Abstract.The key to master foreign languages is learning instead of being taught. In college English teaching, there is a long existing problem that a great deal of time has been spent and it is of low efficiency. In order to solve this long existing problem in a complete manner, that “students are taken as the core” should be truly realized. In addition, the “independent learning abilities” of the students should be cultivated. As for teaching and learning that is of high efficiency and spends little time, the ultimate way is to combine the sounds and the meaning of English as well as to combine speaking and writing. In classroom teaching, teachers should try to squeeze the teaching time in order to fasten the teaching process and enlarge the teaching quantities. In this way, the teachers can accomplish what they are responsible for.
Key words： Speaking and writing; teaching requirements; teaching mode
1.Background
At the beginning of 2004, the Social Science Research and Ideological Work Department of the Ministry of Education organized and formulated the “College English curriculum teaching requirements (trial implementation)”, which is short for “teaching requirements” in parts of the colleges all over the country. The teaching goal of the “College English curriculum teaching requirements (trial implementation)” is shown as the followings. As an integral part of higher learning, is a required basic course for undergraduate students. Under the guidance of theories of foreign language teaching, College English has as its main components knowledge and practical skills of the English language, learning strategies and intercultural communication. It is a systematic whole, incorporating different teaching models and approaches. The teaching of College English should follow the principle of providing different guidance for different groups of students and instructing them in accordance with their aptitude so as to meet the specific needs of individualized teaching. The requirements for undergraduate College English teaching are set at three levels: basic requirements, intermediate requirements, and higher requirements. Non-English majors are required to attain to one of the three levels of requirements after studying and practicing English at school. The basic requirements are the minimum level that all non-English majors have to reach before graduation. However, it is only implemented in 180 colleges (or part of the majors in colleges) all over the country.
2.The Teaching Current Situation of College English
Although college English teaching reformation is being carried out all over the country in a well-rounded manner, the old teaching model is having deep roots and a firm foundation.
1)The objective of College English is to develop students’ ability to use English in a well-rounded way, especially in listening and speaking, so that in their future studies and careers as well as social interactions they will be able to communicate effectively, and at the same time enhance their ability to study independently and improve their general cultural awareness so as to meet the needs of China’s social development and international exchanges.
2)Students should generally be able to follow talks and lectures in English, to understand longer English radio on familiar topics spoken at a speed of around 150 to 180 wpm, grasping the main ideas, key points and relevant details. They should be able to understand, by and large, courses in their areas of specialty taught in English.
3)The teachers should generally be able to follow talks and lectures in English, grasping the main ideas, key points and relevant details. They should be able to understand, by and large, courses in their areas of specialty taught in English.
4)Students should be able to communicate in English in the course of learning, to conduct discussions on a given theme, and to talk about everyday topics in English. They should be able to give, after some preparation, short talks on familiar topics with clear articulation and basically correct pronunciation and intonation. They are expected to be able to use basic conversational strategies in dialogue.
5)With the help of dictionaries, students should be able to translate essays on familiar topics from English into Chinese and vice versa. The translation should be basically accurate, free from serious mistakes in comprehension or expression.
6)Students should be able to complete writing tasks for general purposes. The composition should be basically complete in content, clear in main idea, appropriate in diction and coherent in discourse. Students are expected to be able to have a command of basic writing strategies.
3.The Consequences Caused by the Traditional Teaching Mode
1)With a view to keeping up with the new developments of higher education in China, deepening teaching reform, improving teaching quality, and meeting the needs of country and society for qualified personnel in the new era, College English Curriculum Requirements is drawn up, providing colleges and universities with the guidelines for English instruction to non-English major students.
2)The teaching time is little and the efficient is low in the class. Because institutions of higher learning differ from each other in terms of teaching resources, students’ level of English upon entering college, and the social needs they face, colleges and universities should formulate, in accordance with the requirements and in the light of their specific circumstances, a scientific, systematic and individualized College English syllabus to guide their own College English teaching.
3)The learning habits of the students are bad and the self-learning abilities is quite low. Teachers must pay much attention to training them to form the good learning habits. The old saying is:”Give a fish to others, that is just for a meat; but if we teach them how to fish, that is for their whole lives.” English teachers should teach the poor students how to learn English and how to preview actively before class.
4)The teaching qualities are not high due to the practice process that lacks from understanding to grasp. The teacher should often ask about the students learning after class, follow up the students’ learning goals and listen to his learning ideas. If they make even a little progress, you should give them praise and show your further hope.
5)The subjects of teaching, which are the students, are being pressed. Some poor students we often called can’t speak a little Standard English. They always also make lots of mistakes in both homework and written English.
6)The quantities of teaching are being restricted to a very small scope. As teaching is completely relied on the teachers, the teachers can only teach eight passages. The teaching process can be carried out step by step.
4.The origin of the teaching current situation of College English
The ultimate reasons are that there are problems in recognition, which are shown as the followings:
1)The English teaching has its own specialty that no one pays attentions to. The English educator in early England once said that the key to master foreign languages was learning instead of being taught. In college English teaching, there is a long existing problem that a great deal of time has been spent and it is of low efficiency. In order to solve this long existing problem in a complete manner, that “students are taken as the core” should be truly realized.
2)The effects and recognition of the students and teachers are unclear. English plays an important role in the modern society. The LI Xiang-cong has once said in Tsinghua University that “Once the students are equipped with the self-learning should take self-learning as the core and set forth from reading so as to bring brought writing and writing.”
3)The cause and effect relationship between quantities and qualities is unclear. The linguists consider that there is n certain vocabulary and that there is no certain reading quantities. It is impossible to learning English in a way like that.
4)There is not clear recognition on the general understanding and true grasp. The first is the study of language structure, or grammar. This focuses on the system of rules followed by the speakers of a language. It encompasses the formation and composition of words, the formation and composition of phrases and sentences from these words, and sound systems.
5)There is no clear understanding on the English speaking and the research and development of the intelligence of human beings. This rhetorical question climbs another misleading ladder of abilities. It ignores the independently well-evidenced possibility that there are two profoundly different ways of building dams: the way beavers do and the way we do. The differences are not necessarily in the products, but in the control structures within the brains that create them.
In the final analysis, the teaching of teachers would have been as useless as fishing for the moon in the lake, without the speaking and writing of the students.
5.The way and specific operations of high efficient teaching mode of speaking and writing
5.1. The time saving and high efficient way
In college English teaching, there is a common problem that it costs a great deal of time and it is of low efficiency. The way to a time saving and high efficient way is shown as the followings:
1)In the first place, the sound and the meanings of English of the students should be pushed and stored into the roots of the mind on the teaching content and the teaching manners. There are many differences between the processes of speaking and writing. Writing is not simply speech written down on paper. Learning to write is not a natural extension of learning to speak. Unlike speech, writing requires systematic instruction and practice.
2)In the second place, the sound making action and the sound making effects of English of the students should be pushed and stored into the roots of the mind on the teaching content and the teaching manners. There are many differences between the processes of speaking and writing. Writing is not simply speech written down on paper. Learning to write is not a natural extension of learning to speak. Unlike speech, writing requires systematic instruction and practice. The key measure is to apply every possible manner so as to let the students “speak” in a great amount.
3)In the third place, the quantity of the sentences and the quantities of language passages of English of the students should be pushed and stored into the roots of the mind on the teaching content and the teaching manners. Speaking and writing English effectively is an ideal course to enhance your English language abilities and is designed for proficient English speakers who would like to improve their speaking and writing skills. It should be strongly pointed out that picture memories are of quite importance.
5.2. Specific operation content
1)Overcome the language knowledge teaching views that are simple. The cultivation of English application should be placed the first one. Learning should be handed to the students themselves so that they can have the tasks accomplished before the classes begin. The students should have their own tasks done.
2)Take the writing and speaking abilities of the students in English classes as the starting point and goals. Learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one"s knowledge, skills, values, and world views.
3)The teachers should inspect the self-learning effects of the students before classes. One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions.
4)The teachers should use the way of raising questions in classes so as to let the students learn to think and learn to apply knowledge. There are three main categories or philosophical frameworks under which learning theories fall: behaviourism, cognitive, and constructivism. Behaviourism focuses only on the objectively observable aspects of learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behaviour to explain brain-based learning. Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts.
5)Each spoken word is created out of the phonetic combination of a limited set of vowel and consonant speech sound units. These vocabularies, the syntax which structures them and their set of speech sound units differ, creating the existence of many thousands of different types of mutually unintelligible human languages. Human speakers are often able to communicate in two or more of them. The vocal abilities that enable humans to produce speech also provide humans with the ability to sing.
6)Teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling is a method of teaching foreign languages. Teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling lessons use a mixture of reading and storytelling to help students to learn a foreign language in a classroom setting. The method work is the new vocabulary structures to be learned are taught using a combination of translation, gestures, and personalized questions.
In all, the writing and speaking of the students are the bases of the entire teaching. Store or remember the sounds and the meanings is the principal task of learning. Teachers should help the students according to students that they made. Only in this way can the teaching process be much more efficient.
6.The expected effects of high efficient teaching mode of speaking and writing
1)Listening and speaking should be connected. Assuming that language is a salient aspect of intelligence, we are also interested in exploring how language abilities relate to intelligence in general and whether discovering mechanisms for dealing with language may help in building more intelligent machines or, vice versa, whether discoveries about the cognitive processing mechanisms in the brain may lead to better language processing tools.
2)The intensive classes can be changed into practice classes. English as a foreign language indicates the use of English in a non?English-speaking region. Study can occur either in the student"s home country, as part of the normal school curriculum or otherwise, or, for the more privileged minority that they visit as a sort of educational tourist, particularly immediately before or after graduating from university.
3)Change the inadequate learning hours into the adequate learning hours. Language teaching practice often assumes that most of the difficulties that learners face in the study of English are a consequence of the degree to which their native language differs from English. Basically the students can finish learning English in two years.
4)The qualities of the students keep on improving. The students can only learn English and speaking in classes. Some students may have very different cultural perceptions in the classroom as far as learning a second language is concerned. It is generally recognized that a positive relationship exists between language ability and mental ability as measured by a standard intelligence test. In addition to these, cultural differences in the communication styles and preferences are of quite significant positions.
5)The true role of the teachers starts to play its effects. The relationship has been suspect, however, since the understanding and use of words play so large a part in many of the intelligence tests. The question has been raised of whether a child earns a high score on a verbal intelligence test. The teachers can bring their talents into full play in such aspects as the teaching manners, the cultivation habits and the abilities, the communications with the students, the communications of the entire classes and the increase of learning interests in learning English and so on.
6)The direct good points of this kind of teaching are to let the students develop the language intelligence. Listening is important to learning spoken English. While getting ready in the morning listen to English radio. Pay attention to conversations that occur around you while you are shopping. The more a person practices her skills, the more easily spoken English will come.
7)Ever since the entrance into the university, the practice of the students should be enlarged and the teaching quantities of teaching should be enlarged. We study spoken English so as to make oral communications, so this order of importance of oral English study should be followed: Fluency, Accuracy, and Appropriateness. That is to say, we have to pay more attention to practical communicating ability instead of only laying emphasis on the grammatical correctness. In two years the students can basically grasp the skill of learning English. In particular, they are able to acquire excellent grades in the national examinations.
7.Conclusions
In order to improve the teaching qualities, the teachers and students should do what they are responsible for. The students should learn by themselves by classes the reading and listening parts while the teachers should organize the writing and speaking parts. They should get to think directly and make practices. With the method of absorbing knowledge, the teachers and the students should take the grasp of English as the major objective. Develop the potentials of the students and squeeze the quantity so as help the students to accomplish the process from understanding to grasping. On the other hand, the levels and the qualities of the teachers themselves can be upgraded from the process.
8.References
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[2] LIU Run-qing. “XU Guo-zhang Professor and foreign language teaching”，see 《Foreign Language Teaching and Research》,1995
[3] WANG Ke-fei.“the cultivation of the cultural mind of high level”，see 《Foreign Language Teaching and Research》,19950
[4] LUO Wei. “the essence and model verifications of college English teaching”，see 《Foreign Language Teaching and Research),1999
[5] Schmidt, R. Consciousness in Second Learning. Applied Linguistics 1990.
[6] JING Shao-hua. An Exploration and Reseach on the Calssroom Stratified Teaching of College English [J]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research，1999, (2).