浅谈英语的有效教学

【摘要】教師们都寻求有效教学，但因标准不同很难定义有效。虽然有很多因素影响有效教学，但分析发现有效教学的特征是类似的。因此记住这些特征对于区别和引导有效教学是非常有意义的。

【关键词】有效;英语教学

【Abstract】Teachers everywhere seek to be effective， but it is hard to define as criteria differ. Though factors affect effective teaching， characteristics are similar after analyzing research findings. Bearing in mind those features is meaningful to distinguish and guide effective English teaching.

【Key words】effective; English teaching

【作者简介】张娜，内蒙古科技大学外国语学院。

1. Introduction

Speaking of the effective teaching， it is unavoidable to talk about teachers， their teaching skills and methods in classroom. As far as the teaching methods concerned， taking English teaching for example， the predominant teaching method in China nowadays has been changed a lot. Hence， effective English teaching becomes extremely crucial.

2. Literature Review

Teachers everywhere seek to be effective in all kinds of schools. But， what makes an effective teacher and what contributes to the effective teaching？ Some educators think it is quite difficult to define good teaching because teaching may be too broad a concept to be limited by a single definition because the “criteria differ for every instructional situation and every teacher.”（Perrott， 1982）. Undoubtedly， teaching is a complex art and the effectiveness is irrevocably contextual and also irredeemably value-laden （Brookfield， 1993：192-3）.

When Ryan （1960） and his colleagues carried out a set of research studies on teaching effectiveness， three main factors emerged which are defined as follows： “Warm and understanding versus cold and aloof.”;“Organized and businesslike versus unplanned and slipshod.”;“Stimulating and imaginative versus dull and routine.” （Cited in Perrott， 1982）. And if the teacher is rated nearer the positive poles， it seems that the teacher is more effective. On the contrary， the teacher comes nearer to the negative poles， s/he is not so “effective”.

Flander （1970） and his associates also conducted another program related with effective teaching. Two contrasting styles of teaching are found： direct and indirect. The distinguished characteristic of direct teaching is that the teachers rely on “lecture， criticism， justification of authority and the giving of directions” （cited in Perrott， 1982：2）. “Indirect teaching is characterized by teacher reliance on asking questions， accepting pupils feelings， acknowledging pupils ideas and giving praise and encouragement”（ibid.）. Although many studies support that the pupils of ‘indirect teachers learn more effective than those of ‘direct teachers， Flander still believed that both direct and indirect performance are necessary in effective teaching.

Besides， other researchers have studied teacher characteristics. Rosenshine and Furst （1973） have identified five characters of effective teaching. Effective teachers are not only “enthusiastic”， “businesslike and task oriented”， “clarity”， but also use a variety of materials and “provides opportunities for pupils to learn” （cited in Perrott， 1982：3）.

All these results are not adequate and thorough in defining effective teaching; yet， researchers keep on making a concerted effort to identify it in recent years. According to the meta-analyses of findings and best-evidence syntheses， Scheerens and Bosker （1997） concluded that the basic factors of effective teaching are： “time on task; closeness of content covered to assessment instrument; a structured approach; specific objectives， frequent assessment and corrective feedback; and types of adaptive instruction that can be managed by teachers” （cited in Hill and Crevola）. Moreover， ， Vygotsky （1978） brings to a close conclusion that closely resemble the four factors of Scheerens and Bosker. These three factors are closely related to students learning， namely： high expectations of student achievement; engaged learning time， and focused teaching that maximizes learning within each students ‘zone of proximal development （Vygotsky， 1978）.

However， the effective teaching has not been scientifically studied until recently. In terms of the direct instruction， ‘a teaching style in which the teachers is actively engaged in bringing the content of the lesson to students by teaching the whole class directly， some elements of this most useful and effective teaching method help to explain what the effective teaching mean. There are some distinguished features of effective direct instruction as Muijs and Reynolds （2001：6-16） state：‘Clearly structured lessons – the lesson as a whole needs to be clearly structured so that students can easily understand the content of what they will learn besides how it relates to what they have learned. It is also suggested that teachers should use a variety of materials. Where possible， teachers are encouraged to explain some demanding topics via using more than one media， in order to help students to understand the materials and topics （Rosenshine and Stevens， 1986; Brophy， 1992; Borich， 1996; Reynolds and Muijs， 1999）.

To sum up， although effective teaching is defined in different ways， there is no universally accepted definition of it. To some extent， these features are not complete as far as classroom management or behavior management concerned. However， it is important to notice that these research findings， or say characteristics of effective teaching， are similar. Bearing in mind the main features， generally speaking， is useful and practical enough for us to distinguish effective teaching from ineffective teaching.

3. Experience and Suggestions of English Phonetics Teaching among majors

Although there are many factors that influence the teaching effectiveness， the major reason that the author will address is the goal of teaching. Because the goal of teaching can definitely guide and underpin good and effective teaching， it is meaningful to know the different aims of teaching in China.

As Bruner （1963） states that “…We teach a subject not to produce little living libraries…but rather to get a student to think mathematically… to consider matters as an historian does， to take part in the process of knowledge-getting.” In this sense， the goal of teaching in the UK is not to provide certain knowledge to memorize mechanically， instead it aims to encourage student to get good habits and ability to learn independently， to think critically and creatively， and to get some practical skills. Derived from the goal of teaching， “effective teachers pose compelling questions， explain options， teach us to reason， suggest possible directions， and urge us on” in the process of teaching （Cronin，1992）.

Nowadays， the goal of teaching in China also intends to promote students competence to ‘learning to know and ‘learning to do. But， in fact， the teaching in China is still exam-oriented. In order to help students to pass different exams and even get higher scores， teachers try their best to provide students as much knowledge as possible. Among these exams， the College Entrance Examinations should be considered as the toughest one. As the score of these exams have a great impact on whether students can enter key universities or not， it is always said that “the exams can decide ones fate”. Thus， effective teachers in China will equip students much knowledge and skills to help students succeed in these exams. In this sense， the “Crabbing” teaching method is also effective in China because it promises the fundamental knowledge. In terms of exams， teaching in the UK seems not to be so effective.

4. Conclusion

First of all， classroom climate that effective teachers created is unthreatening， friendly， comforting so that students feel safe. The second finding that all these schools shared is the essential feature of teaching effectiveness， namely， interaction. During the process of teaching， teachers use many interactive skills， such as eye –contact， body gestures， and verbal responses and so on. Furthermore， effective teachers always encourage students not only involve in the activities but also to learn independently. In most cases， teaching is very effective.

However， as the factor of exams concerned， teaching effectiveness in China seems to be more appreciated， because it can provide the essential knowledge to build up the success in exams. Therefore， the author got the inspiration to combine the features of effective teaching in the UK to teach Chinese student. This combination may not be suitable for teaching all the subjects in China， but it is practical in promoting effective teaching in English. Thus， the author strongly recommends the future EFL teachers take the challenge to promote English teaching effectiveness.

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