The Application of Body Language in Primary English Teaching

Shen+Shaojun

【Abstract】All schools， especial primary schools， take measures to improve the level of English teaching.For primary English teaching， students acquire language knowledge by body language because of students low level of English and the limited vocabulary.The combination of body language and teaching content can make students master English effectively.This paper mainly discusses the definition and the concrete applications of body language.

【Key words】Body Language； Primary English Teaching； the Applications of Body Language

1. Definition

Body language which is an important medium to communicate in modern life is expression and movement of auxiliary language communication in the process of communication.It is non-verbal language and a symbol of consisting of facial expression， eye contact， gesture and posture.“once the body language was lost， a baby could not have grown into a normal person， ”once said Fen Lafle Angles， a body language expert.In fact， adolescents also like this.In primary English teaching， body language plays an increasing crucial role in fostering students abilities.

2. Applications

2.1 The Application of Body Language in Classroom Teaching

To help students establish a good English environment， teacher should try to impart pupils amount of knowledge in oral English.Teacher uses body language in classroom teaching.For example， when pupils learn Unit1 Hello in Oxford English for Grade1， teacher teaches pupils to introduce themselves and greet to others by body language.This unit mainly teaches pupils some daily expressions， for example， hello， good morning， whats your name and my name is...For pupils in Grade1， they meet classmates and teachers at the first time.So they should introduce themselves each other to know them as classmates.

2.2 The Application of Body Language in Word Teaching

There are many words in English book of primary school.The word is a small unit in the system of linguistic knowledge， but its difficult for pupils to master words.A way of learning English that pupils watch the cards and read the words repeatedly is tedious and boring to them.With the help of body language to teach words， the teacher can make pupils active and enhance their interest in order that pupils can remember words quickly and firmly.The teacher does some demonstrative actions and lets pupils guess words.Then pupils have mastered these words in no time after they say words and do movements with the teacher together.For example， when the pupils learn Unit 1 This Is My Hand in New Standard English for Grade 2， some words which are symbols of body are taught to pupils， the teacher can guide pupils to learn these new words through pointing to his eye， nose， ear and head.Learning words is terrific essential for English learners what water is necessary for human being.

2.3 The Application of Body Language in Sentence Teaching

The intuitive and interesting teaching methods in the process of learning depend on pupils psychological and physiological characteristic.For different grades， teacher uses different teaching methods of body language.By using different methods， students can comprehend learning content intuitively and even directly learn the second language through body language instead of employing mother language to learn.Its very difficult for students to understand English sentences.But if the teacher employ body language in the English teaching appropriately， it can help students comprehend sentences and enhance memorizing effect.For example， when pupils learn Unit1 Hello in Oxford English for Grade1， teacher teaches pupils to introduce themselves and greet others by body language.This unit mainly teaches pupils some daily expressions and some sentences about that I am...When the teacher teaches the sentence， first of all， he can put a card on his head， the card is written a boys name“Ken”and say“Hello， I am Ken.”And then he does the same actions.He also can put a card on his head， the card is written a girls name“Ann”and say“Hello， I am Ann.”He repeats this body language for many times so that junior students in primary school can deepen understanding to English sentence“Hello， I am...”.

3. Conclusion

In short， what has been analyzed above， we may safely come to a conclusion that body language plays a tremendous role in primary school teaching.The appropriate and reasonable applications of body language can make the teaching methods become more flexible and changeable， and the effect of teaching improve remarkably.Teacher should make the use of body language to create relaxed and harmonious atmosphere in the classroom and lead students to learn voluntary.

References：

[1]Allwright and Beiley.English Teaching Methods[M].New York：University of Louisvile Press，1972.

作者簡介：沈少军（1992-），女，汉族，江西上饶人，云南省大理市大理大学教育科学学院，硕士研究生在读，研究方向：小学教育。