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TeachingreflectionRecently,Ipresentedafewlecturestothestudentsof**College.WhatIhavelearntfromthepracticeofteachingisofgreatvariety.Atthismoment,afteralectureofEnglishteaching,Icannothelpbuttoreflectonmyexperience.Firstofall,mybelovedstudentsrangefromthefirstyearstudentstojuniorones,fromthespecialtyofstatisticstoEnglishteaching.Thatistosay,itisnecessaryformetoemploydifferentteachingmethodsinthatthebackgroundinformationofthemisofgreatdifference.Itisratherchallengingformetoappealtotheinterestsofallthestudents.But,frommypointofview,Ihavealreadytriedmybesttomobilizethemtobeinvolvedintotheprogressoflearning.JustaswhattheSilentWayholds,tellmeandIforget;teachmeandIremember;involvemeandIlearn.Asforthestudentsofstatistics,Imainlyusethetraditionalgrammar-translationapproachtoteachthecollegeEnglish,partlybecausetheyarethefreshmenanditisnotawisechoicetoimpelthemtoreasonsomethought-provokingstatements.Whyisitnotawisechoice?Oneday,oneguyaskedmefortheanswersoftheexercisesattheendoftheunit.Heremindedmethatalmostallofthemarestillslavedbytheexam-orientededucation.TheEnglishclassintheirmindisthattheteachershouldgothroughthetextandtheexerciseswordsbywords,sentencesbysentences,translatethetext,andshowtheanswerstothefollowedquestions.Inordertomakethemfeelathome,Iwouldbetterexplainthetextindetail,butthisisnotwhatthehighereducationaimsat.ThenationalnewEnglishcurriculumstipulatethattherearefiveobjectiveswhichareexpectedtoachievedattheendofthelesson,andlanguageknowledgeandlanguageskillsaremerelytwoofthem,therestofwhichareaffection,learningstrategies,andculturalawareness.Therestthreecomponents,however,ismorevitalthanthefirsttwo,forthestudentsIamteachingarecollegestudents,ratherthanmiddleschoolstudent,whosemajorjobistolayasolidfoundationforthefuturedevelopment.Therefore,Iusedsomeopen-questions,hopingtochangetheirattitudetowardsthecollegeEnglishclass,whichnolongerfocusesonthelanguagecontentsandskillsalone,butonsomeothermoresignificantstuff,forinstance,reasoning,arguing,debating,etc.Iclearlyrememberthetextnamed“whydowebelievethattheearthisround?”,writtenbyGeorgeOrwell,awell-knownnovelistandcritic.Inthatarticle,theauthoradvancedthatwearelivinginagullible,credulous,andsuperstitiousage.Theideasweholddoesnotrestonreasoningorexperiment,butonauthority.Peopletakeitforgrantedthatwhathavebeenprovedtobetrueistrue,theyneverquestionthetruth.Whatathought-provokingwords.AsfortheEnglishmajors,InaivelysupposedthatsincetheyareEnglishadvancedlearneritwouldbeeasyforthemtoacceptthetask-basedlanguageteachingmodel,inwhichIencouragedthemtoperformtasks,showthefruitoftheirdiscussions,and,mostimportantly,explainwhytheythinkinthatwayandarguewiththerestoftheclassmatesiftheysharedifferentideas.Unfortunately,itturnedoutthatIwaswrong.Theydon’tgiveitashit!But,whatarethereasonsbehindthisdistressingmatter?Herecomesthesecondproblem.WhoisresponsibleforthestatusquothatthestudentshavelittleinterestsinthecollegeEnglishclass,theteachers,thestudentsortheschools?Asateacher,whosemajortaskistocultivatethestudents,cannotescapefromthisresponsibility.Ofcourse,thelowmotivationofthestudentsandthecontentsoftheteachingmaterialsmayalsoresultinthisphenomenon,butthisisnotthekeypointofthisreflection.Somethingmightwellgowrongintheteachers.Sincethebeginningofeducation,howtostimulatethestudents’interestsandmotivethemtostudyhasbeenaheatedtopic,especiallyinmoderneducation,inwhicharevolutionhastakenplacetocultivatethestudent’scommunicativecompetences,reasoningawareness,andcooperativespirit.AlthoughIhavereadalotofliteraturesandbooksabouthowtogetthestudentsmotivated,itisstillatoughnuttocrack.Andherecomesthe3rdproblem,whichishowtomobilizethestudents.SocratesandConfuciusareexpertsinutilizingheuristicstoinducetheirstudentstoreason.Whenthestudentsdonotknowwhattospeak,howtostartatask,itisalwayshelpfultoofferahint,butjustahint.Donotdominatethetalk!Asoundlessonplanplaysacrucialroleinpresentingasuccessfullesson.Itisprettyeasyforthestudentstotellwhetherhisteacherhaspreparedthelessonornot,towhatextentandonwhatlevel.Therefore,howdareyoulongforanideallessonifyoudonottakeitseriously?What’smore,thelessonplangivestheteacherasoundcommandofthelessonsothatthelessoncanrunsmoothlyfromonestagetoanother,otherwise,chaosandthelossofcontrolmightariseintheclass,whichhurtstudents’zealandembarrasstheteacher.Asfaraslessonplanisconsidered,weshouldbearinmindthattheteacheroughttobecarefulnottobetheslaveofthelessonplan,fortherealclassroomisfullofunexpectedevents,itisdynamicratherthanstatic.Itissafetosaythatwhenthestudentsholdvariousopinionstheyaremoreeagertocommunicatewitheachother.Thatistosay,inordertoarousetheirurgetoengageinthetaskoractivity,theteachershouldlurethestudentstothinkinotherways,orevenfromtheoppositeposition.Itisduringthefiercearguinganddebatingthatthestudentsdigesttheknowledgebest.Becauseanimplicitpremiseofarguingisthattheyhavetofirstlyfigureouttheargument,whichusuallyinvolvesthemaincontentofthelesson,otherwise,theywillbeeasytoberefuted,towhichmostofthestudentsdonotlookforwardwhiletheyareperformingthetask.Iholdthevi