Transfer of the Teacher’s Role in the New Teaching Environment

张帆

Abstract：The Old Man and the Sea is one of the most popular novels written by Ernest Heminway. We aims to put functional linguistic into practice and offer a new insight into the novel. Systemic-Functional Grammar is deep-going in stylistic study as it goes beyond language itself and deals with the social environment of language.

Key words：functional stylistics；stylistics；The old Man and the Sea

With the rapid development of computer technology， computer-based English teaching is widely applied to the classroom teaching. The new technologies will not change the role of the teacher fundamentally， but have profound impact the teaching approach. The latest English Language Teaching theory emphasizes that teaching and learning is a process of the interaction between teachers and students. As a result， the network environment requires the role transformation teachers.

1. The traditional teaching mode

Traditional English teaching follows teacher-centered principle， attaching more importance to the subject knowledge instead of students ability of language using， and emphasizing teachers importance instead of students. Thus， students gradually and greatly depend on teachers， their desire and ability of learning are lowered. They can deal with all kinds of written examinations， but cant communicate freely in English. The limits of traditional teaching are more and more and criticized by many researchers （Xu Enmei， 2002）.

Before thinking about the change of teachers role， we should identify the old or traditional role. It is often very tempting first to draw a simplified picture of the role of the teacher in "traditional" or even "old-fashioned" education and then present contrasting visions of a new role in the future. We have known that there is too much easy and superficial talk about revolutions and paradigm shifts in education.

In traditional teaching， the goal of learning English for students is grasping language knowledge， acquiring ability to read and translate and getting a high mark in the examination. Thu Teacher has previously got ready for all the answers of the questions. He gives detail explanation of every language points especially grammar knowledge and evaluates students answer according to the standard one.

2. The characteristic of new teaching environment

We should realize that schools， especially university in China should "extensively use the advanced information technology， should develop and construct a variety of computer based networked courses， provide students with good English learning environment and conditions"， which affirms the necessity of the new multimedia assisted language teaching model， requiring "all colleges and universities should make full use of modern information technology， change the single teacher oriented teaching mode by computer based the classroom teaching of English.

Task-based teaching is a further development of communicative teaching. Communicative approaches became popular in the 1970s. In 1987， Yalden summarized that there were five approaches in communicative approaches： functional approach， negotiated approach， natural approach， content-based approach， and task-based approach. Task-based teaching sees language as a resource for communicating rather than as a body of content to be memorized. The aim of learning a foreign or second language is to achieve communicative competence. It is the pedagogy that best fits the principle of “learning by doing”.

Many scholars state that during task-based teaching， the task itself is the motivation of learning， the process of completing the task is the learning process， the results of teaching and learning are presented in the task achievements. With the concrete motivation， students will learn autonomously and use the language they are learning to do things actively. They will use the language they are learning naturally while doing things， and then develop their language competence in the process of using the language to do things.

3. The Role of teacher in the current teaching environment

There are many researches and theories about teachers roles in English language teaching. Although their views are different， one point is sure， that is， its necessary to change teachers roles.

3.1 Teachers are the helpers for students self-study

On behalf of a new teaching model， multimedia network teaching has been adopted in the college English classrooms， which highlights the dominant position of students， taking the formation of students' individual learning ability and the independent learning as the ultimate goal. The autonomy can not be formed and developed without correct guidance of teachers. Students' initiative and teachers' guidance should be combined to produce positive and effective teaching and learning activities. Many students come into contact with multi-media teaching with high enthusiasm， but after a period of time， there is a big gap between their expectations and the actual learning， then they will lose their enthusiasm for study.

3.2 Teachers are the organizers and designers in the teaching processes

In general， multimedia assisted English learning activities are divided into three kinds： individual work， pair work and group work. Teachers should introduce the specific procedures of the tasks to students， clarify the significance of activities for English learning. Multimedia teaching involves strong interaction. Teachers should design some group activities to make students be involved in， which has great impact on students' participation and improve the teaching effect. This requires teachers to keep continuous learning， update knowledge and awareness in order to meet future challenges.

All in all， in test-based teaching classes， teacher should follow students-centered principle. He should not overcontrol the class. Teacher acts different roles at different stages so that activities can run smoothly and efficiently. At the same time， teacher themselves should be good at reflection and researching.

【Reference】

[1] Janice， Yalden. Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching[M]. London： Cambridge University Press， 1987.

[2] Krashen. Principles and Practice in Second Acquisition[M]. Oxford： Oxford Pergamon Press， 1982.

[3] 亓雪垠. 初中英語任务型教学理论与实践研究[D]. 辽宁师范大学硕士学位论文， 2005.

[4] 任彦昆. 初中任务型英语教学研究[D]. 河北师范大学硕士学位论文， 2006.