从“教英语”到“用英语教”

王佳

一、问题的提出

有效教学(effective teaching)的理念源于20世纪上半叶西方的教学科学化运动，在美国实用主义哲学和行为主义心理学影响的教学效能核定运动后，引起了世界各国教育学者的关注。20世纪以前在西方教育理论中占主导地位的教学观是“教学是艺术”。但随着20世纪以来科学思潮的影响，以及心理学特别是行为科学的发展，人们意识到，教学也是科学。即教学不仅有科学的基础，而且还可以用科学的方法来研究。

有效教学的核心就是教学的效益，即什么样的教学是有效的？是高效、低效还是无效？所谓“有效”，主要是指通过教师在一段时间的教学后，学生所获得的具体进步或发展。具体到英语教学，笔者观摩过百余节英语课，发现英语课堂大致可分两种：

一种是：教师“教英语”，学生“学英语”，在这样的课堂上，教师对学生的“教”仅仅体现在语言层面；

另一种是：教师“用英语教”，学生“用英语学”，此处“教”和“学”的内容不仅仅局限于英语这门语言，而是以英语为工具和载体，鼓励学生去探究，引导学生去思考，启发学生去应用。因此，在这样的课堂上，学生学到的不仅是英语本身，还有解决实际问题的方法，批判性思维，文学欣赏的视角，和地道的欧美文化。

本文将以一节公开课为例，从教学目标的铺设，教学语境的构建和学生表现的反馈和评价三方面分析第二种课堂“用英语教”的具体教学策略的实施。

二、教学文本和教学简案

What does digital media bring us?

WITH the explosion of digital media in recent years, a growing number of students are spending their time in front of the small screen– whether its a smartphone or tablet. In just two years, the number of US children using digital media has doubled to 72 percent, according to a survey by Common Sense Media.

On average, students spend one hour and 55 minutes a day in front of the screen, according to Forbes. Watching TV makes up half of this time. But interestingly, the time children spend watching TV is decreasing , with more and more time being given to digital media. Some of the common things kids do with digital media are playing games, watching videos and sending messages to friends.

The digital world can be used very effectively. In the Survey, 74 percent of teachers said that digital media would improve students learning. As students can quickly get hold of information they need.

However, without guidance from teachers or parents, digital media may have bad influence on students attention span and communication skills. Whats more, some parents are also worried about what their children are doing online. In this new age of technology, we still dont know what effects digital media will have on us in the future. So its always best to use your smartphone and tablet carefully.

When using digital media, you need to find a balance. Just like study, too much can lead to information overload, and give you a headache. Also, make sure your smartphone or tablet doesnt take priority over more important tasks. Give your eyes a rest, and remember: offline is just as fun as online.

Teaching Material What does digital media bring us?

Teaching Object Class 3A, Junior Two, Hangzhou Foreign Language School

Teaching Aims Criteria Notes

1.The main task (Outcome)

The students will be able to give some advice to Susan and her mom, who are having trouble with smartphones. This is the main task of this class and other steps all contribute to it.

2.Language Focus

The students will be able to understand the following words: digital media, smartphone, tablet, influence

A and use the patterns:

have influence on…

Whats more…

So its always best to… There are plenty of new words in this article. However, todays class focus more on main ideas, organization and idea exchange, so not every new word is presented in class.

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3.Language Skills

Students are able to understand statistics in an article.

Students are able to understand the writers tone.

Students are able to quote surveys in their argument. With the development of these three skills, students may be more prepared to speak or write more logically and convincingly.

4.Learning Strategies

The students will cooperate with their group members to finish the main task.

The students will be able to reflect on their work. Cooperation strategy and reflection strategy are applied in this class.

5.Culture

Students may be aware that in western countries, relationship between kids and parents are different from that in China. Students are aware that parents and kids need more communication.

Difficulties Students may find it difficult to read such a long article with so many new words and expressions. For 8th graders, reading such an article is really a tough job.

Teaching Aids Blackboard, Chalk, Computer, Overhead Projector, I pad, I phone, a blue tooth speaker, wifi

Setting The students sit in pairs and groups. This setting is good for their cooperation.

Procedures & Activities Notes

Step 1A survey3 min

Ask students some questions about digital media. This survey acts as an ice-breaker, presents vocabulary, and provides a strategy for the main task..

Step 2Task–introduction & Task–acknowledgement 3 min

Tell students Susan and her mom are facing a problem:

To use or not to use smartphones?

Students are going to give some advice to them. Students will feel more secure and oriented if they know what they are going to learn at the beginning of a class.

Step 3Reading 10 min

1.Ask students to skim for organization of this article

a.Choose an organization pattern for the article

b.Match the main ideas with each paragraph

2.Ask students to scan for details: What do these numbers mean? Understanding the organization will help students get closer to the writer and attention to statistics will help students understand importance of survey quoting.

Step 4Imitation of Paragraph 4 5 min

1.Listen to paragraph 4

2.Imitate and make a speech Using a smartphone to record and play audio for students is a good example for Para 3 and imitation can help students prepare for the main task.

Step 5Understanding the Writers Tone3 min

Ask students to think:

Is the writer objective? In other words, does he simply give facts? The writers tone is helpful for students to understand his/her point of view and this step also contributes to the main task .

Step 6Skyping with an American student 4 min

Students can talk with an American student and ask for his/her opinion.

Is he/she objective or subjective? Another example to use digital media effectively and also another chance to analyze speakers tone.

Step 7Tips for Susan or her mom10 min

Students are working in groups to give some tips for Susan or her mom. and for each tip, they need to state why.

Then they present their discussion outcome to the whole class.

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Other students evaluate their work. Students will need the survey result, pattern imitated, tones introduced, etc to finish this main task.

Homework:2 min

Write an email to Susan or her mom to give them some advice.

三、如何“用英语教”

(一) 教学目标的铺设

这节公开课的主要任务(Main task)是给Susan母女提建议，而其他的教学步骤都是为这个主要任务设置的。仔细阅读这份教学简案，发现其实这节课可以用以下思维导图来表述：

通过以上图示，可以清晰地看到，教师通过精心设计的每一个教学步骤，逐步达成了预设的教学目标：

1.The main task (Outcome).The students will be able to give some advice to Susan and her mom， who are having trouble with smartphones.

2.Language Focus.The students will be able to understand the following words: digital media， smartphone， tablet， influence

and use the patterns:

have influence on…

Whats more…

So its always best to…

3.Language Skills. Students are able to understand statistics in an article.

Students are able to understand the writers tone.

Students are able to quote surveys in their argument.

4.Learning Strategies.The students will cooperate with their group members to finish the main task.

The students will be able to reflect on their work.

5.Culture.Students may be aware that in western countries， relationship between kids and parents are different from that in China.

通过如此的目标铺设，学生不仅能学到英语本身，还能学到如何用英语去完成更多的任务，而就在这些任务的完成过程中，本节课的教学目标也就水到渠成地达成了。

(二) 教学语境的构建

本节课以一个现场调查开始：

1. Have you used a smartphone or a tablet?

2. Do your family have more than 4 screens?

3. Do you enjoy using digital media?

4. Does digital media give your family a headache sometimes?

5. Do you think digital media can improve your learning?

教师现场提问，并将结果写在黑板上，让学生计算百分比，学生当场就被这些结果震惊，并开始了对digital media的初步思考。紧接着，教师告诉学生全世界的人们都在思考这个问题，Susan和她的妈妈就收到一张巨额手机话费单，学生迅速进入了Susan和她妈妈的困境，共同思考她们该怎么办，以及有什么建议可以给她们。这两个教学步骤让学生得以“用英语”去做调查，“用英语”解决生活问题，“用英语”提建议。

(三) 学生表现的评价

在英语课堂中，有以下的评价方法可以采纳：

1.评价标准前置。在这节课主要任务：給Susan母女提建议的开展之前，教师先问了几个问题：Should we sound subjective or objective? What expressions in the article can we use? How should we state our reasons? 通过对这几个问题的思考，学生在大脑中建立起了这个任务的评价标准，在任务的最后准备阶段不至于盲目执行，而是有指导标准贯穿整个过程。

2. 教师评价与同伴评价相结合。在英语课堂上，有的教师由于担心时间不够，自己对学生进行匆匆评价就切换至下一个环节。殊不知，同伴评价无论是对于评价者和被评价者都是一个“用英语学”的过程：评价者更加明了什么样的成果(outcome)是好的，什么样的成果是需要改进的，以及在什么方面能够得以改进；而被评价者除了能听到老师的评价，还能听到同伴的评价，能够产生更有效的反思，反思所完成的任务可以从哪些方面进行进一步的改进。比如这节课的Skyping结束以后，学生意犹未尽，教师就乘胜追击，让同学们共同对刚才主讲的同学提建议，学生讲了十几条实用的小贴士，在这个过程中，学生既预热了提建议的方式，又都学到了如何更加得体，高效地与外国人进行交流。

3. 当场评价与过去评价相结合。有的教师在评价学生的时候仅仅注意到了学生当时完成的任务，而没有把学生当时的表现和学生过去的表现进行对比。教师在对学生进行评价之前，应做好资料收集的作用，比如在评价学生的时候，給每个学生准备一个档案袋(portfolio)，不定期将学生一段时间内的表现进行纵向地比较评价，这样能够促进学生及时调整学习方法，增加学习动力。

四、结语

效度是上不封顶的，这就意味着有效教学地探索是永无止境的。一名英语教师，如果长期以来，只满足于“教英语”，那么学生学到的只有英语本身；而如果教师能够探索更多内容，并将这些内容“用英语”在英语课堂上带给学生，学生几年以后收获的除了流利准确的英语语言，还有学术探究精神，批判性思维，跨文化交际能力，独立处理问题的能力，与人沟通交往的能力等等。这就要求我们教师努力提高自己的业务水平，在每节课的教学目标的铺设，教学语境的构建和学生表现的评价方面精心备课，做“有效教学”的一线践行者。

参考文献：

[1]Hedge, T. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom . New York: Cambridge University Press , 2000.

[2]崔允漷,有效教学[M].上海:华东师范大学出版社,2009.

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