试论中学英语教学中的素质教育

试论中学英语教学中的素质教育 I Abstract. This paper deals with some aspects of quality-oriented education in the  TEFL context: the cultivation of ideal qualities, psychological qualities,  linguistic competence and communicative competence. The writer holds that  English teaching should be quality-oriented and in the TEFL context,  teachers should develop not only the learners’linguistic competence, but  also their ideal qualities and psychological qualities as well as their  communicative competence. TEFL in China should lay more emphasis on  improving the students’ ability to communicate. Teachers should make good  use of the learners’ non-intellectual capabilities, fully enlarge their  scope of knowledge and help them construct their own models of learning.

II Key words. TEFL, Quality-Oriented Education, Ideal Qualities, Psychological  Qualities, Linguistic Competence and Communicative Competence.

III Introduction. The quality of human beings refers to the established physical and  psychological attributes formed on the bases of inherited and acquired  characteristics through the influence of environment and education. It’s a  delicate combination of intellectual civilization and material  civilization that impacts on human beings. It includes ideal qualities,  intellectual qualities, physical qualities and psychological qualities.  The aim of quality-oriented education is to cultivate, perfect and improve  these five qualities for the nation, especially in the young. (Li Guoqing)

IV Ideal qualities. English teaching should include ideal quality teaching so as to influence  the learners’ ideals and improve their morality while they learn the  language.

i Using the texts. The texts in JEFC and SEFC have many materials concerning history,  geography, culture, science, biology and so on. Some of these have  valuable ideological contents. The teacher should explore them in the  textbooks. Such texts as “Body Language”, “Queue Jumper”, “Thomas Edison”  and “Karl Marx” are all good texts for ideological education. We can teach  the students to help others and be polite in “Body Language”; to observe  the public order in “Queue Jumper”; to work hard and love science in  “Thomas Edison” and to cultivate their interest and confidence in foreign  language learning by reading the text about Karl Marx.

Let’s take as an example - SEFC, BOOK 2A, Unit 3: Body Language. Lesson 9. A. Introduction. The teacher asks the students - T: “If you ask for a Sony Walkman in a shop and the shop assistant tells  you that they’ve got no Sony Walkman, what will you say to the assistant?”

The student replies - S: “It doesn’t matter. But could you tell me where I can get one?” Here the quality of teaching could enhance the students’ quality of ideals  by making suggestions to the students for pursuing the purchase of a Sony  Walkman.

B. Explanation of the text. Mr. Black - “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Can I carry those boxes for  you?” Tom - “Thanks a lot. It’s very kind of you.” Mr. Black - “What about your bag? Would you like me to carry it for you?” Tom - “No, thanks. I can manage it myself.”

C. The inferring. Students do pair work. After an analysis of the characters and their  psychological activity in the above text, the students now have had some  idea of the essence of the text. So the teacher can use the overhead  projector to explain the difficult problems in the text. While analyzing  the overhead, the teacher should point out the essence of the text, which  is, helping others and demonstrating independence. So the inferences are  as follows: S1: “Can I help you with your difficult problem?” S2: “No, thanks. I prefer to work it out by myself.”

S3: “Shall I wait for you?” S4: “That’s very nice of you.”

D. The exploration of the text. The teacher instructs the students - 1. “It’s necessary to do as the host does.” 2. “It’s good manners to offer help to others.” 3. “It’s good morality to refuse help when you can manage yourself.” The above three sentences are all the exploration of the deep essence of  the text which can be used to carry out ideal education. (JEFC and SEFC)

ii Using sample words and sentences. 1. - matter- : The thing that ‘matters’ is not whether you succeed or  not, but whether you try or not. 2. - compare - : Our teacher often ‘compares’ books to friends. Shakespeare ‘compared’ the word to a stage 3. - come to - : The foreigners ‘have come to’ realize that China is  nolonger what it used to be. Through the teaching of the above sentences, the students can learn not  only the essential language points, but also something about life and  patriotism.

V Psychological qualities. Learners are the substance of learning and development. They can only get  their knowledge efficiently when the teaching-learning system is in  accordance with their learning regularities. The teachers’ teaching is  only an external influence. During the operation of quality-oriented  education, great attention should be paid to the exploration, molding and  perfection of the learners’ psychological development and their  non-intellectual factors. Non-intellectual factors, which include recognition, motivation interest,  determination and personality, are the reflectors of objectivity. These  can modify and promote the learners’ intellectual factors. (Li Hongyu, Yin  Guo’en)

i Cultivating the students’ interest in study. Motivation and interest are very important factors in learning. These two  aspects of learning should cover the whole process of English teaching. We  should try to change the learners’ attitude from “I have to study” to “I  want to study”. (Xu Shaozhong). Many investigations and researches suggest  that the result of learning depend on the learners’ Intrinsic Motivation.  (Brown). Once they are interested, the learners will work