What are the teaching methods?

First, the status quo of English teaching method research

Since the birth of modern English in the 17th century, the discussion, reform and research on teaching methods have been in full swing, showing a trend from single to diverse, from diametrically opposed to comprehensive development, which has effectively promoted the development of English teaching practice and greatly enriched English teaching theory. A variety of English teaching methods have emerged at home and abroad, including approaches, skills and methods, such as grammar translation, direct method, listening and speaking method, audio-visual method, cognitive method, situational method, overall action response method, silence method, suggestion method, natural teaching method, mechanical response method, consulting method, information cognition method, conscious comparison method, conscious practice method, six-step listening and writing method, four-step continuous reading method and so on. The cross-functional teaching method of emotional situation structure rules, the five-step teaching method of reviewing and introducing operation exercises to consolidate, the release teaching method, the enhanced total immersion teaching method, the 16-character teaching method of Zhang Sizhong's "appropriate concentration, repeated circulation, reading original works and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude", the communicative method and the eclectic method. These methods have had a great influence on English teaching in different periods in China, and played a positive role in cultivating socialist English talents in China.

Great changes have taken place in English teaching in China since the reform and opening up. The traditional grammar translation method has been broken, and some new foreign teaching methods have been introduced, such as listening and speaking method, audio-visual method and so on. It has greatly broadened the horizons of English teachers and brought spring breeze and vitality to English teaching. The majority of English teachers have actively participated in the reform, research and practice of English teaching methods, and the face of English teaching is one of them. Many English teachers also report that while rejoicing in the excellent situation faced by English teaching since the reform and opening up, they feel at a loss. The first listening and speaking method, the later thinking method, functional method and communicative method ... always revolve around the introduction of new foreign teaching methods from China, which leads to some misunderstandings in the research and practice of English teaching methods to some extent. Specifically, in theoretical research, we should explore its theoretical significance, but explore its practical operation. In teaching practice, there are many mechanical copies and simple transplants of dates, and digestion and absorption are combined with practice to get rid of waste and make new ones less. It leads to extensive training, low fees and low efficiency in English teaching, and ignores the particularity, stages and diversity of English teaching objectives. All these have restricted the process of English teaching to some extent. In order to make the English teaching reform go further, it is necessary to make a careful analysis and comparison of English teaching methods, so as to provide scientific guidance for English teaching.

Second, a brief analysis of several current English teaching methods

At present, there are many methods used in English teaching in middle schools in China, but from the perspective of influence, development direction and popularization value, listening and speaking method, communicative method, compromise method and Zhang Sizhong 16 word teaching method are the mainstream. From the method itself, it is a sublation relationship, that is, communicative approach is sublation of listening and speaking method, while eclectic approach and Zhang Sizhong 16 word teaching method are sublation of listening and speaking method.

(A) Listening and Speaking Method

It was formed and succeeded in the US military in the late World War II. It was popular in the United States in the early 1950s, reached its peak in the mid-1960s, spread to all countries in the world, and became famous in the world of English teaching.

1, pay attention to language structure, form and meaning, followed by mechanical memory.

2. Language learning projects do not need to be contextualized;

3. The goal of language learning is to master pronunciation, sentence patterns and words. Therefore, mechanical exercises are widely used.

4. Sentence pattern practice is the main skill used in teaching;

5. The pronunciation requirements are similar to those of native speakers;

6. It is forbidden to use grammar explanation, mother tongue and primary level translation in class;

7. Only after long-term strict sentence pattern practice and a lot of mechanical practice can we engage in communication activities;

8. Listening, speaking, reading and writing, that is, after mastering spoken English more skillfully, you can engage in reading and writing;

9. Master the English language system by teaching language structure (that is, systematic teaching of sentence patterns);

10, with the formation of language ability as the biggest goal of teaching;

1 1, and arrange the learning order according to the difficulty of the language project;

12, the teacher takes the content as the center to decide, control the students and bring them strictly into the training track of this method to avoid language errors as much as possible;

13, language accuracy is the main goal;

14, students' learning state is passive, with little practice, short practice time and narrow practice scope;

15, the method is mechanical and monotonous, and students are easily bored.

communicative approach

Originated in Western Europe in 1970s, it is the need of political, economic and cultural exchanges in contemporary society. Especially since the founding of Europe, the demand for all kinds of professional English talents has become more and more urgent. Therefore, this teaching method of cultivating language communicative competence came into being and quickly became popular all over the world. Compared with the listening and speaking method, it is characterized by:

1, the most important; Focus on communicative function, pay attention to meaning, use or practice structure;

2. Contextualization is the basic premise of teaching;

3. The goal of language learning is to learn to communicate effectively;

4. Sentence pattern practice is an auxiliary training method;

5. Pronunciation can be understood as a standard;

6. According to age, interest and other conditions, grammar can be explained as long as it is helpful to learners, mother tongue can be used appropriately in appropriate occasions, and translation can be used according to students' needs;

7. Encourage exchange activities from the beginning;

8. When necessary, reading and writing can be carried out simultaneously with listening and speaking;

9. Students learn English language system through communication process or activities;

10, communicative competence is the biggest goal of teaching;

1 1, the learning order is determined by the needs, interests and significance of communication;

12, considering students' needs, taking students as the center, and encouraging students to use language to solve practical problems through trial and error; Teachers do not need to strictly specify the language items to be used;

13. Fluency, proficiency, appropriateness and acceptability of language are the basic teaching principles and the main pursuit goal. Accuracy is not abstract, but should be reflected in context;

14, students study actively, practice a lot, practice for a long time and practice a wide range;

15, flexible and diverse methods, something close to reality; Students have a strong interest.

(3) Compromise method

Because all methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, it is impossible to cure all diseases. Therefore, in recent years, there has been a general trend in the field of English teaching at home and abroad, that is, to adopt a compromise attitude towards various schools of English teaching methods, take their advantages and disadvantages, optimize their allocation, and combine pairs of contradictory methods for use, thus producing new methods, namely "compromise method" or "new teaching method", grammar translation method, direct method and listening and speaking method.

1. Compromise on the mother tongue, that is, implement the principle of both utilization and control, neither completely rely on the mother tongue like grammar translation method, nor absolutely exclude the mother tongue like direct method and listening and speaking method, but use the positive role of understanding, comparison and contrast to eliminate negative interference such as habits and language sense that are not conducive to thinking;

2. Compromise in dealing with language learning and application, that is, we should not only pay attention to the cultivation of language communication ability (language application ability), but also strengthen language knowledge learning and training;

3. Compromise when dealing with spoken and written language. Listening, speaking, reading and writing are both teaching purposes and teaching methods, which complement each other. They should focus on stages, objectives and comprehensive training, rather than listening, speaking and reading or focusing on reading and writing as some teaching methods do.

4. Compromise in dealing with the relationship between the whole and the part, that is, focus on sentence unit teaching, supplemented by word unit teaching, text-centered teaching and individual teaching of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, without going to extremes;

5. Compromise on the relationship between content and form, structure and function. Pay equal attention to form and structure, and pay more attention to content and function, unlike listening and speaking, which only pays attention to form and structure and ignores content and function. To cultivate students' ability, we should not only pay attention to the form and structure of language, but also pay attention to the content and function of language expression, that is, we should not only know how to speak correctly, but also explain what is more appropriate and appropriate. Teaching content must be presented in real and coherent language, scene and language.

6. The specific teaching methods are flexible and diverse. Induction and deduction are compromise, which can be deduced in induction or after deduction.

7. In dealing with the relationship between teachers and students, we should persist in taking teachers as the leading factor and students as the main body, fully mobilize students' enthusiasm and initiative, so that students can learn something, use what they have learned and practice something;

8. Compromise between grammar and translation means not to go to extremes, but to proceed from reality and use it appropriately according to needs, neither talking about the "color change" of grammar translation nor grammar and translation divorced from reality.

(D) Zhang Sizhong's teaching methods

Zhang Sizhong, a middle school affiliated to XX Normal University, was founded by his 40-year teaching reform practice. Its content is "appropriate concentration, repeated circulation, reading the original, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude". Also known as 16 word teaching method. Its procedure is: through proper concentration, teach students language knowledge such as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar in a short time, and give them some difficult skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. So that it can be strengthened in time. After students concentrate on memorizing a large number of vocabulary and basically master more grammar items, they digest and consolidate the language knowledge items memorized in the early stage through text teaching, reading the original works and other activities. The whole teaching process is divided into two stages: group compound teaching for students at different levels, developing and cultivating students' intelligence and ability at different levels, preventing and overcoming students' psychological failure stereotypes, and establishing psychological advantages. The first stage focuses on word recognition and oral breakthrough, which requires students to have preliminary listening and speaking ability and master basic sentence patterns in a short time. In the second stage, the reading ability is improved by combining the text, and the development of listening, speaking, reading and writing ability is comprehensively promoted. The two stages can be carried out alternately, and each stage is divided into several small segments. The emphasis of each paragraph is different. This is a method that organically combines the process of learning language knowledge with the process of learning language in language communication. It is one of the two main teaching methods (the other is communicative approach) that have been experimented and popularized nationwide in recent ten years. Through practice, this is an effective way to greatly improve the quality of English teaching. Compared with communicative approach, it is characterized by:

1, taking comprehensive philosophy, pedagogy, psychology and linguistics as the guiding ideology, scientifically dealing with teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, non-intellectual factors, consolidation and improvement, etc.

2, eclectic, absorb the advantages of various English teaching methods. If we learn the essence of "language practice" from the direct method, we think that oral English teaching is the basis of English teaching; Absorb sentence patterns and sentence pattern drills from listening and speaking, but eliminate the tendency of excessive mechanical repetition training simply from grammatical structure; According to the communicative principle of functional approach, the focus of language is shifted from language knowledge to language practice, which develops the view that students should give full play to their enthusiasm and initiative in cognitive methods. Pay attention to absorbing the situational principle in audio-visual method, and try our best to provide and create a language communication environment for students in classroom teaching; It highlights the advantages of attaching importance to the cultivation of reading ability in translation method and puts forward the idea of reading the original text.

3. It is different from the communicative approach system, but it does not contradict the communicative principles, and advocates that teaching methods serve teaching materials. The complex teaching system of intensive reading-reading original works-grouping is completely different from the comprehensive system of communicative approach, but its purpose is still "for communication". Although this method does not advocate listening and speaking, it emphasizes the requirements of the "four meetings" and advocates oral training in the first grade.

4. Correctly handle the relationship between teaching language and teaching communication, that is, adhere to the teaching language (that is, adhere to teaching pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading and writing), and use the teaching language at the same time as the teaching language itself, that is, teaching communication;

5. Both shallow culture and deep culture are taught. First, focus on solving the basic problems of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary (shallow culture), so as to open the way for learning materials with cultural content, and then enter the intensive training of reading original works with content (deep culture) and oral and written expression ability.

The above briefly analyzes the main popular English teaching methods in middle schools and compares their differences, hoping to play a certain role in improving the quality of English teaching in middle schools. At the same time, it can also be regarded as attracting more people to pay attention to and study this issue, further deepening the reform of English teaching and creating a middle school English teaching method system with China characteristics.