How to Stimulate the Interest of HigherVocational Students in Learning English

Gao Wen

Abstract：This paper analyzesthe current learning status offive-year higher vocational college students' English learning from three aspects： teaching materials，teachers， students' learning . It pointedout the importance of stimulating students' interest in learning English and elaborates the purpose of stimulate the interest of higher vocational students in learning English through enriching teaching methods and means ，improving teachers' comprehensive quality， actively carrying out the second class activities ，strengthening the infiltration of Chinese and western cultural atmosphere，and innovating teaching contents . Finally， it can improve the quality of students， promote the benign development of English teaching， and， cultivate moreEnglish talents for country.

Key Words：higher vocationalEnglish;  learning interest;  learning methods

1.Introduction

1.1 Current situation of higher vocational English teaching

The requirements of education English course for higher vocational colleges （trial） are given that is to highlight the training of the students' practical application ability ， focusing on the cultivation of language communication ability in the workplace environment. Current there are a lot of different types English textbooks which are much the same ， some of them are difficult before they are easy ，there are some places where error ， checking is lax .

The teaching method of the teacher is still relatively simple ， what he still insists on is that the teacher speaks above and the student listens below， this kind of point-face teaching mode（Zhang Lijun，[J] Publish wide angle ，2013，No.14 ）goes on . On the other hand the class hour is limited . Another is that teachers are often absent .

Some junior high school students are absent from basic English.  Doing homework is just to finish the tasks . Individuals do not take textbooks in class ， even a few students asked teachers to talk about in Chinese . They do not like to memorize words， sentence patterns ， learning objectives blurred， resulting in poor test scores ，small vocabulary， lacking of cultural background knowledge，very little language use ability . （Gong Hai Hong [J] Campus English，2010，No. 9，37 ）

1.2 The importance of cultivating students' interest in learning English

Now English is the universal language in the world.With the globalization of economy ， countries have to learn advanced technology，cooperation with other countries requires a large number of English talents. English is a language that colleges students must learn in order to improve their own quality for personal purposes in daily life .

1.3 Purpose and methods

In order to change this situation ， to stimulate students' interest in learning English and improve the quality of English teaching . After years of teaching practice and learning from others' advanced experience ， this paper aims to solve this problem through enriching teaching methods and means ， improve the individual comprehensive quality of the teachers ，actively carrying out second class activities ， strengthening the penetration of Chinese and western culture ，and innovating teaching contents .

2.How to stimulate the interest of higher vocational students in learning English

2.1 Improve teaching methods and means

2.1.1Carefully design the lead -in step

Confucius，oureducator，said ，“he who knows is not better than he who is good，but he who is good is not better than he who is happy .”It can be seen how enjoyable to study with a pleasant mood .

Psychologists believe that attention is an essential condition for mastering knowledge and engaging in practical activities .It makes people aware clearly and think quickly ， thus the action is accurate and timely . Therefore ， at the beginning teachers introduce new knowledge when reviewing the previous lesson ， should try to use news ，things around students ， proverbs and other materials that students are interested in to attract their attention ， make them feel interesting and enjoy learning English in a good mood . For example， using emoticons， gestures ， pictures ， objects etc .to increase the novelty of the introduction in class ， so as to attract students' attention .

2.1.2 Create real teaching situations

The main reason of the English teaching is to cultivate the ability of students to use this communication tool ，which the center of English teaching .Therefore ，the teacher acts as organizer ，demonstrator and instructor to create real situations for students ，such as asking directions ，borrowing things ，making phone calls ，shopping ，greeting each other ，so that student can be integrated into the role ，which not only has fun ，cultivates the ability to move ， imitate， perform ，but also opens up students' thinking and stimulates learning .For example ，when teaching unit 7 You don't look well in Book One in Warm Up ，teachers can teach students to practise these patterns“What is your trouble ？ How long have you been like this？” In the same sentence pattern ，students can be divided into two groups .One group acts as a doctor ，the other acts as a patient .At first ，we only use the form of question- and -answer according to the situation ，then gradually increase content on pains，and really use what students have learned from the books. So the classroom gives out vitality .（Pan Qian Wen： [English Weekly[J]：  2014，  No.4，  99）[5]

2.1.3 Use information teaching method

（i） Enjoy English movies and anime through multimedia

It is very popular among higher vocational students to transmit information in the form of films， animation pictures and sounds .By watching films or cartoons in both Chinese and English ，students can arouse the enthusiasm and interest in learning English ， get in touch with the real English language environment ， increase their vocabulary ， improve their English listening and speaking skills ，learn about western culture and national conditions .There are the enjoying advantages of Chinese - English movies or anime ：

First， a wide of subjects ，vivid plots ， realistic pictures ，students focused on watching ，relaxed and happy mood ，no anxiety and irritability .

Second ， make up for the deficiency of the pure Chinese environment .Movies or anime can help students increase their vocabulary .

Third ， the screen has a significant effect on students' vocabulary acquisition and memory . English subtitles help students improve their mastery and memory of word spelling and recognition .Compare with traditional teaching ， it is more attractive to students' attention and less prone to burnout and exclusion  .

Fourth ，it is helpful to improve listening and speaking ability .The combination of sound and image can arouse students' interest and enthusiasm .Students' auditory response will be very sensitive and concentrated .

Fifth， It helps to understand western culture and national conditions， can effectively strengthen cultural teaching，improve the ability of intercultural communication ，cultivate students' sensitivity to cultural differences .（Seelye，H. N http：//www. 808so. c om）

（ii） Students can use mobile phone ， QQ and WeChat to study

The intelligent mobile phones can be said to be Palmtop computers .One of the features is very convenient for students to carry . A intelligent mobile phone is a good learning tool . Use it to download a series of learning tools such as dictionaries or Kingsoft Powerword in the app store on your phone. Store the information in memory card and download the listening materials from rocky English . From Sina Love to ask to share a resources under e-book ！ Like a hundred sentences in businessEnglish. In addition，students can use it to watch foreign movies and TV series. Sometimes time is limited in teaching . For some content that needs to be copied ，students can take photos with their mobile phones ， look up words or relevant information ， teachers can assign tasks to them with QQ and WeChat and share English resources.（He Hong Xia  [J]  Central China Normal University 2016， No.4）

2.1.4 Establish equal and harmonious teacher-student relationship

Mr.Tao Xing Zhi said ：“I think a good teacher is not teaching， not teaching students ，but teaches students to learn.” Therefore ， it forms a good relationships between teachers and students ， gives full play to teachers' motivation . The teaching is a dynamic process of interpersonal communication between teachers and students in a rational way ， good relationship between teachers and students can better mobilize the internal motivation of  students to learn English  .The good relationship between teachers and students is reflected in the following aspects ：

“Respect teachers and love students ，democracy and equality ， psychological compatibility and teaching each other well .”“No love ， no education ”， teachers from the heart of true love students ，care for students .For example ， if a student didn't pay attention to listening in class ， and the teacher looked at him with a smile ，he would realize that the teacher noticed him and would correct it .Because the smile represents the friendliness of the teacher . If a teacher gave a cold look at a student and left quickly ，the student would stop for a moment .Because the apathetic eyes represents that the teacher has given up him ， he also ignored the teacher's presence. Don't consider the teacher's feeling . Do what he has to do（  Xu Yue Xian. English Weekly[J]：  2013，  9th ed 8o   ） In his opinion ， he studies for himself ，spends his family's money ， it's none of the teacher's business .In a word ， teachers should go deep into students to understand their thoughts and ideas ，tolerate and respect their personal performance ，and students will love ，respect and trust this teacher .Therefore，teachers and students care about each other emotionally， trust each other ， harmony and equality ; Accepting each other in understanding ，seeking common ground while reserving difference ; Coordinate action ，support and help each other ; Teachers in the teaching improve， students grow in learning .In such a harmonious teacher-student relationship ，teachers can give play to their subjective initiative， improve students' internal motivation to learn English and stimulate their interest in learning English . （Zhang Jing，[J]，Scientific Chinese，2015. No.12 ， 283）

2.1.5 Promote student interaction through role play

Although there are many teaching methods ， role -play is the most common one in English teaching .Through the practice of dialogue and sentence patterns，students can show their ability of imitation and performance ，and show their interest ，initiative and efficiency，then what is role -play ？

Role-playing generally refers to the practice of introducing the basic theories and methods of role -playing into English classroom teaching ，in which students are allowed to simulate the plot，set the scene ， define their roles and act out the content required by the roles in English . Role-playing can be divided into four categories： the first is the complete control of the four role-playing. In this kind of play，the students'role，scene，language，expression and even action in the scene simulation are already arranged . In the process of performance， prompt cards can be added .The advantage of this type of role-playing is that teachers can check the students' understanding of what have been taught ，and the students bear less psychological pressure during the performance ，thus ensuring the smooth progress of  role-playing. The second kind of semi-controlled role -playing is that the teacher only refers to a part of the cue in the role-playing ，and the rest depends on the students' on- the-spot play .The advantage of this is that the teacher can understand the students' learning situation outside the textbook ，and the students' English communicative competence has been greatly improved . The third kind of free-style role-playing is that English teachers only assign scene-day tasks to students in class .Students can assign roles and organize language before class .In order to achieve good performance ，they can obtain information from many sources .In the process of performance ， teachers express their thoughts in accordance with sex  .Such a teaching mode can give full play to students 'communicativecompetence in English . The fourth of semi-free role -playing is characterized by the fact that English teachers give students situations and teaching goals and characters ，without restricting the language they use in role-playing. Situational settings and language use require teamwork and even discussion among students involved in role-playing .This can show students'characteristics and broaden their communicative thinking . For five-year higher vocational students， the first two role-playing modes are suggested .

2.1.6 Play games

Sometimes the teacher sees the classroom atmosphere is dreary，can organize the student to do the game to liven the classroom atmosphere， arouse the student study interest . For example ，can be randomly ，lets the students play the word chain ，dismantling the word chain ，spell the word test，etc.The purpose of this game is to train students' reaction speed and review their vocabulary .1. In the beginning the teacher writes a word， ask students to write one more word than the original，the first letter remains the same.For example，he-her hear heart -hearty-hearten . 2. Practise the pattern .The teacher says： “Magic Banana /A makes me think of B ’.Steps and rules ;（1）A group of four students are standing in front of the classroom .  The teacher starts with the first word .（ If the teacher says “Magic banana.” students begin to associate with banana ） （2） Student A associates new words according to the preceding words and quickly tells them .（For example ，student A goes on to say ：“Banana makes me think of fruit .”） Student B goes on to associate with student A ，and so on .（For example：“Fruit makes me think of vegetables .”）  （3） Once the student is stuck，wrong or repeats the words he has said before ，the students is out. Persist until the final student wins.

Operation skills  （1） If the students'vocabulary level is low， students can be allowed to pause for three seconds ，allowing students to say words in the same category as the previous words ;If the students have a higher level of competence ，they can raise their requirements， no pause allowed for the next word to be in the same category as the last word . （For example ： Red makes me think of colour.þRed makes think of yellow. ） （2） Teacher can ask all the students to play the last game in a group of four ， then invite the winner to come to the classroom for the second round ， and finally select the first few . The winner were rewarded ，and the class was very active in this way of teaching ，and the students soon mastered the pronunciation and writing of the words ，it strengthens students ' confidence in learning and arouses their interest in learning English . （Wu Li Zhi ，[J] Bai Du Library Shared Documents ， 2016 ，No.9 ，8 ）

2.1.7  Make up a jingle

In English teaching，teachers can take some complicated and boring grammar into easy words which can simplify the complicated knowledge and make the context appear strange .When the students read it clearly ， it can stimulate the students' interest ，strengthen their memory and understanding of knowledge.For example ：Teach the comparative form of adjective pattern， the teacher can say，“A is in front of B， there is a comparative degree between A and B . There is a ‘be ‘ in front of the comparative form of adjectives after there is a ‘than‘. ” When teach a noun ending in ‘f ‘to be plural ， the teacher can make up a jingle ： “It is a difficult for the wife of a thief to live ，She swept the leaves to cook her own meal .When she saw a wolf hiding behind the frame ，she took a knife and split it in half .” Ask students to remember a noun ending in ‘f ’or ‘fe’these nine words -----thief，wife ，life self ，leaf ，wolf，shelf，knife ，half .When they are turned into plural form，should turned ‘f or ‘fe’ in the back into  ‘ves‘. Thus，students will be interested in it，they memorize them quickly .The classroom atmosphere is active ，the students also loves to study .

2.1.8 Telling stories ，jokes and brain teasers

In order to enliven the classroom atmosphere ， let the students relax physically and mentally ，adjust the dull atmosphere of the same class  . Teachers often tell humorous jokes ，interesting stories ，or sharp brain turns to students in English .In the same time ，attract students' attention， stimulate their interest in learning English ， practice has proved that students like it very much .For example （1）：A Joke    What time is it now？   The two boys were camping in the backyard . When they couldn't figure out what time it was ，the first boy said to the second ， “Start singing very loud .”“How will they help ？ ”said the second boy . “Just do it ， ” insisted the first . Both boys broke into song，singing at the top of their lungs .Moments later ，a neighbor threw open her window and shout ， “Keep it down！ Don't you know it's three o'clock in the morning ？ ”（2）A story   How did he cross the river ？ Once a man brought three things to cross a river . They are a wolf ，a goat and a basket of vegetables . The boat was so small that he could carry only one thing at a time， if he took the wolf with him ，the goat would eat the basket of vegetables . If he took the basket of vegetables with him，the wolf would eat the goat .After thinking he finally foundout a good way to cross the river .What did he do？ （3）  Brain teasers   How to round a pig ？ Long time ago， a man fed nine pigs .He wanted to circle them in four circles ，each one of them has to be odd .How did he do that ？

2.1.9 Grade the questions in class

Grade the question in class is an important link to check the students' mastery of the knowledge learned in the previous section and to deepen their knowledge consolidation . Students at the beginning of junior middle school tend to pay little attention to teaching .The main exam results are tied to the usual grades at the end of the semester ，so that students will care about their grades . A student can ask questions many times and finally calculate the average grade ， the way is easy to arouse students' attention . When students answer questions ，teachers try to praise more and criticize less .Hurlock，E.B（1925） of the experiment showed that the effect of proper praise is much better when criticized .But criticism works better than neither praise nor criticism ！ Therefore，teachers should be more positive，moreencouraging，and look at them with appreciation and development .Teachers often can say： “Yes. Good .Great. Wonderful .Don't be shy .Don't be nervous .Relax .Be brave ， You are very clever . Ok. That's a good idea ！ Thank you ！Not bad ！ Try again . Take it easy .Try your best .I believe you .” （http：// www.  docin. com） In this way ，students can pay attention to the review process and form good study habits ，so as to stimulate interest in learning English .

2.1.10 Use interest transfer to teach students to be self-taught

What is migration ？ Migration is the effect of one kind of knowledge or learning on another kind of knowledge or learning . In other words ， it refers to the influence process of acquired knowledge ， skills and other aspects on new knowledge ，new skills and other aspects.（Zhang Yong Liang，[J]2009，No.209） Most students like playing games nowadays . Some games are designed in English . Students must know English to oder to play them well. So teachers should encourage students to study . Allow them to choose and control their capabilities and the task that needs to be believed to match . The process of learning English is the continuous combination of new and old language knowledge ，and the process of constructing and replacing ，it is also the process of language ability ，which changes from theoretical knowledge .Make them aware that learning tasks are directly or indirectly related to their needs ，interests and goals. It is necessary for teachers to give students the difficulty of learning tasks ，so that they can do it themselves ，and provide students unique support for their own characteristics when necessary， and also provide them with opportunities to challenge themselves .Teachers must motivate them to take responsibility for their own learning and offer them to select task variables of exercise their self - control .（http：//XZbu.com）Only in this way can students form the habit of self-learning and learn English well .

2.2.1 Constantly improve the individual comprehensive quality of the teachers

Teachers are engineers of human soul .The quality of teachers determines the effectiveness of teachers'work and affects the future development of students. So the comprehensive quality of teachers should be constantly improved to meet the requirements of current teaching work . What are the qualities of teachers？ The content of teachers'comprehensive quality evaluation can be basically divided into three groups ：teachers' basic quality ，teachers'performance behavior and teachers' work performance .（i） Basic quality ：，（ a ）It is mainly reflected in Teachers' love for teachers and education . （b.） professional qualities ：First there are specific subject knowledge ，  pedagogical and psychological knowledge and so on .Second ，teachers should have excellent professional skills .It involves understanding the ability of others;two is the ability of organization and management; three is the ability of educational research  .The four is educational tact .Fifth，the teaching ability to complete the teaching task ， Sixth is the ability to the guide students in their study ，life and mental health ，and the ability to absorb information for improving the quality of education and teaching ，self -cultivation and quality .（ c）. Personality psychological quality A good personalty and psychological quality is also an indispensable quality for teachers . The first thing is to have a relatively large heart capacity ，the second is to maintain a stable mood ，and the third is always to maintain an optimistic mood .What we are talk about here is the basic quality of teachers .Times ask teachers must study constantly to new theory of education ，update their knowledge structure ，rich teaching method ，using dynamic image ， smart appearance， humorous language to touch the students ，with the noble personality ，ethics to impressed the students.Teachers have profound knowledge and rigorous doing scholarly research attitude ，coupled with a solid basic knowledge of English ，the system of professional knowledge of English .fluent English in the native and idiomatic ，and understand the English national customs ，cultural background ，students will like them ，then trust his words ， eventually like English lessons .

2.2.2 Actively carry out second class activities

The second class activity is an effective extension and expansion of the first class ，so teachers should make good use of the second class to make up for the loss of English communication environment and the limited time ，teachers can organize students to hold （i）the English speech Contest  For example，Topic1 Life isn't about keeping score .Topic2. Your family is or how much money they have or what kind of car you have..（ii）.English songs competition  For example a .I love you forever b.Pretty boy .These songs are very nice，very classic .They all study well，and the lyrics are simple .（iii） ，Knowledge of English lectures （iv），English corner ，（v）listen to English radio ，such as VOA Special English ，（vi）watch English program ，For example，Growing pains？They can strengthen the training of students' listening and skills ，the learning of western culture ，is to achieve the purpose of stimulating students' interest in learning .

2.2.3 Strengthen the penetration of Chinese and Western cultures

Culture is one of the important attributes of language ， and language is an important carrier of culture.Classroom teaching is the main area for cultivating students' cultural meaning  .When it comes to foreign cultures ， their eyes are full of desire for knowledge .This not only cultivates students' world consciousness and cross-cultural consciousness ，but also enables them to practice communicative ability with people with different cultural backgrounds，and satisfies students' curiosity and desire.So teachers tell students different cultural traditions have led to considerable cultural differences in the way of thinking ，values，codes of conduct and lifestyles between China and the West . In the course of Chinese feudal society and history ，Confucianism has always occupied a deep -rooted dominant position and exerted a profound and lasting influence on Chinese society . The Chinese people have always regarded self-depreciation as a classic way of dealing with people and things ，behaved and spoken with modesty ，and opposed excessive self -expression  .The formation of Western values can be traced back to the Renaissance at least. The guiding ideology of the Renaissance was humanism， advocating the supremacy of individualism and striving to develop self-expression .In life ，they worship “strong man”， “Heroes”   You have the ability to do it .The strong can be reused ，and the weak with lack of self-confidence can only lag behind or be ruthlessly eliminated .For example，“old” has always been a tradition of respecting the elderly and respecting the old in China .Therefore ，the older the Chinese ，the older they get the more respect they are . In Chinese view，the elderly are not only the embodiment of wisdom，but also the symbol of prestige  ; Few people in the West ， however，are willing to “old”by selling their old age .In their view，“old”is not a good pronoun，but “out of fashion ”and “old but useless”. Therefore ，British American do not like others to say they are old ，but do not rely on them .The teachers should make these differences clear to them so thatthey broaden students' horizons ，enlarge their knowledge ，deepens their understanding of the world ， and also help students improve their cultural accomplishment and language ability. Students' interest in learning arises at the historic moment in such an atmosphere .（Meow culture theory ， 2018，Mar.2th）

2.2.4 Innovate teaching content

In the context of mass entrepreneurship and innovation throughout the country ， teachers' teaching work should be constantly innovated to keep pace with the Times . The innovation of teaching content includes both the innovation of teachers and students .This is all about teacher innovation.（i）The existing textbook content has been adjusted.and solve the problem of the time shortage and the textbook is large .According to the students 'age characteristics and speciality characteristics ，the teaching content and order are adjusted （ Li Mei Jing. ，[J]Journal of Ji Lin Institute of Commerce and Industry ，2009，6th ed107 ），and get rid of the old ，outdated stuff .，（ii）Some topic and contents that students are interested in are appropriately added. Such as star topics， western etiquette ，festivals，customs，proverbs，etc .arouse students' interest .（iii） Add Some topics related to students'majors， AB Levels，current events and politics anecdotes ，hot topics，etc. For example，when students learn the word “conference”， teachers can ask the students how to translate the 19th National People's Congress，thefirst·national leaders and the first lady in combination of current affairs and politics .Teachers use every drop of time to timely recharge ，study continuously ，enrich the classroom teaching content with their profound knowledge with the Times ，pioneering and innovative teaching and solving doubts .（Xie Wen Wen， [J] 2016）

3.Conclusion

In English classroom teaching ，teachers should start cultivating students 'interest in learning ，make full of all kinds of effective methods to improve students 'interest in learning ，arouse students 'interest in learning English ，so as to be effective，efficient and interesting in English classroom teaching.Students 'interest in learning is the key to improving classroom teaching effectiveness and academic performance .To make a long story short， English teaching is a complicated and long -term project，teachers should improve themselves at any time ，continue to update teaching ideas ，with flexible teaching methods and rich abundant means of teaching ，innovating teaching content .achieve finally is the students love to learn ，happy learning ， gradually improve their own learning results ，steadily improve the overall quality of English teaching ，to cultivate morepracticalEnglishtalents  .

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[13]（http：//www. docin.com）

[14]Xingzhi interactive  http：//XZbu.com