How-to-teach-English读书报告

HowtoteachEnglish(Ⅰ)RecentlyIhaveboughtseveralbooksfromtheInternet.OneofthemisabooknamedHowtoteachEnglishwrittenbyJeremyHarmer,whoisanEnglishmethodologistofhighprestige.IwasattractedbyitsnamewhenIsawitforthefirsttimefromthebooklistgivenbyourteachers.Thetitle,howtoteachEnglish,conveystheindicationthatthecontentofthebookisquitepracticalandhelpful.IevencherishedtheillusionthatthisbookcouldactedasashortcutforEnglishteaching.NowIrealizehowridiculoustheideawas,asthereisnoeasywaytosuccess.WhenIwentthroughthecontentofthisbook,IfeltitwasverydifferentfromotherbooksIhadread.Manybooks,theyprovidethetheories,principlesormanyobscureandunpracticalmethodsforus.Incontrast,thisbookisaverypracticalbookconcentratingonexamplesofteachingandteachingpracticeratherthanondetailedanalysisoflearningtheory.ThisbookmainlyexplorestheteachingcontentandskillsofEnglish,whichactsassecondlanguageorforeignlanguage.Theauthorseemstotryhisbesttoprovidemorevisualandtangibleteachingmethodsandskills.Whatismore,headdsexercisesattheendofeverychaptersothatexplanationscombiningwithexercisescanhelpreadersbuildtheirowncognitiveframework.Iappreciatetheuniquelayoutofthisbook,aseverychapterstartswithseveralquestionsandendswithitemizedconclusionsandsummaries.Iprefertoshowmyunderstandingsonthemainpoint.Theauthoralsoprovidesustwonouns,teachertalkingtime(TTT)andstudenttalkingtime(STT).Ialwaysthinkthatforanewmodelofteachingclass,teachertalkingtimeshouldbeaslittleaspossibleandinthetraditionalclasstheteachertalkingtimeistoomuchandnotenoughstudenttalkingtime.Ithinkthestudenttalkingtimeisveryvital,especiallywithgettingthestudentsspeakthelanguagetheyarelearninginclass.Becausewhentheyspeak,nomattertheyarerightornot,theycangetthehelpandcorrectionfromteachers.ButnowIknowtheteachertalktimemayhavebeneficialqualities.Becausewhentheteachersspeak,theywouldbemoreaccuratethanthestudents.Thenthestudentswouldhaveanopportunitytohearthelanguagewhichiscertainlyabovetheirownproductivelevel,butwhichtheycanmoreorlessunderstand.Wecanregarditasthepracticeoflisteningforstudents,butitrequirestheteacherswithgoodpronunciation.Theteachersshouldknowhowtousetheirtonecorrectlyaccordingthestudents’understanding.TTTcanhaveusesbutshouldnotpredominateattheexpenseofSTT.ThereisanotherpointIappreciateisthatthisbookprovidesustheconcretemethodsofteachingreading,listeningandwritingetc.ThisbookisacompletemanualofteachingEnglishasaforeignorsecondlanguage.Thosewhoareinterestedindevelopingtheteachingoflanguagecomponentsmayrefertothisbook.Somechaptersdealwithteachingthefourlanguageskills.Theyare,therefore,appropriateforthosewhowantapractical,easytounderstandreferenceofteachinglistening,speaking,reading,andwriting.Thatisnotoveryet;Imaintainthatchapterfouristhemostvaluablepartinthisbookandthecontentoftherestchaptersisallbasedontheideashowinginchapterfour.Thischaptermainlyillustratestheelementsandmethodsoflanguageteachingandalsodiscussesnotonlythecharacteristicsoflanguageacquisitioninsociallifebutalsohowtocreateaeffectiveclassroomenvironmentoflanguagelearning.‘ESA’,threeelementswhichwillbepresentinall-oralmostall-classes,isofgreatnecessitytobepresentinalanguageclassroomtohelpstudentslearneffectively.Theyaretheelementsofengage,studyandactivate.Wecanunderstandtheseelementsasinput,learnanduse.Meanwhile,Iprefertoconveytheconceptthattosaythatthethreeelementsneedtobepresentdoesnotmeantheyalwayshavetotakeplaceinthesameorder.Theauthoralsodescribesthreedifferentlessonsequenceswhichcontainthethreeelements.Instraightarrowslessons,theorderisESA,butinboomeranglessons,teachersmaymovestraightfromanEngagestagetoanActivatestage.Studycanthenbebasedonhowwellstudentsperformed(E-A-S).Patchworkclassesmixthethreeelementsinvariousdifferentsequences(e.g.E-A-A-S-A-S-E-A…etc.).IhopeIcanbesuchkindofteacherwhocanvarytheESAsequenceswithmystudentstoavoidmonotony.The'ESA'modelisverypreciseandanessentialintroductiontogrammarteachingsequencesforgrammar,vocabulary,andtheindividuallanguageskillsideasontheexploitationoftextbooks.Afterreadingthisbook,myunderstandingsofEnglishteachingaredeepenedalotnotonlyontheprofessionalknowledgebutalsoonmyclassroomteachingskills.Combiningtheseexamplesgivenbytheauthorwiththereflectionofmyteachingexperience,IrealizethatsomeofthoseproblemsImethavebeenresolved.Meanwhile,thereisnoshortcuttotheteachingcareer,wemustaccumulateourexperienceduringtheteachingpracticeandstudylifelong.