How to Improve Pupils’ Learning Interest in English Classroom Activities

1. Introduction

Einstein who was a genius scientist once said: Interest is the best teacher. A successful English teacher will consciously cultivate the students interests for English with his teaching. In this way, all the classmates will keep their imagination vivid and keep their learning state positive. And it helps the pupils have more confidences to learn English well.

2. How to improve pupils learning interest in English classroom activities

The necessity and importance of using classroom activities to arouse the interests in English teaching.

For example: One time I showed them a picture on my computer. “Wow, its Miss Ouyang. Cool!” “Thats right. Its me. You can ask me any question you like.” “Yeah!” Some pupils cheered. In the pupils opinion, the teacher is very inviolable.

“Whos your favourite pop star?”

“Do you like hot pot?

In fact, they were eager to know more things about their teachers or pop stars.

After class I felt that taking an active part in studying and the desire were both arousing the interests in English study.

Facing these kids who dare to think, ask and say, I got to know that we couldnt reduce their thinking from different angles. Teachers could understand kids opinions by communication. Of course, everyone may learn English well should work hard and practice as more as possible. I hope that my pupils would try their best to participate in competition. They should accept challenges constantly. And the perfect target is to overcome ego.

3. Stimulate interests in classroom activities

3.1 The classification& effects

Rich and colorful class teaching activities can stimulate the pupils interests in English learning. Class teaching activities can be divided into four classes: Group-task activities, Communication activities, Cooperative activities, and Competitive activities.

(1)Group-task classroom activities help to improve interests in speaking more easy English sentences.

The main aim of this kind of activity is to transfer the information to the others and give the right response in time. We can divided a class in to 6 groups. TThey can read the text, talk about the details of the story and discuss about it in groups first and then share their opinion with the whole class together.

They concentrated on listening to the others and tried their best to understand the information.  It encouraged themselves to explain their own opinion when they repeated the story. It helped them by improving the listening and speaking ability.

(2) Communication classroom teaching activities help to improve interests in communicating in English and make pupils use language more freely.

Class teaching example: Yes and No game.

This topic can be a famous person, a place ,a city or other thing. All the students were excited to ask many questions about the topic. At the end, pupils had more details about it and it was easy to know the right answer. This activity continued in an extricated and vivid atmosphere.

(3)Cooperative classroom activities help to improve interests in speak fluency English.

Students exchanged their information together in order to achieve the aim and they sent out and accepted instruction.

Classroom example: apple, orange, watermelon, mango, durian……

Every group shared their information that they should know most of them are good for our health or not.

They exchanged information and talk about them. In fact, this activity was not easy for the students in primary school. But they did a very wonderful job that time. The atmosphere was very free and wide.

(4)Competitive classroom activities help to improve interests in sharing English opinions creatively and freely. They can improve their confidence in the shortest time.

3.2 Class teaching example: sports

Show some flash words cards to the kids. The teacher mimed the action of this sport. Students should say the word or phrase of the sport and spell it out one by one .

Everyone should tell the answer in 10 seconds. And all the students time in a line will be added up together. As a result, everyone tried his best to guess the name of the sports and spell it out in order to win the game. Everyone showed their highest interests in the competition.

4. Conclusion

There are only 40 minutes in a class. I have to make the students practice as much as possible. As has been mentioned above，interest is the soul in English learning. We cant imagine that how to cultivate pupils abilities of communication without interests. As an old saying goes: Better teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

References：

[1]傅小平.小學英语教学论[M].湖南人民出版社,2007.

【作者简介】欧阳菁婷，武汉市常青树实验学校。