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中圖分类号：G623.31文献标识码：A 文章编号：
Computer technology has a lot of obvious advantages over other teaching aids. During the teaching procedures, teachers have tried many different kinds of media to improve students’ both listening and speaking abilities. However, few of them can do better than computers, teachers would like to prefer applying computers to help their classroom teaching. This kind of tool is effective in the following aspects:
1.The Motivating Materials Provided to the teachers
“Motivation and attitudes are important factors, which help to determine the level of proficiency achieved by different learners.”[1] When teachers use computer in their classroom, they often design some short movie clips cut from the Internet to help with the teaching, for original movie can be very motivating and interesting if it describes real-life situations, real-life language, real-life culture and real-life people. Generally speaking, if teachers employ movies as the teaching materials during the learning process, language learning will be more enjoyable. The materials that movie clips provide are not only audio but also visual, students can enjoy the class by listening to the pure voice, feeling the situation in which the story happens, so they can help students learn English much more easily. While the students are watching the movie clips, they listen to the characters’ speech, they also watch their movements and the appearance, listen to the pleasant songs and fluent dialogues, enjoy the beautiful scenery of foreign countries. The beautiful heroines and handsome heroes also can arouse the students’ interests, students can be culturally influenced. All these can enable the students to learn the language in a relaxing and cheerful atmosphere. Beyond that, while the students are enjoying the scenes, the words they say or some other aspects that the clips show us will mostly influence the students’ learning capacity in real life situation. After the students enjoy the movie clips and go back to the real life, they may often recall what they have enjoyed and try to think of some topics that related to the movies and imitate subconsciously.
As a result, learning becomes more spontaneously. For example, when the students watch Jane Eyre, they may be moved by the heroine’s courage and she always maintains an independent personality and the pursuit of individual freedom and the advocate of equality of life.
2. The Source of Classroom Activities Provided by Computers
Computer technology seems suitable to help students prepare the lesson by helping them build the habit of thinking in English through various activities. It is relatively easy to solve the difficulties in learning with the help of computer, for the difficulties of learning English is to express something by using the words and phrases. For example, when the teacher shows the usage of the participle forms of verbs, he can design some pairs of pictures for the students in order to distinguish the present participle form from the past participle form, such as, a falling leaf and a fallen leaf, the rising sun and the risen sun. First of all, the teacher shows the difference between the meanings of the two forms, then give them some exercises to consolidate.
On the other hand, computers can make classroom teaching lively. When the teacher teach the lesson of Faster, Higher and Stronger, Students will be excited to see the Olympic Flag flying into the screen, theymay begin to talk about the Olympic Games and image about the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
Except for the above quarters concerned, computers can help us do many other things, such as help to read the new words and texts,provide consolidation exercises for different levels of students, present competition, design lively games, relaxing the classroom, and so on.
3. Reading Exercises Provided by Computers
English learning is not just the learning of grammar, students need to improve the listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating abilities. Traditionally we know that Chinese students are only good at the grammar, they can get good marks in test, but they can’t communicate fluently after they have learned the language for as long as ten years. It is important to improve the students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities. The writer puts reading as an example. Reading skills and strategies are poor for Chinese students. If the teachers make well use of the advantages of the multimedia technology and the Internet resources and work out courseware, they can deal with the reading course more interestingly and the students are more active by comparison to the traditional teaching climate. [3]
Computers can provide a variety of media, i.e. text, graphics, sound, animation, and video. Therefore, it is no wonder that some scholars proclaim that it can provide learners with a language learning environment which is closer to natural acquisition. [4]
According to education psychologist’s survey, what students have learnt by talking or by watching exclusively can remains 70% and 72% after two hours, and only 10% and 20% after 72 hours. But if the two factors work together, the remaining percentage can reach 85% after two hours and 65% after 72 hours. So by using the multimedia computer, students can learn more than in the traditional environment.[5] Of the students who use the computer, 80% indicate that they like what they have read. Furthermore, 75% of the respondents state the belief that the computer is useful in helping them with their studies. As to the text comprehension, students rate their text comprehension in percentage terms and roughly suggest that they comprehend 15 more percents by the multimedia way than the traditional way.[6]
4. Real- Life Situation Provided by Computers
In China, especially in countryside schools, it is difficult for learners to make exact conversation in English, for most learners lack the authentic English learning environment, learners can hardly get enough speaking practice. In most cases, they speak English in Chinese ways, so what they said is just the translation of their own language, they get used to expressing themselves in “Chinglish”. As a result, their expressions are full of mistakes , they can’t make the conversation correctly. Learners are confused that they had learned English for years, but why can’t they express their ideas even in simple English exactly?Why a Chinese child can speak English fluently just after he has stayed in London for a short period? That’s because the language they learn from books has been polished again and again by the writer and so has the communication in it. So it is not real or it is just the description of a certain scene. Though the learners have recited the expression, it is still a mechanical process that they can’t use to deal with the things happened in real-life situation. However English learning depends on the amount of comprehensible input. If there is sufficient comprehensive input, English learning will be provided automatically.[7] What is comprehensible input? That’s just what they heard, so if teachers can use the computer to create a real situation for students to watch and listen, learning may become easier and more successful.
According to Situational Language Teaching, the aim of language learning is to provide a real situation to learners and make learners acquire a language naturally, not learning. How to achieve the goal? The use of multimedia technology can be effectively achieved all this. Teachers try to use CAI courseware which related the content and text to voice or video material in the leading in phase so that the teacher can not only show the students a real, natural learning environment but also shorten the distance between learners and the cognitive materials, it is easy to relate a certain subject to English words.
In the practical teaching process, the teachers have tried many ways to present a real situation in order to make full use of teaching resources provided by computers. For example, when the teacher teaches the text about weather, students sometimes feel confused about sun-sunny wind-windy rain-rainy cloud- cloudy, in order to make learners know the words well and enable them to use them correctly, the teacher chooses some flashcards to show the scenes. That helps teachers a lot, for students know them well as soon as they see the flash.
5. Information about Background Culture in Different Countries
Using the materials provided by computers can rapidly demonstrate background knowledge that related to the texts and help the students construct relevant schema. Visual aids are the best ways which helps students know the background culture in the acquisition process.
Knowledge about the background culture of English-speaking countries is important for learners in learning process. In order to learn English well and apply it exactly, learners should know about the background culture.
“Compared with any other kind of teaching aid, video has quite a unique advantage in introducing foreign culture. Video works could show the actual situation of a town, a city, or a country and the real structure of culture, things like geographic features, national customs and citizen characteristics and so on.” [8] Culture provided by computer is necessary for language learning. Teachers can download video clips from the Internet, that can be used as vehicles for teaching different background cultures, for example, the film Gone With the Wind provides a great deal of information about American Civil War. The scenery of a market corner can provide the local pronunciation of oral speaking. The shouts of a rag and bone man, the shouts of a man who sells vegetables, the shouts of street vendors, all of them make learners feel the pure voice of local English. That can improve students’ listening abilities.
In the practical teaching, teachers often pay attention to the events of politics. For example, the teacher can insert a slice of political meeting so that the students can feel the difference between formal English and everyday English. Teachers also can provide other materials about economy, custom, history and so on.
Recently, teachers try their best to create an authentic language-learning environment. Due to the advantages above, computers are becoming more and more popular in language learning and teaching.
注：文章內所有公式及图表请以PDF形式查看。
Computer technology has a lot of obvious advantages over other teaching aids. During the teaching procedures, teachers have tried many different kinds of media to improve students’ both listening and speaking abilities. However, few of them can do better than computers, teachers would like to prefer applying computers to help their classroom teaching. This kind of tool is effective in the following aspects:
1.The Motivating Materials Provided to the teachers
“Motivation and attitudes are important factors, which help to determine the level of proficiency achieved by different learners.”[1] When teachers use computer in their classroom, they often design some short movie clips cut from the Internet to help with the teaching, for original movie can be very motivating and interesting if it describes real-life situations, real-life language, real-life culture and real-life people. Generally speaking, if teachers employ movies as the teaching materials during the learning process, language learning will be more enjoyable. The materials that movie clips provide are not only audio but also visual, students can enjoy the class by listening to the pure voice, feeling the situation in which the story happens, so they can help students learn English much more easily. While the students are watching the movie clips, they listen to the characters’ speech, they also watch their movements and the appearance, listen to the pleasant songs and fluent dialogues, enjoy the beautiful scenery of foreign countries. The beautiful heroines and handsome heroes also can arouse the students’ interests, students can be culturally influenced. All these can enable the students to learn the language in a relaxing and cheerful atmosphere. Beyond that, while the students are enjoying the scenes, the words they say or some other aspects that the clips show us will mostly influence the students’ learning capacity in real life situation. After the students enjoy the movie clips and go back to the real life, they may often recall what they have enjoyed and try to think of some topics that related to the movies and imitate subconsciously.
As a result, learning becomes more spontaneously. For example, when the students watch Jane Eyre, they may be moved by the heroine’s courage and she always maintains an independent personality and the pursuit of individual freedom and the advocate of equality of life.
2. The Source of Classroom Activities Provided by Computers
Computer technology seems suitable to help students prepare the lesson by helping them build the habit of thinking in English through various activities. It is relatively easy to solve the difficulties in learning with the help of computer, for the difficulties of learning English is to express something by using the words and phrases. For example, when the teacher shows the usage of the participle forms of verbs, he can design some pairs of pictures for the students in order to distinguish the present participle form from the past participle form, such as, a falling leaf and a fallen leaf, the rising sun and the risen sun. First of all, the teacher shows the difference between the meanings of the two forms, then give them some exercises to consolidate.
On the other hand, computers can make classroom teaching lively. When the teacher teach the lesson of Faster, Higher and Stronger, Students will be excited to see the Olympic Flag flying into the screen, theymay begin to talk about the Olympic Games and image about the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
Except for the above quarters concerned, computers can help us do many other things, such as help to read the new words and texts,provide consolidation exercises for different levels of students, present competition, design lively games, relaxing the classroom, and so on.
3. Reading Exercises Provided by Computers
English learning is not just the learning of grammar, students need to improve the listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating abilities. Traditionally we know that Chinese students are only good at the grammar, they can get good marks in test, but they can’t communicate fluently after they have learned the language for as long as ten years. It is important to improve the students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities. The writer puts reading as an example. Reading skills and strategies are poor for Chinese students. If the teachers make well use of the advantages of the multimedia technology and the Internet resources and work out courseware, they can deal with the reading course more interestingly and the students are more active by comparison to the traditional teaching climate. [3]
Computers can provide a variety of media, i.e. text, graphics, sound, animation, and video. Therefore, it is no wonder that some scholars proclaim that it can provide learners with a language learning environment which is closer to natural acquisition. [4]
According to education psychologist’s survey, what students have learnt by talking or by watching exclusively can remains 70% and 72% after two hours, and only 10% and 20% after 72 hours. But if the two factors work together, the remaining percentage can reach 85% after two hours and 65% after 72 hours. So by using the multimedia computer, students can learn more than in the traditional environment.[5] Of the students who use the computer, 80% indicate that they like what they have read. Furthermore, 75% of the respondents state the belief that the computer is useful in helping them with their studies. As to the text comprehension, students rate their text comprehension in percentage terms and roughly suggest that they comprehend 15 more percents by the multimedia way than the traditional way.[6]
4. Real- Life Situation Provided by Computers
In China, especially in countryside schools, it is difficult for learners to make exact conversation in English, for most learners lack the authentic English learning environment, learners can hardly get enough speaking practice. In most cases, they speak English in Chinese ways, so what they said is just the translation of their own language, they get used to expressing themselves in “Chinglish”. As a result, their expressions are full of mistakes , they can’t make the conversation correctly. Learners are confused that they had learned English for years, but why can’t they express their ideas even in simple English exactly?Why a Chinese child can speak English fluently just after he has stayed in London for a short period? That’s because the language they learn from books has been polished again and again by the writer and so has the communication in it. So it is not real or it is just the description of a certain scene. Though the learners have recited the expression, it is still a mechanical process that they can’t use to deal with the things happened in real-life situation. However English learning depends on the amount of comprehensible input. If there is sufficient comprehensive input, English learning will be provided automatically.[7] What is comprehensible input? That’s just what they heard, so if teachers can use the computer to create a real situation for students to watch and listen, learning may become easier and more successful.
According to Situational Language Teaching, the aim of language learning is to provide a real situation to learners and make learners acquire a language naturally, not learning. How to achieve the goal? The use of multimedia technology can be effectively achieved all this. Teachers try to use CAI courseware which related the content and text to voice or video material in the leading in phase so that the teacher can not only show the students a real, natural learning environment but also shorten the distance between learners and the cognitive materials, it is easy to relate a certain subject to English words.
In the practical teaching process, the teachers have tried many ways to present a real situation in order to make full use of teaching resources provided by computers. For example, when the teacher teaches the text about weather, students sometimes feel confused about sun-sunny wind-windy rain-rainy cloud- cloudy, in order to make learners know the words well and enable them to use them correctly, the teacher chooses some flashcards to show the scenes. That helps teachers a lot, for students know them well as soon as they see the flash.
5. Information about Background Culture in Different Countries
Using the materials provided by computers can rapidly demonstrate background knowledge that related to the texts and help the students construct relevant schema. Visual aids are the best ways which helps students know the background culture in the acquisition process.
Knowledge about the background culture of English-speaking countries is important for learners in learning process. In order to learn English well and apply it exactly, learners should know about the background culture.
“Compared with any other kind of teaching aid, video has quite a unique advantage in introducing foreign culture. Video works could show the actual situation of a town, a city, or a country and the real structure of culture, things like geographic features, national customs and citizen characteristics and so on.” [8] Culture provided by computer is necessary for language learning. Teachers can download video clips from the Internet, that can be used as vehicles for teaching different background cultures, for example, the film Gone With the Wind provides a great deal of information about American Civil War. The scenery of a market corner can provide the local pronunciation of oral speaking. The shouts of a rag and bone man, the shouts of a man who sells vegetables, the shouts of street vendors, all of them make learners feel the pure voice of local English. That can improve students’ listening abilities.
In the practical teaching, teachers often pay attention to the events of politics. For example, the teacher can insert a slice of political meeting so that the students can feel the difference between formal English and everyday English. Teachers also can provide other materials about economy, custom, history and so on.
Recently, teachers try their best to create an authentic language-learning environment. Due to the advantages above, computers are becoming more and more popular in language learning and teaching.
注：文章內所有公式及图表请以PDF形式查看。