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1Unit8Creativity1.TeachingObjectiveTheoreticallybasedonCollegeEnglishSyllabus(1999);CollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements(2004),andthestudents’actualcommandofEnglishandthecontentoftheprescribedteachingmaterialstakenintoconsideration,thiscourseisintramural,namely,anintramuralcoursefornon-Englishmajorsforafour-termduration.1.1BackgroundKnowledgeCreativityisimportanttothehumanbeing.Withoutit,wewouldhavenoanydevelopment.“Beingcreative”meansthinkingwildly,thinkingofthinksthatarebeyondthenormalpeople’sidea,solvingproblemsinunusualwayandthinkinganddoingthings,surpassingthetraditionandcustom.Thehumanbeing,theordinarypeopleaswellasthescientistsandinventorshavegreatcreativity.Generallyspeaking,creativitydoesnotnecessarilyrequiresophisticatedskillsorgreatintelligence.Thecreativeprocessoftenrelatetointuitiveperception,“lateralthinking”,andexperimentationbytrialanderror.Inourdailylife,wecanfindalotofstoriesandexamplesaboutcreativity.Forinstance,teachersdon’tlikethestudentswhoare“naughty”butperhapscreative.Parentsgenerallyhopetheirchildrentokeepquietandobeyedinsteadoffollowingtheirownthoughtsandideas,whichprobablypresentthechildren’screativityintheirbodyandmental.Chinesearecreative.Sinceancienttime,ourfathershad“Fourinventions”whichhavebeeninfluencingtheChinesehistory,includingtheworldhistorytilltoday.OnlybecauseofgreatcreativityofChinese,theworldbenefitsalotfromit.1.2LinguisticKnowledgeWords：boundary,dismiss,mask,practically,sacrifice,scorn,vital,agenda,appoint,attendant,container,encounter,hesitation,intervene,kindergarten,manual,mere,rear,rectangular,tease,vicinity,withdraw,audience,desirable,discern,dominant,enhance,illuminate,incident,primary,principal,relevant,reliance,retrospect,subsequent,ultimate,ExpressionsandCollocations:involve…in,sacrifice…for,beupto…,forthesakeof,notintheleast,onoccasion,timeandagain,feedback,proceedto,tothepoint1.3LanguageSkillsListening:abilitytotakenoteswhilelisteningtotape.Speaking:abilitytotalkaboutthesubjectwithconvincingandreasonableargumentfreely.Reading:fastreadingofpassagesofthesamekind.Writing:abilitytorewritetextsinsimplerform.1.4LearningStrategies-trainingStudentsaremotivatedtodoallkindsofclassroomactivities,withthehelpandguidanceoftheteacheroccasionally.Participationandcooperationisofparamount2importance,henceshouldbeencouragedandemphasized.2.KeyPointsandDifficultPoints2.1KeyPointsWordsorcollocationsrelatedto“creativity”2.2DifficultPointsAsfaraslanguageisconcerned,difficultwordsandexpressionsarefrequentinsuchtexts.Itisnoteasyforaveragestudentstograspwhateachtextisabout.3.PedagogicalApproachesStudent-centeredandtask-based,interactionbetweentheteacherandthelearnerandamonglearners.Teacher’sinterpretationisofparamountimportance.4.TeachingArrangementThisunitwillbefinishedwithin6periodsintheclassroomteaching/learning:2periodsareforlisteningandspeaking;another2periodsforpassagereading;thelasttwoperiodsforstorytellingandstorymaking.Periods1&2ListeningandSpeaking1.TeachingContentandGoalsTeachingContentPreparation(p195)Listening-CenteredActivities(Listening1,2ps196-7)GoalsAfterthesetwoperiods,studentsaretobeabletobefreertounderstandpassagesindifficultlanguagerelatedtothetopicof“creativity”.2.1ClassroomTeaching/learningDesigningCreativityisarathervagueabilitythatusuallyimpliesoriginalityandimagination.Althoughonenormallyassociatescreativenesswithartistsandpoets,peopleofallagescandemonstratecreativityinawidevarietyofways.Achildcancreateanimaginaryvillagefromanoddassortmentofsticksandstones.Afactoryworkercansolveacomplexmechanicalprobleminaninventivefashion.Anadvertisingagentcanthinkupaninexpensiveandhumorouswaytoreachanewclientele.Asageneralrule,creativitydoesnotnecessarilyrequiresophisticatedskillsorgreatintelligence.Thecreativeprocessofteninvolvesintuitiveperception,lateralthinking,andexperimentationbytrialanderror.Inotherwords,acreativepersonmightguessatapossiblesolution,pullincomparisonsfromtotallyunrelatedfields,andacceptmistakesasanormalpartofproblem-solving.Aretheresituationsorattitudesthatinhibitorpreventcreativity?Teacherswhoregardenergeticandinquisitivechildrenasnaughtyprobablydiscouragecreativity.Abosswhofeelsthreatenedbyemployeesquestioningoldwaysandwhocallssuggestionsanuisanceisnotfavoringcreativityintheworkplace.3Parentswhoexpecttheirchildrentodraworpaintlikegreatmasterswillnottoleratemessyoruglyartwork.Education---ChineseandWestern---involveslearningskillsandacquiringabodyofknowledgeinmanyfields.ThisaspectofeducationdoesnotenhancecreativitywhichisgenerallyconsideredtobeoneofthekeyaimsofWesterneducation.Certainlysincethe1960sintheUnitedStates,CanadaandAustraliaincreasingeffortshavebeenmadetointegratestrategiesintotheeducationalsystemthathelpchildrentolearnbydoing,byhands-onclassworkandbyspecialprojects.Allofthesestudent-centeredactivitiesaredesignedtoteachchildrentodrawconclusionsfromtheirownobservationsorfromthoseoftheirgroupandespeciallytolearnhowtoresearchatopicontheirown.SciencefairsandscienceOlympicsencouragemiddleschoolandhighschoolstudentstoinventallkindsofthings.Child