Learner-Based Teaching in ELT Class

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Learner-Based Teaching in ELT Class

 

  Author:  Qian Li

           Supervisor:  Wang Yuelan

         

A Thesis

      Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of

 the Requirement for the Degree of B.A. in English

 Foreign Language Department

    Fuyang Teachers College, Anhui Province

                May, 2007

Learner-Based Teaching in ELT Class

                            Abstract

The author argues that with the process of teaching concept and the popularity of modern information media, traditional didactic teaching is not the most effective method. For various reasons, traditional teaching tends to focus on one or two language skills and ignore the others. One possible solution to bridge the gap between ELT class and real life language use is the adoption of Learner-based Teaching, which has been in syllabus design and in the methodology of foreign language teaching. The emphasis of Learner-based Teaching is that all class activities can be done using information that the learners themselves bring to the class. Furthermore, as Learner-based Teaching pattern goes, the emphasis here is on Learner Independence in the group mode rather than individual self-study mode. The ultimate goal of the learner-based Teaching in ELT class is to enable the students to use the foreign language in everyday life when necessary. Learner-based Teaching has its advantages: it can raise students’ interest and motivation. Among its advantages is its power as a tool for teachers’ development. No teacher taking this route can fail to develop both as a person and as a professional. The approach offers an exciting and rewarding alternative to those teachers willing to try it. It undoubtedly takes courage to cast off the security of control and pre-determined materials, to trust to the power of process and of learner-input, but the rewards are correspondingly great. An efficient ELT class needs Learner- basd Teaching.

Key words: Learner-Based Teaching; Traditional Pedagogy; ELT.

Learner-Based Teaching in ELT Class

Thesis Statement

Through the linguistic theories and the current situation, one can see that leaner-based teaching should be adopted widely in English Language Teaching class.

Outline

.Introduction

. The Linguistic Theories

A. Views on language

  B. Views on Language Learning

. The Current Situation

A. Traditional Pedagogy

   B. Traditional Pedagogy and the Language Use in Real Life

1. Writing in ELT Class

2. Rote Learning without Meaningful Context

. Learner-Based Teaching in ELT Class

A. Views on Learner-Based Teaching 

B. Advantages of Using Learner-Based Teaching

C. Ways of Using Learner-Based Teaching

1. Views on Learner-Based Teaching in Class

2. Teachers’ Role in Learner-Based Teaching

3. Two Activities about Learner-Based Teaching

. Conclusion

Learner-Based Teaching in ELT Class

Ⅰ. Introduction

In teaching English as a foreign language, the importance of Learner-based Teaching has been widely recognized. However how to attain the aim in the English language Teaching (ELT) class is a problem faced by language educators all over the world. In the present dissertation the concerning linguistic theories and teacher changes and the advantages of the Learner-based Teaching in the ELT class will be surveyed and studied in the light of the Chinese students’ situation. The present dissertation stresses that Learner-based Teaching is very essential in the ELT class. The teaching of language and Learner-based Teaching are of the same importance in the ELT class. Students and pedagogy are closely related in foreign language teaching is to enable the students to use the foreign language in everyday life when necessary, but very often there is a big gap between the use of language in real life and the traditional foreign language pedagogy. There are clear links between this approach and the current trend towards Learner Autonomy, self-directed learning, and Learner Independence. Perhaps unusually however, the emphasis here is on Learner Independence in the group mode rather than the individual self-study mode. Among its ancillary advantages is in power as a tool for teacher development. No teacher taking this route can fail to develop both as a person and as a professional. Furthermore Learner-based Teaching offers an exciting and rewarding alternative to those teachers willing to try it, it undoubtedly takes courage to cast off the security of control and pre-determined materials, to trust to the power of process and of Learner-input, but the rewards are correspondingly great.                                    

From years of my experience in teaching English as a tutor I gradually realize the importance of Learner-based Teaching to Chinese students. English teaching should be aimed at developing students' communicative competence so that they would be able to react freely and proper with native speakers of English in various social situations. Learner-based Teaching should be adopted in ELT class. It’s so important。

Ⅱ. The Linguistic Theories

A. Views on Language

One question that all approaches of language teaching should answer is “What is language?” The answer to this question is the basis for syllabus design, teaching methods, teaching procedures in the classroom, and even the techniques used in the class. Different views on language generate different teaching methodologies. To give a concise definition of the language has been an enormous amount of research in language in the past half century; no authoritative answer has been given to “What is language?” Rather, people talk about views of language, seemingly allowing for or accepting different theories for the moment. However, “teachers clearly need to know generally what sort of entity they are dealing with and how the particular language they are teaching fits into that entity (Brown, 1994). In the past half century, language teaching and learning practices have been influenced by three different views of language, namely, the structural view, the functional view, and the interact ional view. The structural view sees language as a linguistic system made up of subsystem; from phonological, morphological, lexical, etc. to sentences. Each language has a finite number of such structural items. To learn a language means to learn these structural items so as to be able to understand and produce language. The functional view sees language as a linguistic system but also as means for doing things. Most of our day-to-day language use involves functional activities: offering, suggesting, advising, apologizing, etc. Therefore, learners learn a language in order to be able to do things with it. To perform functions, learners need to know how to combine the grammatical rules and the vocabulary to express notions that perform the functions. Examples of notions are concept of present, past and future time; the expressions of certainty and possibility; the roles of agent and instrument within a sentence; and special relationships between people and objects. The international view considers language as a communicative tool. Whose main use is to build up and                                        maintain social relations between people? Therefore, learners not only need to know the grammar and vocabulary of the language but more importantly they need to know rules for using them in a whole range of communicative contexts.

These three views present an ever wider of language. The structural view limits knowing a language to knowing its structural rules and vocabulary. The communicative or notional-functional view adds the need to know how to use the rules and vocabulary to do whatever it is one wants to do. The interactional view says that to know how to do what one wants to do involves also knowing whether it is appropriate to do so, and where, when and how it is appropriate to do it. In order to know this, the learner has to study the patterns and rules of language above the sentence level to learn how language is used in different speech contexts.

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The understanding of the nature of language may provide the basis for a particular teaching method (Richards and Rodger, 1986), but more importantly, it is closely related to the understanding of language learning. If language is considered to have a finite number of structural items, learning the language probably means learning these items. If language is more than a system of structure, it is more important a tool, then to learn the language means to use it, rather than just study what it is and how it is formed.

B. Views on Language Learning

The language learning theory underlying ...

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