从密歇根大学英语所的发展看欧美国家高校英语作为二语的教学与研究

本文借在密西根大学英语教学与研究所访问研究之际,认真观察了以该所为代表的北美地区大学英语作为第二语言教学的具体实施和相关支撑研究活动,在研究该所历史发展的基础上,结合现代语言学与教学法理论发展,总结了发达国家高校英语作为第二语言的教学特点,特别是以学习者为中心的专业英语教学、语料库辅助教学与测试等,为中国的大学英语教学改革提出了借鉴的思路。

同伴辅导与同伴互评在英语二语写作教学中应用的比较研究

文章比较了同伴反馈机制中同伴辅导与同伴互评在英语二语写作教学中的应用效果,研究发现,同伴辅导与同伴互评都能对学生的英语写作水平提高起到一定的促进作用,但是写作水平相近的两组学生短期内接受两种不同形式的同伴反馈后,接受同伴辅导学生写作能力的提升要显著高于接受同伴互评的学生。

ESL pre-service teachers＇ views of Teaching Practice supervision and assessment in Nigeria

This paper suggests that English as a Second Language （ESL） pre-service teachers＇ views and opinions about Teaching Practices be used by faculty to make TP more effective and interesting for the professional development of teachers. The main objective was to study the motivational dimensions of Teaching Practice （TP）, analyze trainees perception of the strength of their content courses （knowledge base） and pedagogy programme （psychology, teaching methods）, and investigate the quality of TP orientation program supervision and assessment by faculty （teacher trainers）. A survey was carried out to determine procedures and processes for minimizing anxieties and fears concerning TP and the relationship between faculty and trainees, mentoring and monitoring procedures, the giving of feedback and utilization of the views of students. Questionnaires were used to obtain information on the content courses or subjects which students found difficult, irrelevant or not adequately taught, what faculty should do to make TP experience better and rewarding to make them become professional teachers. Participants in the study found pedagogy courses relevant to their training and quite enjoyable. They also acknowledge that the courses help them to develop learner centered instructional skills and competence in classroom management. On the contrary, participants confessed they were weak in grammar and spoken English because these were not adequately taught, they also limited exposure to reading and writing. Focused group discussion with students revealed that TP Orientation Programs were too crowded and ill-organized to meet their needs and reduce their anxiety. The points of focus of the orientation-dress code, comportment in schools-were not as crucial as some issues-mentoring, relationship between faculty and students-which were left out. Respondents rated TP supervision and assessment very low because of inadequacies in the number of visits, lack of feedback and low level interaction with their trainers. Some of the students used peer interaction, self-development and self-study skills to improve their skills and cope with TP. The results suggest that knowledge base of students in ESL courses need to be strengthened and enriched. Orientation program should be geared towards trainee＇s needs. Also supervision and assessment require a lot of improvement while faculty should give prompt feedback and utilize trainees＇ opinions and views for meeting students＇ needs and improving TP.

Effects of interlingual strategies on L2 vocabulary teaching

Based on empirical research and qualitative analysis, this paper aims to explore the effects of interlingual strategies on L2 vocabulary teaching. The results show that, during L2 vocabulary teaching process, the proper application of interlingual strategies can effectively facilitate the memorization of new words, and the bilingual method （both English explanation and Chinese translation） is welcomed by most subjects. Therefore, using L1 as a means of semantization or as a tool for checking and validating L2 learners＇ understanding of word meaning should not be completely rejected, especially for adult Chinese EFL learners.

Activity theory and second language acquisition

As recently as 1999, activity theory, one of the sub-theories of sociocultural theory, was described as ＂a well kept secret＂, now is one of the most popular theories in second language acquisition. In this article, the author will present a few research projects that adopt activity theory to investigate language learning, to show how activity theory brings new insights into language acquisition.

Transitional methodologies of the second language grammar teaching in middle schools

Grammar teaching recently faces lots of problems not only in the teaching methods but also in its position it deserves. Through analyzing the importance and the confronting problems of grammar teaching in middle schools, the paper will do the further research on the methodologies in the transitional time and will surely conclude the theories that can direct teaching process.

The Fuzziness Principles of Language Teaching and Its Applications in Second Language Learning

Fuzziness is the nature of language. If the students can make full use of the fuzziness in language, their communicative competence will be greatly improved. So the fuzziness principles are advanced here to guide language teaching, which are the principle of tolerance ambiguity and the principle of active selection. And teachers should try to cultivate the students＇ cognitive learning style of inference, guessing, and association. In this way the students＇ communicative competence of using L2 will be improved.

Perceptions of Chinese College Students＇ Motivations for Learning Oral English

This paper explores Chinese college students＇ motivation for learning oral English, which is normally considered as an important factor contributing to learners＇ speaking proficiency in Second Language Learning. The theoretical studies on motivation in Second Language Learning are firstly reviewed. Based on the literature review, Chinese college students＇ motivation in oral English learning is examined in terms of the Chinese context. Finally, five specific helpful strategies are put forward to facilitate students＇ optimal oral English learning.

Making full use of action research in EFLT

Since 1970s, action research is well claimed in education. This article tries to give a brief introduction of some major relevant information about action research, and then it explores the significance of adopting action research in EFLT. Moreover, it proposes a possible way, namely collaborative action research in EFLT.

Developing students＇ cultural awareness through foreign language teaching

We live in an age of changes. And these changes in science, technology, economy, political systems, and immigration patterns, especially the emergence of Internet, have created a world in which we increasingly interact with people from different cultures. The levels of students＇ cultural awareness toward the target language （English） have a profound influence on the foreign language teaching （English） practice and performance. Obviously linguistic knowledge alone is not enough to secure successful interactions with native speakers in cross cultural communications. Cultural mistakes are worse than linguistic ones because they tend to cause misjudgments, or ill feelings between native and foreign speakers. Therefore, this paper mainly discusses the relationship between culture and language, explaining cultural awareness, providing some principles of cultural knowledge teaching and some techniques to develop students＇ cultural awareness through foreign language （English） teaching in high schools.

Workshop on how to create a learner-centered classroom

Based on the literature review on learner-centered classroom, this essay is to explore now to create a learner-centered classroom in Chinese context so as to design a workshop for those teaching professionals all over China to create a learner-centered classroom. The workshop conducted mainly focuses on what is a learner-centered classroom, why and how to create a learner-centered classroom, meanwhile, it aims at helping the participants work out a practical framework which can be eventually put to their everyday teaching.

Research Methods of Computer-assisted Second Language Acquisition

In this paper, the author presents an overview of the history and trends of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition in recent years; and then, combining the present situation in China, indicates that the approach of Action Research will be the future trend in research on Computer Assisted Second Language Acquisition （CASLA）. To explain the author＇s viewpoint, this paper firstly sets out to describe the author＇s understanding of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition （SLA）, and then the comprehension of Action Research in CASLA.

Error Feedback on Students' Writings by Chinese Tertiary Teachers of English

This study explores how error feedback is practiced by Chinese tertiary EFL teachers with its focus on the extent and modes of error feedback, types of focused errors, feedback strategies, and perceptions and attitudes of concern. Analysis of the data from questionnaires, interviews and sample writings indicates that error feedback was extensively practiced in both comprehensive and selective modes. When providing feedback, teachers tended to focus on diction problems and ill-formed sentences, and mainly used the strategies of ＂direct feedback＂ and ＂hinting at the location of errors＂. Despite their expectations on students to locate and correct errors, teachers were found more concerned with the immediate goal of helping students avoid making the same errors than helping them learn on their own. As for the students, they expected teachers to provide comprehensive error feedback and make frequent use of error codes. This paper finally points out that for more effective error feedback, various feedback strategies should be used by teachers and self-correction and peer review should be conducted by students.

COMPARISON OF EFL TEACHING IN AMERICA AND IN CHINA—A REFLECTION OF ENGLISH TEACHING IN CHINA

对于英语课堂教学,我们关注较多的是采用各种实验分析方法来证实教学方法与假设的可行性。而本文则是依据于在美近距离观察美国课堂的教育模式,采访调查课堂教学活动所获的信息,结合笔者在中国从事英语教学的经验,比较分析了在中美不同教学文化环境下,在教育学理念,教与学的方法与策略等方面的差异,同时探讨了这些差异的相关原因。通过比较分析,旨在思索拓宽中国英语教学改革的路子,寻求借鉴国外教学经验对中国英语教学的有效成分。文章的最后部分涵盖了我国大学英语教学改革的形势和任务以及我校的教改成果,并阐明了对改革的深入的期待。

SLA THEORY AND ENGLISH CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

Both language learning and language teaching should follow the natural law of language acquisition. It's an important task that we are facing to apply the fruits of SLA research to China's English teaching practice. This paper, based on the guidance of second language acquisition (SLA) theory, studies and explores the interaction of language acquisition and classroom instruction and effective classroom teaching methods.

Learnability of Grammatical Sequencing: A Processability Perspective of Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings

This study conducts an acquisition-based evaluation of four primary-school English textbook series used in China. The evaluation aims to determine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures in the series is compatible with the L2 learning sequence stipulated in Processability Theory (PT). The results show a partial agreement between the sequencing of structures as teaching objectives in the series and the PT-based processability hierarchy. The sequencing of structures in the initial stages is consistent with the learning sequence of L2 English stated in PT. However, several structures in the intermediate or high stages are taught in a deviant way against their sequencing in PT. The deviant grading of those structures is possibly associated with the theme-based guidelines adopted in the textbooks. It appears that concerns with the utility of grammatical structures in a given context take precedence over concerns for L2 development. A number of suggestions are offered to textbook writers in terms of the role of input, the learners, developmental readiness, and the issue of heterogeneity in L2 classrooms.