇ communicative capability.

An Empirical Study of Using Imitation-Based Error Correction to Reduce Repeated Errors in English Writing of Rural Junior High School Students

Junior high school students in rural areas constitute a particular group of English learners, for whom English writing is not only important, but also difficult. In order to find out an effective means to help them enhance English writing proficiency. To this end, after carefully analyzing the writing characteristics of this group of English learners, one intact class in Grade 8 of No. 14 junior middle school in Wuwei was given an experimental treatment which required them to imitate the correct examples of expressions provided by their teacher where they used to make errors. Results revealed that students in experimental class outperform their peers in control class significantly.

Factors Contributing to the Effectiveness of a University-Industry Partnership

The university-industry engagement serves as a cooperation that gives benefit to both parties. The universities and the industries are dependent on each other as the university＇s role is to produce human capitals to work at the industries, and the industries on the other hand need human capitals to run their business. However, this kind of dependency could raise issues that cause difficulties for both parties if the relationship is not checked and balanced from time to time. The universities should be aware of the industries＇ changing needs as time changes. Hence the programmes that they offer to their students should take into consideration the industries＇ needs. This research was to identify the current practices of the university-industry engagement, to appraise the factors contributing to the effectiveness of the university-industry engagement involving UMP （Universiti Malaysia Pahang） and the identified industries, to map the prospects and challenges that UMP faces in the university-industry engagement and to propose the best approaches that the university could engage to provide high class human capitals to work at the industries. This research employed a survey in the form of interviews and expert group discussions. The results show that there is still a mismatch in the university-industry engagement. The representatives from the industries felt that they should be actively involved in the university＇s activities, especially in teaching, learning and industrial training for students. They had given a few suggestions to be forwarded to the university

The Enlightenment of Metaphors in Titles on English Writing Teaching

Based on non-English majors＇ textbooks, this paper discusses the functions of metaphors in titles of texts and places a major emphasis on enlightenment of metaphors in titles on English writing teaching. And through analyzing metaphors in titles, it is suggested that in daily writing teaching, teachers should bear the cultivation of students＇ metaphorical thinking from analyzing titles in mind; teachers also design some writing tasks with metaphors in titles and select textbooks with metaphor-rich texts