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中学生学习英语首先就应当从听入手,英语听力对学习英语至关重要。“听力” 英文为Listeningcomprehension,即听有声语言,并对 其理解的能力。正如RiversTemperty所说:“听,是人们根据 自己所了解的语言知识、语义和语法三方面的潜力,从语流中获得信息的积极活 动。”
根据上述观点,我们可以将听力理解为:获得有声信息的活动能力,也可以说是 一种交际能力。这种能力的强与弱,除了决定人们对语言知识本身的了解外,还 决定人们对语言背景文化知识的占有能力。很难想象一个对语言背景文化一无所 知的人,能够具备良好的听力。中学英语教学大纲中把听说教学放在教学法的首 位,强调听说英语是英语教学的重要目的之一。
从语言角度来看,语言本身首先是有声语言。没有听,就没有说,语言的交流也 就无从谈起。因而,听力在语言学当中有其特殊的作用。听,是语言的基础;听 力,是语言学习的前提。
从心理学的研究来看,在相等时间内,听到的信息量比读到的信息量要大得多; 而听到的信息转化为感性知识比读到的信息转化为感性知识的速度要快得多;听 到的信息往往比读到的信息更生动,印入脑海的烙印更深刻,不易遗忘;同时, 还能有效地培养语感。
从中学生学习英语的心理特点看,中学生年少好胜,善于模仿,听觉灵敏,活泼 喜动。如果能注意培养他们的听力,在情趣盎然的气氛中加强听力训练,必将取 得事半功倍的效果。
听力主要由两个部分构成。即迅速正确地辨音解义的能力、理解语言内涵的能力, 亦称“文化悟力”。这两种能力表现在中学英语课堂上,即为识记教师发出的语 音形式,准确地辨析词义,然后从词义、句义到文章中心大意,迅速辨析、思索、 组合、归纳,并从中悟出讲话内容的中心所在。这种能力除指对语言知识本身的 理解能力外,还应包含对有关文化知识的理解和占有能力,包括经济、文化、天 文、地理、历史以及简单的科普知识等等。对这些知识的占有与理解无疑会提高 对所听到信息的理解程度,从而使悟出的语义更深刻,更准确。
那么,怎样培养学生听力呢?
培养听力,首先要突破听力障碍,掌握“听”的基本技能。学生或一般英语学习 者在英语听力训练中存在的听力障碍主要有四个:①语音障碍②语义障碍③心理 障碍④文化悟力障碍。听力的语音障碍,为这四种障碍之首。英语学习者应下决 心攻破它,然后向更高层次迈进。
一、突破语音障碍,掌握听力基本技能
掌握听力基本技能,首先应突破语音知识关。英语语音知识主要包括六个方面的 内容:不完全爆破、意群、连续、音的同化与失音、句子重音及语调。其次还应 掌握英音与美音的差别。
突破语音知识关的办法是:认真听,注意模仿,用心记忆,并跟老师或录音机进 行纠正,坚持反复训练和检测。请看下面各项检测题:
1.请朗读下面每组词,注意失去爆破的现象:
①talk,dare,don't
②conductor,strict,shortcoming,progr amme,picture,thankful
③makemodelplane
2.朗读下面的句子,注意失去爆破的现象:
①Goandlookforitinyourownroom.
②Katedoesn'tsingwel,butshedanceswel.
③Shehaslunchatthefactory.
④Goodmorning,boysandgirls!
⑤Hecougheddayandnight.
3.朗读下列句子,注意意群间的停顿:
①Everyoneinthetown,knewhim/sowehadn otroubleinfindinghishouse.
②Butthemostinterestingthing/aboutt hisre-markableplan/iswhatpeopledow ithit/afteritiscutdown.
③ThefolowingistakenfromDr.Manete'sa c-countofhismeetingwiththeboy/ando fwhattheboytoldhim.
④Histheorywassoadvanced/thatfewpeo plecouldunderstandit/atthattime/an devenfewer/wouldacceptit.
⑤Theordinaryschool/cannotgivemuchp racti-caltraininginliving,/becausem ostofthestudents'time/isspentinclas ses,/studyinglessons.
[Key Word] listening; middle school; English teaching; barrier; teaching activity designing;
【摘 要】随着时代的发展和进步,英语作为一种国际通用语在贸易往来和文化交流过程中发挥着不可替代的作用。掌握好英语这种交际工具,对学生将来的发展有着深远的影响。现代语言教育理论高度重视“听”在语言学习和语言使用中的作用。听力教学既是一种语言教学,也是一种技能的培养。在听,说,读,写四项技能中,听是最基础的,最重要的技能。它不仅是获取语言信息的主要途径,还是提高其他技能的基础。许多中国学生认为听力能力的测试是所有测试中最难的部分。在本篇论文中,开篇介绍了现在中学听力教学的情况,指出当中存在的一些问题,针对课前的一些较短的时间设计了一些教学活动。然后集中介绍了听力教学活动的设计,强调听力教学活动应将目光集中在听力的过程上,而非其结果上。如何提高学生英语听力水平,使他们能取得好的成绩,成为广大初中教师所共同关注的问题。在英语教学中,教师如何进行听力教学,精心设计教学活动,如何掌握听力教学的各种技巧显得十分重要。
【关键词】听力;初中;英语教学;障碍;设计教学活动
1. Introduction
It is true that listening, speaking, reading, and writing are four basic skills in language teaching and learning. Developmentally, these skills are acquired in a certain sequence. Listening is essential for developing other skills and provides a basis for language learning. But it is also the most difficult of all the learning skills for learners to master. When listening, listeners follow the speaker, thinking about what the speaker is saying and what is going on in the mind of the speaker, guessing the speaker’s opinions and attitudes and catching the true meaning of the speaker’s words. Listening itself accounts for almost half of the commutative activities in one’s daily life. In addition, learners should have the knowledge of phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. Many learners are afraid of listening, looking on it as more difficult than any other skills and pay much attention to training their ability to speak, read and write. Improving listening ability is not in a short time, it is a long time work.
2. Background study
Listening is important in junior students’ English learning. A child first listens for a long time before he is able to speak, so listening plays the first and the most important role in learning a foreign language. Listening is an important means of language. “It is one of the important ways in English language communication. According to Rivers study indications, listening occupies 45% of the whole social interactions. From this, we can see that a good listening can help to improve students’ ability of language understanding. And some statistics show that nearly 50% students regard listening comprehension as the most difficult part among all kinds of examinations.” [1] ( p1-2) . We must admit that there is no short cut in our life, so as the English learning. It finds that the original initiative to learn listening is very important, which can lead the way to success.
Now have a look at our junior schools. What most teachers do in class is merely to play the recorder and check answers to listening exercises. So most students can hardly learn anything in class, and listening comprehension gives much headache. Hence, in teaching listening comprehension, it is very important for teachers to find the problems students have and suitable ways to solve the problems. English teaching and learning asks for quite some challenges. The challenges are the lack of adequate linguistic environment, the strong interference from their mother tongue, the overcrowded classrooms and the lack of sufficient time for English study on the students' side. And students are having quite a few subjects on hand and shouldering the great task of all-respect full development in schools. And, in many junior school, it is true that Chinese students are not so influent as those in Western countries mainly because they lack self-confidence and they are afraid of making mistakes .In addition, teachers are quite used to the old teaching method, which lays more emphasis on grammar. In order to make themselves understood by all the students, some teachers would explain the grammar rulers or even the texts in Chinese rather than in English in class. Thus, students get fewer opportunities to improve their listening skills.
3. What are the factors influencing the listening comprehension in Chinese middle school classrooms?
Listening is an important mean of language learning. It is one of the significant ways in English language communication. But so many students regard listening comprehension as the most difficult one among all kinds of examinations. Where are their barriers? How to train some tactics for them? That’s what I am going to talk about here.
3.1 The analysis of the reasons for students’ poor listening ability
3.1.1.About the teacher aspect
There is a shortage of English teachers in China. It is usually difficult for English teachers in China to go to English-speaking countries to study or work. Most of them don’t have the experience of going abroad. They have learned their English only in China. So we may say they have certain shortage.
3.1.2.The English environment
The English environment in China is different from other countries e.g. Canada. In China, English is a foreign language (EFL), not a second language (ESL). Both students and teachers are doing their jobs under this condition which is quite different from that such as in the US. For example, Chinese immigrant students in Canada can learn English more quickly than those in China. Why? Because in Canada, English is regarded as their second language. They enjoy a much better English environment as well as have English high motivations. This is what is needed in China. What those students in China need is this authentic language environment which isn’t easy to be created in China.
3.1.3. The learning aspect
Listening comprehension is the summation of hearing and understanding. If you have a better level about English knowledge, you may be capable of understanding very well in listening to the materials, and may have an excellent response to any questions asked by the speakers on the tapes.
(ⅰ)Barriers on Phonetics and Phonology
It is clear that “Phonetics is defined as the study of the phonetic medium of language, and Phonology studies how speech sounds system in a language form pattern.” [2] (p22) English, as a new language for Chinese students, usually appears some problems exactly on Phonetics and Phonology, such as the mistakes on pronunciation, intonation, and all kinds of skills like word stress, sentence stress, motion of sound, assimilation, sound---linking and incomplete explosion, etc. Therefore some basic knowledge about English Phonetics and Phonology will directly influence students’ listening comprehension. So designing activities must be aimed at point. So designing some interesting game is to let students discriminate the different pronunciation. The key point is guiding students to find the difference themselves. For example, most Chinese students find the discrimination of some sounds is a problem in listening comprehension, especially, some vowels. E.g., they can hardly distinguish the words like “sit—sea” and “bed--bad”. In a sentence like “He saw a thief steal into the palace”, steal /sti:l/ is very important in understanding the sentence, but some students just recognize it as still/stil/.
(ⅱ) Barriers on tempo
Tempo means the speed of speaking. It can be controlled by an actor who is good at tongue twisters. Some people enjoy more variation in tempo than others, but everyone has a norm which in characteristic of his usual conversational style. One who tends to use a rapid tempo in everyday speech in English, but Chinese students usually don’t have such a tempo in listening. Although sometimes they can speak very fast, they may not catch up with the materials on normal tempo while they’re listening to a tape, especially to a longer conversation or a passage, that’s their problems. Because they only used to listen to teachers who always read under the average speed in daily life, or used to slow conversations with their partners while practicing oral English, that’s why Chinese students can not suit the need of normal speed listening materials or native speakers. Teachers can help students to form a good sensation. Students can train the tempo through reading, because there are many skills on it. English teachers should take efforts to teach students how to learn some knowledge about sentence stress, rhythm, sound and intonation, etc. So, during in the class, or at the beginning of the class, teacher can design a game or completion about reading. The student who is the winner can give him/her a present. Through insisting on doing so, students’s sensation can be improved.
(ⅲ) Barriers on lexicology and grammar
During the process of listening comprehension, listeners should not only do the exercises of sound recognition, but also learn more vocabulary. If a new word appeared while they’re listening, they’ll find it difficult for them to understand the whole meaning, even some students stop to listen and think about over and over the new word they met before while the material are going on. So does the grammar. Grammar can help us to catch the implication of the vocal sounds, and understand them well, and it is also the essential condition of a whole passage comprehension. It gives us a basis for judging when the action happens, who is the operator or supporter? What is the factual evidence? Whether it is the subjunctive mood? Etc. If you don’t have a solid foundation on grammar it’ll directly influence your achieving good results while you are listening.
(ⅳ) Barriers on listening habits
The main purpose of listening is to understand the general idea of the materials. During the listening process, they should try to catch the major content, which’s the key point. But many Chinese students have some bad habits while listening. For example, they always try their best to get the meaning of each words, each sentences. Once they meet a new word or a difficulty sentence, they will stop to think. It is doubtless they can’t catch up with the speed any more. Still some students can’t directly understand materials in English, but with the help of Chinese, experienced the process of a heart translation. These bad habits are the main factors influencing their listening comprehension. In fact, it is unnecessary to know every word, every sentence, only should catch the main idea and grasp the major point, that’s enough. If you concentrate to think, you can’t catch up with the materials, and also that’s why you have no time to attend to the main content, let alone seize the implication of it.
Therefore, it is necessary for the teacher to point out the bad habits and then help the students form good habits. Here are some bad listening habits on Listening, which are paraphrased below.
“(1) A poor listener will/ turnoff his or her ears as soon as he or she decides a listening task is going to be dull.
(2). A poor listener listens to only facts and ignores the ideas, the general picture.
(3). A poor listener will fix his or her eyes on the teacher or blackboard, then relax, or Do some thing else, expecting to get the information out of the tape scripts later.
(4).A poor listener will use very little distraction --footsteps, a door opening or closing, a cough, a dropped book—as an excuse to stop listening to the recording or the teacher.”[3] ( p1-2)
(ⅴ) Barriers on cultural background
Language is a kind of cultural expression. It is necessary for students to know some background about the English-speaking countries, such as the history, culture, customs and habits, even life styles. Many students lack of these kinds of knowledge, no wonder they are always making mistakes about them. For example, if teachers give two pieces of passage for them to understand the former, because Spring Festival is the traditional festival in China, everybody knows it very well, that’s helpful for their understanding, however the latter about the Thanksgiving day, students know little about it, it is not easy for them to understand, even very difficult for them to answer some questions about it. Listeners should base on their background knowledge about the topic and their experience of how talks on such themes are structured (as in the case of listening to news or weather reports) besides their understanding of language forms related to the subject area.
(ⅵ) Barriers on psychological factors
It is very important of students to have a good state while listening. Students should get clear that listening is the first step of any language learning, they should pay attention to learn it well at the very beginning.
The process of listening comprehension is a very complicated psychological one. Linguists tell us that it is easy for one to produce frightens when he is at his nervousness. If students meet some words or sentences they don’t understand by chance, they’ll have the fidgets, even some students are afraid of listening at the very beginning. It have placed all sorts of obstacles on the important information invisibly and make them less effective, this lowered the degrees of listening comprehension. On the other hand, eternal links, such as the noise made by inside or outside factors, the quality of the recorders, the loudness and the articulation of the sounds, etc, may all become obstructions influencing the students’ listening well. “Psychological linguistics regards listening is involved with the perception of a language: Perception is to turn the voice into meanings,and it is an analysis of the language signal perception. The process of the language perception is an activity of the short--time memorization .”[4] (p1)
Training and improving students’ ability in listening comprehension should combine daily teaching with following points. First of all, in English class, teachers should try to organize their classes in English, which’s the most effective way, students can concentrate their attention while listening to English. Teachers can also know from the expressions in students’ eyes if they understand. Second, using the first five minutes efficiently before the class, or the revision time, ask students to listen to the radios, television programmers in English. Never be afraid of it. Psychological quality is quite important to do everything, so does listening comprehension.
转贴于 4.How to improve students’ listening ability---designing effective classroom activities
Among the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), foreign language learners often complain that listening is the most difficult one to acquire. Teaching listening should focus on process.
There are three stages in listening activities for language learners: pre—listening, while—listening, post—listening, which will discuss in detail as follow:
4.1 Pre—listening activities
“Research points out that listening activity in general should consist of a pre—listening phase, which should make the context for listening explicit, clarify the purposes for listening, and establish goals, procedures and roles for listening. So a pre—listening activity can involve listeners in the following ways:
(1).By posing the tasks before the students listen to the topic, they are given a purpose for listening, which forces them to focus on selected information.
(2).The listener brings an orientation to a listening event. By opening up the topic, it arouses certain expectations and mentally prepares the students for the topic, it may also activate latest knowledge of vocabulary associated with the topic.
(3).Activating learner’s scripts and tuning in their prior knowledge about the topic helps to relate their background knowledge to the topic to be heard, thus enhancing the comprehension and interpretation of the received message.
(4).By brainstorming what they know about the topic before listening, learners will be able to compare what they know with what they are going to hear, and listen selectively.” [5] (p10)
4.1.1 Purpose
No less than in speaking, the listening process means that the learner must be motivated by a communicative purpose .This purpose determines to a large extent what meanings they must listen for and which parts of the text are most important to them. For example, there may be parts where he does not need to understand every detail, but only to listen for the general gist. There may be other parts where a topic of special significant arises, requiring them to listen for more detailed information—for example, so that they can report about the topic to other members of a group. At other times, a task may require them to listen for specific pieces of information distributed throughout the text.
“The activities will be grouped according to the kind of response that the learner must produce:
(1)Performing physical tasks (e.g. selecting pictures)
(2)Transferring information (e.g. into tabular form)
(3)Reformulating and evaluating information” [6] (p67-68)
4.1.2Choose the appropriate materials
Before having the class, teachers must choose and analysis the materials. “Teacher need to listen the tape all the way through .That way, they will be prepared for any problems, noises, accents etc. That way they can judge whether students will be able to cope with the tape and the tasks that go with it.” [7] ( p100) By doing so, the teacher will know the length of the materials, the difficult points and the focus of the materials, so the teacher can decide in advance how to go on with the teaching in class. Of course, it is a demand for teachers if all other courses. But some teachers do believe that they can teach listening course without any preparation so long as they have the tapes and reference books. So some researchers would like to emphasize the importance of preparations for a class: it is the basic need and also a basic insurance of an effective listening teaching. And the role of analyst, which means that teachers should analyze the functional patterns of the language used in the listening materials that students are to hear. The functions of a language can be simply pided into two patterns: the communication of emotion and the conveying of information. Communication of emotion means that the purpose of using a language is mainly for the establishment of harmonious relationship among the participants of social interaction.
4.1.3 Skills
(ⅰ)Prediction.
Research on speech processing and interpretation suggests that the listener’s ability to make intelligent guesses about what will come next plays a crucial role in their understanding of speech, and prediction is regarded by many researchers as on of the most powerful factors in comprehension. Therefore, a good listener is a good predictor. “By helping our students become better predictors, we are helping them become better listeners.”[8] ( p86)
Prediction also involves asking questions and answering them. According to Fisher and Terry active comprehension is process of generating questions while reading and searching for answers to them. Questioning helps to establish the purpose and causes the listener to interact with the speech, confirming or rejecting expectations.
“Penny Ur summarizes five types of cues that listeners depend on for making predictions about continuation of an utterance:
(1) The stock formula of the language, such as clichés, idioms, quotations and proverbs.
(2). Stress on a particular word in the first part of an utterance is often explained or clarified by a comment in the second.
(3). The logical relationship between the first part of an utterance and the second is often signaled by a conjunction.
(4.) There is construction where the speaker proclaims in advance the kind of thing he is going to say.
(5). Rhetorical questions or bold, brief statements, particularly in the negative, are often followed by answers or amplification in the form of reasons, examples or explanations.” [9] (p11)
(ⅱ)Setting the scene
Another type of pre-listening activity is to set the scene for the students, for example: picture, video, TV etc. Listening to passages in the classroom can be more difficult than listening in real life, because of the lack of context .So the teacher can help provide the background information to activate learners’ schema or illustrate the picture to help students to understand the main idea, so they will be better prepared to understand what they hear.
(ⅲ)Listening for the gist
This type of the pre-listening activity is listening for the gist. It is very important to give students practice in this area, because in real life, they can not listen to the materials several times. Therefore, it will be impossible for them to catch all the information, so they need to be fit with some ambiguity in listening and realize that they can still learn even when they do not understand every word. Listening for the gist is familiar with skimming a passage in reading. The key point lays in let students some questions that focus on the main idea or the tone or the mood of the passage. Find whether students can answer the questions even though they can not understand each word or phrase in the passage.
(ⅳ)Listening for specific information
There are situations in real life where they listen only for some specific details and ignore the rest of the entire message. For example, when they listen to the weather report on TV, they are only interested in the temperature in the city where they live or where we plan to go on the holiday, or when they are sitting in a train station or an air port, they do not listen to the details of all the announcements. It is important to expose our students to a variety of type of listening texts for a variety of purpose so that they will develop a variety of listening strategies to use for different situations.
4.2 While - listening activity
This stage is the most difficult for the teacher to control, because this is where a student should pay attention and get the information actively. However, if the teacher can provide a reason, goal, or task for the learner, this should encourage and help students to focus their attention.
In daily class, students must use all aspects of personal listening ability. At the beginning of this article, we have discussed the problems on students’ listening ability.
According to these problems, we must train the comprehensive listening ability in daily time.
Following are some special training
4.2.1 Listen and tick
A large part of what makes a listening task easy or difficult is what the teacher asks the students to do with the materials. If what students all need to do just is tick as they hear them, the task will be much easier. What you need to tick, you can hear them clearly. Because it is quite easy, ticking is very fit for the students who are in grade 7. It can encourage them to listen to the dialogue or passage carefully.
4.2.2 Listen and act
These activities relate to a method of teaching called Total Physical Response, which concentrates on learning language by listening and responding physical to commands or directions. Here is an example:
“Beginning TPR
Procedure:
(1.) Have two students positioned to two chairs.
Commands supporting vocabulary
Stand up fast
slowly
Sit down table chair
Walk
head stomach
Stop
door blackboard
Turn around
Touch
(2)pick two other students and add more vocabulary that are in the classroom--- such as book, pencil, paper, desk, floor, teacher—and add to the commands put, place, scratch..
(3)use the following type of commands repeatedly in random order, rotating pairs of students from time to time, until you can see that all the students clearly understand what these commands and actions mean.
For example:
Put the pencil on the book.
Scratch your head.
Scratch your stomach.
Put the paper in the box.
Put your hand on your head.
Place the box on the teacher’s head.
Scratch your head and stomach. ” [10] (p11)
4.2.3 Listen and draw
This is similar to acting out physically, but in this type, the students are drawing picture, diagrams on paper. “This type of activity works very well as an information gap activity between pairs of students.” [11] (p90) One example: one student draws a simple picture and then tells his/her partner how to draw it in English .Neither partner can look at each other’s drawing during the task. After they have completed the task, they can compare their pictures to see how similar they are.
Other way: according to last example.
“Introduce the word draw. This opens up a rich network of things you can ask your students to do. Start very simply with the familiar items that the students have already internalized through TPR.
For example:
Draw a table
Draw a chair
Draw a hand
Draw a box
Draw a hand on a door
Draw a window and a hand and book. ”[12] (p11) 4.3 post --- listening activity
Post--- listening, teachers can determine how well the students have understood what they listened to, but it is important to design the tasks well. “One important point to keep in mind is whether we are testing the students’ listening comprehension or their memory. In fact, in real life, listener can remember the gist of the conversation, but cannot remember exactly what words were said. It is more natural to select and interpret what we hear rather than repeat everything we have heard.” [13] ( p187) .Here are some types of post—listening activity: multiple choice questions, answering questions, note-taking, gap—filling and dictogloss.
“It is important to remember when designing activities not to demand that students remember more details the native-speaker would in a real life, because we do not want our students to get into the habit of thinking that they need to understand and remember.” [14] ( p117)
5. Conclusion
As teachers change their practice activity they gain new insights about the learning potentials of their students. “These successes have encouraged teachers to persevere in their efforts to design learning experiences that provide multiple entry and exit points for their students.” [15] ( p290-297)
During the exercitation in middle school, in fact, teachers did not teach the phonetics and phonology. Main practice on listening is just about the textbook. For example, GO FOR IT, the book has a small part for training listening. but the listening teaching is limited. It must add some activities. In the listening activities, according to the certain purpose, it can choose different skills: listen and act, listen and draw, and so on. These types of activities can be designed into games, which are popular for students.
Bibliography
1. Ren Xiaoping . Listening Barriers Among Chinese Students And Training Tactics [J].延安教育学院学报,2001 . p1-2
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1.学生来源广、层次多、基础差,积极性低,自信心不足。
由于高职高专院校自身的特殊性,学校的生源一般较为广泛,学生的层次水平基本上是高低不齐,英语基础总体来看也非常薄弱,这是目前此类院校大多存在的现实状况。中学时期,英语听力仅占15分(满分100分),学生基本上都是以考试为目的的学习,甚至有的学生因不想学习或学习困难而放弃听力这一部分,致使学生的听力基础知识非常差,对于相关听力技巧的掌握和课堂习惯的培养也是一片空白。现阶段,对于高职高专院校英语专业的学生而言,听力是一门必修的专业课程,更是将来步入社会寻求工作必备的一项技能。可见,从以考试为目的到以能力为目的,从根本不重视到高度重视,这是一个相当大的转变,在这种情况下,学生学习积极性差、缺乏自信等现象的出现也就不足为怪,而学生的此类表现给正常的英语听力课堂教学开展带来了较大阻碍。
2.英语听力课程的专业教材选用困难,课时安排稍显不足。
按照高职高专师范类院校的专业课程设置,我校在考察学生接受能力的基础上,先后选用了《英语听力》《听力教程》等听力教材。经过不断调试,我们最终选定了适合我校的两本教材,即:A类学生采用《致用英语》;B类学生采用《新大学英语视听说教程》。尽管我校选用了这两本教材,但是在教学实践中发现,很多教材内容缺少针对性、真实性和实用性,无法体现新的语言现象和变化,而且目前还没有可供高职高专英语听力课堂教学选用的专门教材。另外,课时安排太少,时间太短,不能达到理想的学习效果,例如我校根据入学时不同的学习水平,按层次将学生分为A类(初中毕业起点)和B类(高中毕业起点),A类学生在校5年,听力课程设置为9个学期,每周2课时;B类学生在校3年,听力课程设置为5个学期,每周2课时。按照现阶段的教学大纲和学生的学习基础,培养学生的听力习惯和学习方法会占用大量的课堂教学时间,所以每周2个课时的安排会稍显不足。
3.教师的教学手段单一。
高职高专院校教师的教学水平层次差异较大,能够外出学习交流的机会较少,对于素质教育背景下的全新教学模式接触也较少,因而教师们仍旧采用固有的传统教学模式,进行填鸭式的教学,学生只会死板地接受教师设定好的各项学习内容,不会自我安排学习时间、学习内容和学习进度。通常情况下,在几个学期的听力课教学之后,会有部分学生达不到《教学大纲》所提出的要求,教学效果不够明显。在实际的教学过程中,教师为了完成教学任务而讲授,与学生之间的互动交流缺乏,也不能够引导学生与学生之间进行有效的学习交流,致使学生在课堂上时常是不愿意听课、昏昏欲睡,这些不良现象充分说明高职高专英语专业学生对于听力学习的参与意识和参与积极性都非常低,对于教学效果的影响十分明显。
二、高职高专院校英语专业听力课堂教学改革的相关建议
在英语专业的基础学习阶段,关键是要培养学生凭借听觉获取语言信息的意识和能力。如今,课堂教学正在如火如荼地进行改革,我校的听力教师也一直在进行积极的探索和研究。结合近年来高职高专英语听力课堂教学的研究与实践成果,笔者认为新时期我们应彻底改变传统的应试教育理念和教育模式,转向大力提倡以学生为中心、课堂为阵地、交际为目的的全新的英语听力自主学习模式。
1.重视培养学生标准规范的语音面貌,加强对英美文化的深度了解。
我们常说万丈高楼平地起,而英语语言基础知识恰恰就是英语听力这座高楼建起之前的那片平地。教学实践中,语音基础知识薄弱的学生对于近音词的辨别非常困难,而且是时常混淆,对于语句中的语音变化也不能够正确辨别,想要听懂整篇文章也就无从谈起。有句话说得好,基础不牢,地动山摇。因此,在日常的课堂教学过程中,尤其是在学生入学的初始阶段,我校严格要求全体英语教师,首先了解学生的基础知识水平和学习能力,然后再根据教学目标、教学要求和教学内容,有计划、有步骤地提高学生的语音、语调、词汇、句型、句法等英语语言知识,特别是注重引导学生认真学习掌握音标,有针对性地指导学生形成规范的语音面貌。要想真正提高学生的英语听力水平,除了需要引导学生掌握足够的、专业的语言基础知识,还需要帮助学生提高英美文化知识储备数量和能力。在日常的听力教学过程中,我校教师通过文化短片、英文小故事等方式,逐步向学生渗透一些英美国家的文化教育思想和背景知识,主要包括国家的经济政治文化、民族的风俗习惯等等,一方面丰富了学生的英美文化基础知识,另一方面激发了学生学习英语听力的兴趣,随着学生文化知识积累的增加和学习兴趣的增强,听力课堂的学习氛围会越来越好,学生的学习效率和学习能力会越来越高,教师的教学热情和教学动力也会越来越强,最终形成教师和学生听力理解能力双提高的良好局面。
2.努力转变听力课堂教学理念,切实加强听力策略与技巧培养。
现阶段,要努力转变听力课堂教学理念,必须做到四个坚持:一是坚持认真学习与听力课程改革、听力课堂教学改革等相关的课改理论知识,并加以理解运用;二是坚持准确把握所教学生的学习需求、学习状态、学习水平及学习能力,以便有针对性地进行备课和上课;三是坚持注重听力课堂教学与课外实践的衔接,在运用听力理论知识指导语言实践活动的同时,通过语言实践活动认真检验听力理论知识的正确性,实现二者之间的相互促进;四是坚持以学生为中心、以任务为载体的听力课堂教学,让学生以参与者、体验者、交流者、合作者的身份去学习,要求学生完成一定的目标任务,积极地与师生进行交流,提高英语听力理解能力,从而营造轻松、愉快的良好课堂教学氛围。在加强学生听力技巧培养方面,着重于四种能力:一是培养学生的快速定位能力,引导学生根据材料中的一些重要线索,快速找准听力材料所要表达的主旨大意。二是培养学生的捕捉信息能力,在听力过程中引导学生尽力排除各种多余信息的干扰,找出材料中的关键词与信息点,提高听力理解效率。三是培养学生的联想预测能力,引导学生根据已获取材料的主要内容和重要信息点进行联想,逐步预测出听力材料内容的下文。四是培养学生的逻辑推理能力,鉴于英语听力课堂教学的特殊性,可以引导学生模仿材料中讲话者的语气语调进行讲话,从中感受和体会材料中讲话者的态度,结合已捕捉的关键词和重要信息点,把握材料整体的主旨大意,并在此基础上推断出听力材料描述的主要事情、发生原因、发展过程、最终过程及讲话者的身份等等,这样,学生就可以在短时间内准确地、快速地把握整篇听力材料的全部内容。
3.合理选用听力题材与教学手段,增强听力教学的丰富性、真实性与实用性。
(1)选用丰富、真实且具有普遍性的听力题材,既要贴近学生生活,又能紧跟时代步伐。如选用与政治制度、经济发展、文化建设、影视时尚和社会热点等相关的听力材料,可以让学生及时了解现实社会发展的最新动态,丰富课外知识,积累听力素材,消除听力过程中对听力题材和听力内容的陌生感,便于学生快速进入良好的听力状态。
(2)坚持课上与课下、教师讲授与学生自主学习、理论学习与语言实践相结合的教学理念。在课堂上,教师利用少部分时间对听力策略与技巧等相关专业理论知识进行讲解,其余时间交予学生,由学生对已讲授的理论知识进行消化、吸收,或者自主学习,或者小组学习,在这个过程中学生如若遇到难点与问题,教师可以当堂解答,并通过创设一定的语言环境,帮助学生对该难点所涉及的相关知识点进行加强学习、深入理解。在课堂外,要鼓励和引导学生积极参加类似于英文讲座、英文演讲比赛、英文辩论赛等各种活动,不断培养学生在当前社会环境下的竞争合作意识,激发学生对于听力课程及其他与英语相关课程的浓厚兴趣。
(3)采用生动活泼、声像并茂的多媒体开展教学,要做到“两个注重”:一是注重语言点与学生兴趣、所学专业、就业方向相结合,有助于调动学生学习应用听力知识的主动性和积极性;二是注重音乐、诗歌等艺术的调节作用,营造轻松愉快的学习气氛,让学生能够适应风格各异的语言表达形式,也能够得到全方位、多层面的英语听力技能训练。在多媒体教学过程中,教师可以指导学生运用现代化手段进行自我技能测试,也可以为学生提供丰富多彩的听力学习资源,拓宽学生听力学习的渠道。
4.帮助学生突破听力学习障碍,树立自信,提高听力水平。
无论做什么事情,我们都需要具备良好的精神状态和心理素质,英语听力的学习也不例外。据了解,有很多学生在刚开始面对听力材料的时候,就给予自身一些消极不利的心理暗示,总是认为自己对眼前的听力材料没有把握,只能让自己处于缺乏信心、过度紧张的状态,想听懂的欲望很强烈,但是听不懂的挫败感更为强烈,结果就是处于得过且过、永远落后的状态。面对此种情况,我们的教师首先要帮助学生稳定心态,告诉学生材料的细节部分固然重要,但并不是每个细节都重要,因此没有必要过分注意每一个语言和细节,而是应该将注意力集中在材料所要表达的主旨大意和主要内容两个方面。在听力过程中,有些过于执着的学生总是将注意力集中于已听过的那部分材料,却忽视了正在播放的这部分材料,教师应该及时提醒学生注意正在播放的材料内容。另外,要注意选择一些与学生的日常学习生活、身边环境、未来就业等密切相关且难易适当的听力题材,能够让学生意识到听力课程简单易学,有效激发学生对于听力课程的学习欲望,逐步帮助学生克服听力学习过程中的各种心理障碍。
三、结语
关键词:图式理论听力理解听力教学
一、图式理论
图式理论是认知心理语言家们用以解释理解心理过程的一种理论。最早由著名哲学家康德于1781年提出。20世纪30年代初,英国心理学家巴特利特应用并发展了图式概念。所谓“图式”是指每个人过去获得的知识在头脑中储存的方式;是大脑对过去经验的反映或积极组织;是被学习者储存在记忆中的信息对新信息起作用的过程;是怎样把这些新信息丰富到学习者知识库中的过程。大量的认知理论证明,图式是认知的基础,人们在理解、吸收、输入信息时,需要将输入信息与已知信息(即图式)联系起来。对新输入信息的解码、编码都依赖于人脑中已存的信息图式、框架或网络。输入信息必须与这些图式相匹配,图式才能起作用,完成信息处理的系列过程,即从信息的接受、解码、重组到储存。
二、听力理解与听力理解过程
语言学家Widdowson指出,听力理解包含两层意思,一是听懂说话的语法结构,听到并接受相关语音及语法的信号系统所组成的句子,这种理解仅限于理解句子的字面意义;二是从语言的功用来理解,即除理解字面意义外,还得理解所听到的说话的交际动能,这样的活动可以称之为听力理解。“听力理解过程决不是一种单纯的语言信息解码过程,而是一种解码过程与意义再构建的结合。”也就是说,听力理解过程决不仅仅是听者在词汇、句法、语义层面上对所得到的语言信息进行加工的过程,还是听者根据语言理解加工过的信息,在记忆中搜寻与之相关的经验和背景知识并加以运用,对话语信息进行预测、假设、推断和得出结论的过程,是语言理解和问题解决的过程。
三、听力理解模式
听力理解包括“自下而上”、“自上而下”和“交互”三种模式。“自下而上”的听力理解模式是指听者在词汇、句法、语法层面上对听力材料进行加工、处理和解析来确定单词、句子或篇章的意思。“自上而下”的听力理解模式是指听者运用与话题相关的背景知识对所听信息进行推测或假设以及对预测或假设的确认。“交互”的听力理解模式是指“自下而上”和“自上而下”的理解模式交替使用的听力理解模式。
四、图式理论对听力理解的作用
听力理解是一个将头脑中的图式与接收信息联系起来的过程,因此图式在听力理解中有着十分重要的作用。总的来讲,图式有利于加强对听力资料的理解。
1.图式有助于听者对上下文的预测。预测能力是听力理解的重要技巧,是听者根据背景知识预知和上下文推测说者意图的活动。学生从所给的文字材料中找出微观背景知识,建立信息框架,弄清所听文章的类型、结构和大意,就能激活相关的背景知识。当听者的图式被具体的听力材料激活时,就可以有效的预测出所听材料接下来的内容。
2.图式有助于克服心理焦虑。有些高职学生在听力理解过程中一遇到生词或不理解的句子就烦躁不安,有些学生甚至还没开始听就产生了畏难情绪。这种焦虑情绪无形中阻碍了信息的输入,降低了信息加工的有效性,从而影响了对听力材料的理解。因此降低听力过程中的焦虑感有助于提高学生的听力水平。图式为学生理解听力材料提供了心理框架,使其处于一种积极的准备状态中,焦虑情绪自然就得到了缓解。不少学生表示,如果教师在听力训练前对将要听到的材料作相关的背景介绍,他们则会感觉心中有数,在听的过程中,能更能专注于重要的信息。这是因为学生所具备的相关图式越多,就越能在听力过程中控制好自己的情绪,从整体上把握语言传达的信息,不会因未听懂个别生词而感到紧张、焦虑。
五、图式理论在听力教学中的应用
图式理论对提高高职学生听力水平有重要的促进作用,教师要注意引导和训练学生正确运用图式理论。
1.图式的激活与建立。高职学生英语基础薄弱。教师要耐心地、有意识地在听力教学过程中帮助学生激活已有图式、构建新图式。图式通常被分为两类:形式图式和内容图式。
形式图式是语言知识及运用语言的能力,它是听力理解的前提和先决条件,主要包括听者对词汇、语法和语言习惯的掌握和使用能力。有了这种图式,学生就可以比较顺利地应用它浏览听力材料的练习,根据问题和选项对文章大致内容进行预测。高职学生英语词汇量小,语法知识支离破碎,听力训练前教师要帮助学生回忆其已掌握的单词、句型,补充可能遇到的新单词、句型,并对相关的语法知识进行讲解。间接降低听力材料的语言难度,使学生有信心听懂材料的内容。
内容图式指关于语篇的文化背景知识。语言理解在很大程度上是由语言学习者所具有的文化背景知识决定的。而大部分高职学生对英语文化背景知识缺乏了解。因此,在教学中,经常有学生反映能听懂一段话中的每一个句子,但却不理解整段话的意思,或理解上有偏差。
2.图式理论指导下的课堂教学模式。以图式理论为基础,Underwood提出了三段式听力课堂教学模式,即听前阶段,听力理解阶段和听后阶段。
听前阶段主要是教学词汇和激活与听力材料相关的图式。通常采用视听手段,利用图片、照片、幻灯、多媒体等形式,引导学生讨论有关内容,并提出一些问题让学生回答,扫清语言和文化障碍。听前阶段的主要任务是激发兴趣和欲望、熟悉话题、预测大意等。
听力理解阶段,教师要引导学生一方面运用自上而下的信息处理方式对材料进行预测,推理,掌握文章大意;另一方面运用自下而上的方式抓住关键词句,进行细节的听辨。
听后阶段,教师可以让学生对听过的材料进行讨论、角色扮演、口笔头转述所听内容、写梗概等,以巩固他们在大脑中建立的新图式。
英语听力方面的长进会促进阅读、写作和口语表达能力的提高,因此听力教学对学生的英语学习至关重要。把图式理论引进听力教学,使得它有序和有效地进行,对听力教学有效进行是一种有益的尝试。图式理论的运用,改变了教师和学生对以往听力理解的传统观念,为英语听力教学带来了新思路和新方法。
参考文献:
[1]Widdowson,H.G.TeachingEnglishasCommunication.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1978.
[2]丰玉芳.图式理论与英语听力理解[J].江苏外语教学研究,2001,(1).
[3]郭艳英,高玮.图式理论对大学英语听力教学的促进作用[J].长春大学学报,2007,(2).
[4]胡春洞.英语教学法[M].北京:高等教育出版社,1990.
[5]李宏然.图式理论指导下的大学英语听力教学[J].职教与经济研究,2007,(2).
[6]刘冬阳.高职高专学生英语听力障碍分析及应对策略[J].河南工业大学学报,2007,(4).
听力可以说是我们中国学生英语学习的最大障碍.我问过很多顺利通过六级考试的本科生,听力部分能真正听懂的实在是寥寥无几.很多人都是根据听懂的只言片语,再利用推理,排除一些的考试策略选择答案的.(国内有些听力教材还提出了只看答案就能选出正确答案的系统 "理论".)这样做考试是有可能通过的,但实际掌握,运用英语的能力就只有自己知道了.
在很长一段时间内,我所选的听力资料将会是VOA的Special级别的慢速英语.这主要是出于两个目的:一是打好基本功;二是从慢速英语入手是科学的方法,是实现标准英语听力突破的有效途径.
先说第一点.
关于听力基本功的认识问题我建议大家去买一本钟道隆编的<<逆向法巧学英语>>一书仔细看看,里面很多道理也说的很清楚了.我这里只想以我的亲身体验 "斩钉截铁"的告诉大家:开始 "真正"练习听力的时候(我这里所提到的 "真正" 不是指那些考试技巧,而是发自内心的想要掌握,运用,享受英语的源动力),千万不可操之过急,一开始就去听那些原版的标准速度的听力资料,一方面这样的方法极不科学;另一方面也会给自己刚刚培养起来的自信心带来巨大的重创.十有八九(也可以说是所有的人)都会很快放弃的.我自己当初也是这样,感觉简直是在听天书,十几分钟的录音下来能够把Topic听准确已经是很不错了,当中的细节部分根本没有时间反应就一闪而过了.这种过程简直就是一种 "煎熬". 当然也有少数意志力惊人的朋友坚持了下来,但是由于方法的失策,造成自己把大量的时间精力(有时可以说是青春)投入其中,可是回报却难以和付出平衡,收效甚微.说到这儿叫我想起以前我们有一位上外的听力老师讲的真人真事:一位研究生深知自己听力不过关,决心发奋苦读.于是他每天早上都坚持听广播电台里的标准英语,这样一听就是五年的时间.这种苦行僧似的磨炼并没有使他的听力水平真正得以提高.后来我们这位老师在了解了他的情况以后,告诉他之所以到现在他的听力还未真正突破最主要的原因就是他的基础没有打好,总是泛泛而听,而且总是听些已经有中文背景知识的广播,就会造成一种错觉,好象什么都听懂了,又好象什么也没听懂.大意能够抓住(其实是有背景知识的原故),真正精确到每一句话,每一个单词却总是丢三落四的,不能准确的传情达意.这种沙上建塔的 "辛劳"永远也不会建成坚固的大厦,而总是在进行建了倒下,倒下了再建的重复劳动.
再说第二点.
从慢速英语入手是真正科学的听力突破方法.而且在我自己的实践过程中摸索出一些听力带动口语,锻炼口译的好方法.下面我想结合我给大家提供的听力资料具体谈一谈练习的方法:
1.下载完相关的听力资料后,用realplayer G2进行播放,我这里暂时不想给大家提供原文,尤其对那些本来就很清晰的听力资料.(不是很清楚的资料我回加入原文的),这主要是希望大家不要依赖原文,自己一定要一个单词一个单词的完全听懂.有的同学说我有那么几个单词实在听不懂怎么办?大家想一想,慢速英语的单词量是1500到2000,也就是说一个比较好的高中生的单词量已经超过了许多,更何况四六级都已通过的你.听不懂的唯一原因绝对不是生词的问题,(这种问题只有在听标准英语的时候才会产生,以后我会和大家专门讨论的)只能是你对这个单词的发音极其陌生,大脑根本没有反映.如果让你看一看原文,你会不屑一顾的.但在听的时候却不知所云.起初我练习的时候有时为了一个单词可以想上正正一天,嘴里老是念道着这个单词的发音.我知道这个单词我一定认识,直到某一刻恍然大悟:咳!不就是这么简单的一个单词嘛!这时我总是猛拍自己的脑袋骂道 "真是愚蠢".:-) 当然如果有些同学说这段录音我已经听了十遍了,当中的几个单词你就是打死我我也听不出来.如果真的到了这个地步,你可以把你的问题发表在世博英语论坛里,我会告诉你答案的.
2.接下来要做的就是要保证这一段录音你是完完全全的听懂了.什么是完完全全的听懂了呢?就是每听完一句话,你都能准确的复述出来,包括每一个单词.这里在语音上不是很好的朋友要注意了,由于是慢速英语,所以只要你
著名教育家杜威非常看重学生经验,认为它是教育的起点,是教育的途径,而学生经验的获得和持续改造则是教育的目的。教育必须依据学生现有的经验进行,如果不顾这种现实存在的特点,教育的过程和结果都将会受到限制。当然,教育也不能仅仅满足于学生现有的经验水平,还要推动学生经验向高水平发展。学生知识的获得必须经过经验的桥梁,没有经验,没有“尝试”和“做”的结合,学生不可能真正领会事物及事物之间的关系。听力障碍学生因为听觉受限,失去了将近1/3的信息来源,抽象思维较为薄弱,而学科知识又是概括化、抽象化了的经验,这种抽象化了的学科经验与他们现有的经验相差甚远,要使他们自己通过直接的智慧力量获取知识十分困难。教师最关键的任务就是引导他们把直接经验与用符号表示的学科知识联系起来,此时现有的经验水平就显得十分重要了。
二、听力障碍学生经验的特点
听力障碍学生的经验与普通学生的经验有着诸多差别:
1.个人社会生活经验不同
从生活经历来看,绝大多数听力障碍学生在学龄前就丧失了听力,家长对其往往会产生内疚和怜悯之心,从而对其倍加保护,让其平时尽量减少与普通小孩子的接触,生怕其受到歧视和欺侮。到了受教育的年龄,家长就把他们送入特殊学校接受教育。而目前在听力障碍学生的早期教育中,几乎所有特殊学校都是封闭式管理,不准他们随便进出校门。虽然这种做法是为了更好地保护听力障碍学生的安全,但也在一定程度上地阻碍了听力障碍学生与社会的沟通交流,造成他们缺少个人社会生活的经验。在普通人看来是司空见惯的事,可能对他们来说是新生的事物。
2.前备知识不同听力障碍
学生幼小失聪后,由于语言交流存在困难,家长很少对其进行家庭教育,教育主要由特殊学校来实施。而对各个特殊学校的调查结果表明,听力障碍学生的文化水平明显落后于普通学生。有一项报告发现:20岁的听力障碍学生在阅读理解能力上的测验结果相当于小学五年级水平,其平均花三年时间才能取得普通学生一年的进步;就学业来说,听力障碍学生与同龄普通学生相差5年左右。
3.知识表达方式
解读不同与听力障碍学生交流主要是通过手语,而手语的地域性差异大、词汇量少、过于简单,不像书面语那样稳定,特别是对一些抽象概念的表述,手语常常会使接受者产生理解上的偏差甚至错误。
三、美术课堂教学中利用与提升听力障碍学生经验的策略
由于教师在生活经验、知识积累、理解能力等方面与学生有明显的差异,学生对许多知识的理解往往会与教师的理解有偏差。教师在教学活动中不能以自身的经验为出发点,而要以学生经验为标准。对于如何在实践教学中把握学生经验,笔者在平时的美术教学中的体会是:首先要充分了解学生经验,然后找出其经验特征。
1.听力障碍学生经验的获取途径
其一,从平时的课堂中及时发现听力障碍学生的经验特征。教师在课堂中要特别注意观察听力障碍学生的表情,他们往往不会对不懂的问题马上主动地提出疑问,但是一旦被疑问卡住了,接下来就很难专注地继续听讲,他们对问题的自我消化能力很弱。如,教师在课堂上讲解装饰画的内容时,在说到“点缀的作用”时,听力障碍学生就不知道“点缀”这个词的意思,所以对后面的讲解内容不感兴趣。这种情况如果出现在普通学生的课堂上,根本不会对普通学生学习产生阻碍,因为普通学生会通过后面教师讲课的内容自己领悟“点缀”这个词语的意思。在听力障碍学生课堂中,教师要时刻关注他们的学习状态,通过细致的观察及时掌握他们现有的经验水平。
其二,从作业或练习中分析研究听力障碍学生的经验特征。听力障碍学生在课堂上对某些知识点表面上看似已经掌握了,当教师问大家有没有掌握时,他们都会点头示意会了。其实在这种情况下有的学生还处在一知半解、似懂非懂的状态,如果教师给他们布置作业或者练习,就会发现许多在课堂上没有发现的问题。因为教师对于听力障碍学生是采用手语进行教学的,但手语有一些局限性,如它的语法跟书面语有明显的区别,导致听力障碍学生在做作业或考试中对问题的解答往往漏洞百出,有的是语法书写错误,有的是对知识理解的偏差。对于上述情况教师要认真分析研究,对听力障碍学生的各类错误经验作系统归纳,并且进一步搞清他们所犯的错误是由于怎样的经验特征造成的,这样才有助于他们彻底掌握相关知识。
其三,从日常谈话中细心察觉听力障碍学生的经验特征。教师与听力障碍学生的交流沟通主要是靠手语,多数情况下是一对一地交流,但是课堂教学时间有限,教师不可能将很多时间花在与听力障碍学生的沟通上,所以平时课余时间就要多与他们交谈。如,笔者与他们在谈论吃什么水果时,发现他们不知道樱桃是什么样子的,当时笔者想是不是因为他们没有吃过一些不常见的水果。果然,笔者细问后得知他们对很多当地不常见的水果与蔬菜都不认识。知道了这些情况后,笔者在美术史的作品欣赏中有意挑选一些果蔬类绘画作品,并进行必要的介绍。这样做对他们以后在美术高考中的色彩考试有很大帮助,让他们不至于对色彩题目中的果蔬名称产生疑问。
2.增加听力障碍学生经验的策略
其一,要让听力障碍学生从亲身体验中获得经验。对听力障碍学生来说,视觉是他们的主要信息来源,但是他们认识事物有特点:听不见,所以不懂;看见过,就知道了;做过了,就会记住。所以,在教学中教师尽量要使他们能亲身得到体验。如,课堂上在讲解到有关色彩内容时,为了让他们知道不同材质、不同肌理产生的色彩差异,教师可以拿一块红色的绸缎和一块红色毛料作对比,也可以将红色丝巾和红色棉布作对比,让学生直观感受不同的红色效果,再通过举一反三,告诉他们生活中有很多种红色。只有这样不断加深学生的感性认识,他们在感知和触摸中,才能更好地体会色彩的微妙变化,也能更好地理解作品。
其二,根据听力障碍学生经验的差异性,把握问题的难度和梯度。听力障碍学生与普通学生相比,个体间的差异更大。每位听力障碍学生的听力等级不同,听力缺损的时间与后期参加语言康复训练的时间不同,家庭背景不同,甚至父母的关注程度不同,等等,都对他们的语言学习造成一定的影响,从而影响他们对各学科的学习。教师在问题设置上要遵循由浅入深、由简到繁的原则,尽量让每位听力障碍学生都有不同程度的进步。在平面构成的教学中,针对多种形式美的内容,教师可以根据不同学生的情况让他们完成不同难度的绘画作业,有能力的多画几种形式,能力弱的少画几种,还可以选择简单点的形式来画。不同难度的任务能充分激发每位听力障碍学生的自信心,有效提升他们的经验知识。
其三,对教材进行研究,找到教材与听力障碍学生当下经验的连接点。目前,听力障碍学生的教材基本上还是参照普通学校的教材,虽然对于知识点的掌握二者的要求差不多,但是听力障碍学生的经验与普通学生的经验相比有悬殊。所以,在针对听力障碍学生的教材理解上,教师要花较多的精力仔细分析研究,特别要从听力障碍学生现有的经验知识出发,找到其与教材中知识的连接点。如,在讲解原始社会的陶塑作品时,听力障碍学生看到那些丰乳肥臀的女性塑像时,很难理解为什么原始人要雕这么难看的塑像,他们总是认为美术就应该欣赏美的东西,这些难看的女性塑像毫无美感可言。针对上述情况,笔者就从他们自己与爷爷奶奶辈的人的不同审美观出发,讲透这个道理。如此讲解,这个知识点就不会那么抽象,他们也就容易理解。
四、结语
常有同学问我:“学英语是不是很要求天赋?”
我那时竟顿住了,两种相反却都可自圆其说的答案,配着各自相关的剪影在脑中闪过。我也许该顺着他的眼神和流行的成功哲学以及可以预见的自我满足感,给他描绘自己少时遭天命不公乃至口齿不清,而后奋发图强而勤终补拙的似水流年。但我居然走了另外一条路线,我缓缓说:“不仅要具天赋,而且要求从幼时学起进一步开发天赋,但这些只是你的起点,你现在要做的是在起点与目标之间划一条尽可能精彩的弧线。”
还在大学的时候, 经济学基础课虽牵强人意,自己却深受其思维方法的影响:过去的投入是已经沉落的成本,你需要的是利用现在争取未来。也许这种理性也会同样折射在其他学科上面,正如基辛格博士所持的论调那样:对过去的肯定是一种现实态度,而政治的任务是要塑造它。刚才给予那位同学的回答或许正是这样一种理性的鼓励。学习英语认识到天赋的力量是现实的,而在这基础上的捷径只能是一种理性的捷径:
在体验中思考,在观察中总结,设定合理的目标和方略
首先,设定短期目标作为突破重点。在教学中我们经常发现,漫无目的学习的同学往往进步不大,而集中力量首先突破一点至关重要。以口语为例,短期内全面提升口语有很大难度,甚至不同语体的口语要求截然不同(比如日常对话体用词比起演讲体就简单随意很多),但是如果短期的目标只是一场面试,一次演讲或者商务谈判,则完全可能有捷径可寻。我还记得大四时参加哈佛肯尼迪学院在上海的面试,由于准备时间很短,让我着实尝试了“速成”的滋味,在两天时间内反复锤炼对自己教育背景,公共服务经历和职业目标的阐述,特别是一些面试模块化的词组句子,在面试时收到很好效果。