Language Context and the English Teaching

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The role of the teacher in acommunicative classroom is not an informer or a supervisor but amanager or helper．The teachers should try to design all kinds of activities to help the students perform or interact among themselves as much as possible．But designing a course which prepares students to interact in specific roles in real-life situations requires that the course designer first discovers that what part is played in these activities by the language of different kinds．He must find out what topics come up often enough to be worth discussing in class，and we must also bear in mind the kind of people the pupil will eventually have to deal with．So we should let the students have the opportunity to learn，and become proficient in the games and diversions of English-speaking people．They should be able to participate in verbal competitions，where there are special activities to be associated with festivals or national holidays，students should be able to engage them at the appropriate time，decorating the Christmas tree and singing Christmas carols，celebrating Guy Fawkes Day，rolling eggs at Easter，dressing up for trick-or-treat，preparing a Thanks-giving dinner etc．On the other hand，much autonomous interaction can take place at the English language students' club or at class excursions and on picnics．So we can arrange some visits to see exhibitions of American or British paintings，to eat at restaurants which serve English or American specialities，to see films in English，or to attend performances by visiting theatrical companies．Groups within class may take turns preparing typical meals and inviting the others．We also invite some foreign guests and students to have a talk with us．And students should try to show their towns or schools to English-speaking visitors or tourists．For these courses，activities such as those described above will plunge the students into normal use of language．

C．Use paralinguistic features

Sometimes when we set the language context，using paralinguistic features such as gestures，facial expressions and some actions will be more convenient and vivid than using teaching aids such as pictures or slides．eg．In Unit 5 of SB1A，when we explain how to grow cabbages，if we use the teaching aids such as pictures，or slides，it will take us a lot of time to prepare the teaching materials before class．But if we act out the process of growing cabbages in class with a few actions，the students will understand the process more vividly in a shortwhile．So no matter when teachers present，demonstrate，drill，practise the teaching material we should pay attention to using paralingui

stic features flexibly and appropriately．And paralinguistic features are complementary to the teaching aides in the English teaching．

Ⅳ．The rules of setting language context

How to set the language context correctly and flexibly becomes a problem which teachers are concerned about．

A．The language context must be real

Situational teaching and meaning teaching both mean that the teaching materials should be those normal utterance made in real-life situations and be practised in authentic everyday situations．

B．The language context must be relevant

Situations set for practice should be those which the students are likely to encounter in their present and future communication．It is a waste of time to ask them to discuss problems beyond their level of maturity and knowledge of the world．

C．The language context must be definite

When we set a language context，we should take all the factors of language context into account．For example，in a shop，we can start a conversation between shopkeepers and customers，and we can also start the conversation between the customers．Then what is the objective of the conversation？What kind of language form can be used in the language context？It requires that the teachers must give some clear or definite explanation to the students．Only when the students know what kind of roles they will play and what the objective of the talking is，they can avoid mechanical memorization and be able to start a free conversation in the language context．

D．The language context must be helpful in developing the students'creativity

In the process of English teaching，teachers should not remain satisfied with the memorization of the language，but should extend the development of language skills through language study and proceed from the manipulated practice to the communicative use of the language．After the students have learned some language points in a dialogue，they may be asked to create a new dialogue by giving them some new ideas and lines，which could，of course be in conformity with the original dialogue．

Bibliography．

Halliday，M．A．K．Towards a Sociological Sementics．In Brumfit＆Jahnson（ed），1979．

H．G．Widdowson．1978，From Teaching Language as Communication，Oxford University Press．

Hymes．D．H．On Communicative Competence，University of Pennsylvania Press，1971．

J．F．Wallwork．1968，An Introduction to the Study of Language，London：Longman．

Rivers．W．M．＆Temperley．M．S．A Practical Guide to Teaching English as a Second Foreign Language，Oxford University Press，1978．

Tom M．c．Arthur．A Foundation Course for Language Teachers，Cambridge University Press．

(江苏省如东县兵房中学 蔡平

《Language Context and the English Teaching》