Abstract. In this paper, by starting from the analysis on the current situation of the teaching of the public English in Chinese higher vocational schools, the author points out how to cultivate the ability of the students in the self-study under the theories of constructivism. At the same time, by relying on the situations of learning, the author regards the learners as the center of the teaching process, gives prominence to the personalization, self-orientation, collaboration as well as the help and guidance from the teachers, takes the construction of the realization significance as purpose, and finally establishes a well-improved evaluation system.
Key words: Constructivism; Student Subjects；Teaching Design；Classroom Organization； Evaluation System
1.Introduction
Constructivism takes the students at schools as the centres, and attaches higher importance to the explorations that are necessary to carry out initiatively by the students, the discoveries that are necessary to achieve initiatively by the students, as well as the construction that are necessary to make initiatively by the students for the significances of what they have learnt.
Teachers, students, tasks, and the environment carry out an interaction between each other within a dynamic process.
However, the language teaching that is under the conduction of teachers simply is not education in the actual sense. This is because the mission of education is promoting the students to learn how to learn and especially learn how to get a sustainable learning forever.
In the mean time, it is highly necessary for the teachers in English teaching to attach higher and higher importance to the classroom teaching that is student-centred, lay a stress on the training of the sense of self-learning of the students, and also pay great attention to the evaluation that is mainly oriented at the learning process of the students.
In this paper, with the purpose of promoting the students to actively and initiatively take part in the learning of English and change from being passive to being positive, the author puts forward that it is highly necessary to train the ability of the students in the self-study from the several aspects as shown in the following.
By relying on the situations of learning, the author regards the learners as the centre of teaching, gives prominence to the personalization, self-orientation, collaboration as well as the help and guidance from the teachers, takes the construction of the realization significance as purpose, and finally establishes a well-improved evaluation system.
2.Carrying out the Teaching Design by Relying on Situations of Learning
In constructivism, it is mentioned that knowledge is obtained by the learners through the construction of the significances with the help of others and by making use of the necessary learning materials under a certain situation (i.e. the social and cultural background).
"Situation" means that it is definitely necessary for the contexts in the learning environment to be conducive to the construction of the significances of the contents that the students have learnt.
However, in the process of making a preparation for a lesson, it is highly necessary for the teachers to pay attention to the expression of the three-dimensional characteristic of the teaching design, take advantage of the three-dimensional thinking to carry out the teaching design.
Also, it is highly necessary for the teachers give full consideration to the contents in the teaching materials, the multimedia used at classroom and the related information that are collected during the extra-curricular period, as well as the original knowledge structure of the students.
In the mean time, it is highly necessary for the teaching methods that are used by the teachers to be diversified.
In other words, the teaching methods should not only meet the needs of the multiple applications and also support the teaching and learning environment of the multiple models.
Also, it is necessary for the teaching methods to support the face-to-face educational forms in the traditional sense and also to be capable of meeting the needs of the distance education or web-based education.
With regard to the students, it is highly necessary for them to take full advantage of all kinds of resources such as newspapers, books, magazines, and network resources to carry out a large amount of work before class.
More specially, it is necessary for the students to collect all kinds of information, investigate the questionnaires, make the analyses on the materials, classify the materials, and then present the data with the electronic documents or in writing.
In addition, at the present time, a large amount of the after-school work requires all members of a team to complete with cooperation but not the individuals. As a result, the tasks can come to an end with the joint efforts.
3.Organizing the Classroom Teaching by Taking Students as Center
Constructivism attaches higher importance to the learning that is conducted under the guidance of the teachers but is centred at the students.
Generally speaking, the students are the principal parts of the information processing and also the persons that take initiative to construct the significances, but not the persons that passively accept the knowledge through the external stimulation and also not the objects that are inculcated by the teacher with knowledge.
In the process of the organizing the classroom teaching activities, it is highly necessary for the teachers to give full consideration to all kinds of aspects of the students, such as the structure of their knowledge, the ability levels, the development of their personalities and so on.
In the mean time, it is necessary for the teachers to give assistance to the students to obtain the significances from the construction of the knowledge by regarding the students as centre and principal part. Also, it is necessary for the teachers to make an enhancement to the subjects’ awareness (i.e. the students are the principal parts of the learning).
Also, it is definitely necessary for the teachers to attach higher importance to showing respects to the students and developing the awareness of their principal parts as well as the initiative spirits in the teaching process at classroom. As a result, the students can be promoted to change into the masters of learning.
In such a process, the teachers should not regard the students as the cognitive bodies that are very simple. However, it is definitely necessary for the teachers to deem the students as the human beings that have a complete thinking.
In the teaching process, it is highly necessary for the teachers to attach higher importance to arousing the self-awareness of the students from the inner world and allow the students to get a real understanding of the idea that the teachers are only the persons giving guidance to them and helping them to learn better.
Then, it is necessary for the teachers to instruct the students to get rid of the situation of being passive to accept knowledge through the multiple ways and promote the students to regard themselves as the objects of cognition, and also invite the students to participate in the selection of the contents of the teaching.
This is because that the participation of the students in the selection of the contents of the teaching can promote the students to have a close connection with their peers in the interests and hobbies.
Then, the teachers can make a determination on the final contents of teaching in accordance with the actual conditions of the majors that they are learning.
Therefore, transforming from being passive to accept the knowledge at classroom to being positive to participate in the teaching design at classroom, the students make the process of the self-value demonstration and self-recognition realized. This is the recognition on the values of the students beyond all doubts.
The teaching contents that are dynamically integrated by the actual operation stages―the teaching contents, the teaching methods and the teaching means at classroom play a decisive role in the teaching methods and means.
However, the application of a certain number of teaching methods and means can exert a role in the commanding of the knowledge of the student to some extent.
Under the networking learning environment at the present time, however, providing the students with the colourful network learning resources as well as the full freedom to carry out the learning and construct the knowledge independently is a challenge that is posed by the progress of the modern science and technology on the traditional teaching ideas. However, this method also can bring the leading role of the teachers as well as the subject role of the students into full play.
As a result, the role of the optimal teaching model can be achieved; the quality of teaching at classroom can attain a further improvement.
Therefore, this method is more conductive to the cultivation of the students’ habit of carrying out the self-learning as well as the life-long learning concept.
As is known to all, the internet, multimedia and newspaper are the most important sources of the students to acquire the knowledge.
However, classroom can’t be replaced by other things, because it is a place where the students absorb knowledge and gain ability. For this reason, the process for the implementation of the teaching activities at classroom is especially important.
Take the lesson named as the International Remittance of Foreign Currency for an example. The teacher first makes use of the brainstorming method to get an understanding of what the students have learnt about the problems in the foreign remittances, the cultural backgrounds and the remittance between the international banks.
Next, the teacher takes advantage of the multimedia courseware to allow the students to know the matters that are necessary to pay attention to in the foreign remittances, all kinds of problems as well as the related background knowledge.
For example, it is necessary for the students to tell the differences of telegraphic transfer and mail transfer from the demand draft. At the same time, the teacher can design a good number of questions, allowing the students to be familiar with the lesson fully through the combination of intensive reading method and the extensive reading method. The name of the lesson is the International Remittance of Foreign Currency. Based on this, the teacher can design these questions as follows:
(1) Have you ever transfer money?
(2) What is the difference between transfer money in different way?
In order to give answers to these questions, the students can make use of the methods of scanning and skimming, and also can carry out the discussions, and then put forward the answers to questions one by one.
Also, the teacher can allow the students t raise questions between each other about the processing of making a preparation before class.
All these questions are designed especially for the lesson. In this process, the form of the teacher-student interaction as well as the form of the student-student interaction can be applied to complete the learning of the related background knowledge.
Then, the teachers demonstrate the specific contexts to the students three-dimensionally through multi-media technology.
Next, the teacher can allow the students to make a simulation on the situations in the real world and hence can experience how to operate the business with an actual practice.
In the mean time, the teacher can allow the students to give expression to the teaching contents with the form of dialogue or melodrama.
Such a simulation can create a very good language environment for the students to learn English. However, what Chinese students are in shortage of in English learning is such a necessary social language environment.
Therefore, in the process of the classroom teaching, with the purpose of training the language application ability of the students, it is definitely necessary for the teachers to comply with the teaching idea that is students-centred, and bring the role of the “principal parts” of students into full play in teaching.
4.Establish a Well-improved Evaluation System
The reform of the teaching evaluation system can be carried out in accordance with the training of the comprehensive professional qualities.
Take the school where the author works now for an example. The school pays attention to the training of the four major abilities of the students in general. They are the ability to adapt to society, the industry-specific ability, the job-specific ability and the core professional ability.
From the above four abilities, the professional ability and comprehensive ability can be clearly seen. The evaluation forms of the traditional public English tests mainly give reflection to the accumulation of knowledge of the language of students.
However, the value for English as a language lies in the application (i.e. communication). In the previous time, the evaluation standards mainly include the results-oriented evaluation, and also are majored at the written evaluation and the one-way evaluation.
However, in the three-dimensional evaluation of teaching, the evaluation standards should include not only the one-way evaluation and also the two-way evaluation, the written examination and also the oral examination, and the results-oriented evaluation and also the process-oriented evaluation.
Promoting the public English evaluation standards of higher vocational schools to be diversified and constructing a systemic, scientific and effective teaching quality evaluation system have the great significance for driving the fundamental construction of the higher vocational schools, the management of the teaching qualities of the higher vocational schools, and improving the teaching quality effectively.
5.Conclusion
Through the creation of the learning situations, the students in the higher vocational schools can be promoted to actively get involved in the process of English learning process, change from being passive in learning to being positive in learning. Also, it is highly necessary to establish a well-improved evaluation system, making the students become the masters of learning truly.
6.Acknowledgment
This paper is a stage result of the twelve five-year planning project of Hebei province education scientific research. Project Name: The project is named as the Research on English multi-dimensional teaching models of higher vocational education based on enhancing students" self-confidence and stimulating their learning interest. Project Type: The project is established specially to fund the youth to research. The number of the project is 11050010.
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