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前不久，受浙江省中小学教师培训中心的邀请，英国英语教学专家Maureen Ellis女士和Coralyn Bradshaw女士与两位中方英语教学专家浙江教育学院高歌先生和杭州师范学院李毅先生，为该中心2002年全省小学英语教师教学法中英联合培训班进行了为期10天的教学指导。培训期间，本刊记者就小学英语教学的若干问题向4位专家进行了访谈。
记：结合世界小学英语教学的发展潮流，请谈谈对小学英语教师的业务要求。
Coralyn Bradshaw:I think first and foremost,a primary English teacher should genuinely like working withchildren.An important part ofteachlng children effectively,is the ability to enter into the child's view of the world.This ability in plies a certain under standing of how children learn.A primary English teacher,who understands a child's motivatian and learning styles,will find her (his) job much more rewarding.
In addition,a primary English teacher needs to have the enthusiasm to experiment with her (his) skills in a variety of fields.For example,a teacher's artistic,musical and dramatic abilities are useful resources,which can be.drawn upon in creating a vibrant English classroom atmosphere.Children learn through doing and experimenting with the language,and will respond enthusiastically to a teacher who iswilling to provide interesting visuals,songs and language activities into the lesson.
Maureen Ellis:Enthusiasm for her subject and love for the children in her (the teacher's) care.I would also say a thirst for knowledge and professional improvement,which exceeds her feelings of embarrassment or lack of confidence,and drives her to find out about,and try out new ideas.I think a serious commitment to her subject will mean that she is very aware of her aims,in her lessons,and ineach exercise she does with her class:she will choose her own language with care.and she isconscious of whether she is using Chinese or English,whether she is asking an open or close dquestion,whether she is working on words,phrasesor sentences,on affirmative and/or negative forms.For example a good teacher of English is sensitive to language and will know what she expects of her pupils:"In the cupboard",or "It's in the cupboard"-pen,a pen,elephant,an elephant,or "There's an elephant".She will understand her materials and work systematically from accuracy towards fluency.I often remind teachers that they are not "Games teachers",or "Social workers",but first and foremost"teachers of English".
高歌：的确，我们的小学老师都有相当不错的教学素质，她们能写会画，会表演善组织，不少教师上课时很有激情，这些都是中学教师所无法比的。值得注意的是，我们的教师在选择、设计、运用活动时，往往忽略了活动的语言目的，对活动中学生究竟如何运用语言缺乏深入的考虑，比如：学生是听了还是说了？是有意义的交流，还是机械地牙牙学浯，或者仅仅是做了一个活动？这需要我们通过对自己教学过程的反思有一个客观的认识。
李毅：小学英语教师仍需要在多方面提高自己。比如在语音方面，二级的目标描述中提到了“语音清楚，语调自然”。但实际上，很多教师的发音不够准确，特别是双元音的发音总是不到位，口型没有变化。这些地方往往是教师特别要注意的。
记：请评价一下中国的小学英语教师。他们应该如何提高？
Coralyn Bradshaw:Drawing upon my personal experience of training primary English teachers in a variety of countries,I would say that.Chinese primary teachers are among some of most enthusiastic teacherg I have encountered.I have been particularly impressed by their willingness to experiment and try new ways of approaching the English primary classroom.I think the rich Chinese cultural heritage provides teachers with a natural resource upon which to draw,when considering ways to introduce sitmulaling and creative language activities to the classroom.With regard to the question of improvement:like all teachers all over the world,exposure to the English language and culture,through professional literature,television,radio,videos etc.is the ongoing task of every committed language teacher.
Maureen Ellis:on the basis of the teachers on our course,I would say that Chinese primary teachers are younger,more enthusiastic,and dedicated to their profession.Our teachers on the course not only came early to classes,but also even took homework,which was commendable seeing it was a summer course!The teachers' family commitments seem lighter and their economic position seems better in that they don't have second jobs to rush off to,as in many countries.
I'm told that Chinese teachers of English are not trained specifically in primary school techniques,and this would certainly be a disadvantage if it is true.In Australia,where my brother teaches Indonesian to primary children,he finds it very helpful that the class teacher stays with the pupils and also learns alongside them.This way he not only provides some continuity for the children,but during his other lessons,he can use spare moments to reinforce his lesson,or to revise some of the material-perhaps a few words or a song-he has introduced to the pupils.With his support,he's able to use some wall-space for his charts,and by suing name badges,he builds better rapport with the pupils,although as with the teachers of English here,their teaching don't give them enough time with the children.
When it comes to areas for improvement,I would say that a very good place to begin would be for teachers to develop their analytical skills,so as to identify which features of a task or exercise need to be dealt with in the preparation stage,and to anticipate where the challenges of the task will lie.Once teachers get into the habit of task-based lessons,rather than the lock-step method,they will plan each exercise in three stages:(1) preparing pupils for the task;(2)standing back and monitoring pair of group-work;then (3)conducting the feedback or checking stage.This"feedback"stage should be"managed"in such a way that learning and under standing is achieved through discussion,explanation and justification by the students themselves,with the teacher eliciting,and using her observatibns in the earlier monitoringstage.Teachers on our courseexperienced this fundamental difference between a"teaching"and a"testing"approach,and it is these features of preparation,pupils being allowed toconfer,and the emphasis on understanding,rather than"correct answers"by the clever ones,which makes for good teaching.
高歌：任务型教学的理念和实践在中国才刚刚开始，如何结合中国的国情和中国小学生的特点加以改造，探索出适合中国国情的任务型教学路子，我们还有很长的路。鉴于目前小学英语教师的特点，我们应考虑先从“全身反应法”和“有意义的互动活动”入手，强调学生的参与，强调教学活动必须结合学生的实际，在交际中学习，在沟通中学习。
李毅：我认为中国的小学英语教师很了解儿童，课堂教学往往是通过很多符合儿童特点的活动来进行。他们也很勤奋，而且总是把“育人”很自然地结合在教学中。他们工作极其辛苦，但过多地把精力放在一些琐碎的事情上，从而影响了业务的学习。课前缺乏充分的准备，课堂上又过于严肃，对上课的理解比较狭隘。
记：请谈谈如何组织有效的英语课堂教学。
Coralyn Bradshaw:I think that one of the most important keys to an effective primary English classroom is effective classroom management.Without this,all the wonderful and creative language activities that a teacher may wish to carry out,could end in disappointment for all concerned.Effective classroom management implies understanding how children think,which brings us back to our first question regarding the qualities that aprimary teacher needs.Planning and anticipating how to uso language-learning activities,makes a teacher's life much easier.Here are some of the things to consider:grouping,timing,materialspre paration,and perhaps most importantly how to give cltear instructions to children at a level they can understand.Classroom management skills are simply a MUST in the primary English classroom!
Maureen Ellis:I suggest equal commitment to motivating pupils and improving their language ability.To plan lessons with clear aims and purpose,so that the teacher is conscious at every point in the lesson,of not only what:she is doing,buthow this adds to the language syllabus she is achieving.Use of a variety of activities,in a logical and systematic way to present,and then practice the new language,which recycling the known material.Although we have offered a range of strategies and techniques,researeh shows that there is no simple solution to the question,whatever works in your class,making pupils enjor using the language,and developing their ability to use it,is a good method.To teachers who feel they are trying very hard,and the pupils won't talk,can't talk,and aren't improving,I would say "talk less yourself",and plan your lessons to "engineer" pupil talk.Quick efficient preparation stages,monitoring without intruding,well-conducted follow-up on tasks,reduced teacher-talk throughout,classroom language which is selected and simplified rather than uncontrolled,can mean improved quantity and quality of your pupils' English.
高歌：事实上，在目前阶段，如果让广大小学英语教师按照英国专家的要求备课，无论在经验上还是在理念上都有相当大的难度。因此应当提倡教师“共同讨论、分工备课，资源共享、逐年积累提高”的方法。以团队的精神，以反思性教学的手段迅速把握和稳定课堂教学的质量。
李毅：在非外语环境中学习语言是一个长期的过程，如果奢望学生通过教师的讲解就能掌握所学的内容，结果显然会令人失望。在组织课堂教学时，教师应“瞻前顾后”，也就是说，教师对学生所要学的内容应胸中有数，前面学过什么以及后面将要出现什么，本堂课在这个环节中起什么样的作用，都应在备课中有所考虑。在具体操作时，应该更多地考虑活动的设计，以及开展活动的步骤、用什么样的指令性语言等。
记：对中国的小学英语教师您有哪些建议？
Coralyn Bradshaw:My advice to all primary English teachers is.this:Have patience!Being a good primary English teacher takes time and practice.Often an activity may not seem to work well the first time you try it.Try to see how to make the activity work better next time…don't give up!
Maureen Ellis:My advice would be three-fold:One,to develop their strategies for moving briskly from teaeher's presentation through the demonstration.Stage,to setting up pair-work practice,whlch is the most efficient and democratic way to ensure that all the pupils are getting a share of the pupil-talking-time.Calling individual pupils to the front to play the role of teacher is still far from the ideal of individual development.Two,to bear in mind the differences between teaching and testing,mentioned earlier,and to make their lessons more and more like teaching,and leave testing for the days when they mean to,or need to test.And three,to use the British Council's freensupport website services,like the ELTECS-ChiL digest,and the "www.in 2 English.con.cn"and other website addresses given to them,to help them keep in touch with the profession,and to develop their confidence and expertise.
高歌：目前不少学校都把多媒体技术引入了课堂，而且越来越多的学校都有了宽带网络。这就像把全世界的图书馆和教学参考资料都摆到了自己的桌前。有许许多多的网站都提供一流的、图文并茂的教学材料和教案。我有一个专门的讲座“我站在窗口望世界”就是介绍这些网站的。此外，老师们还可以在教学月刊的网站“教学资源库”中免费下载有关的网站。
李毅：教师还应特别注意一些“小”的方面，比如语音的准确性，课堂教学语言的恰当性等，另外学一些歌唱、表演、绘画等技能也会是非常有帮助的。
记：请谈谈对现行小学英语教材的看法，以及教师在使用过程中应注意的问题。
Maurecn Ellis:The PEP books are attractive,with lively characters,presenting functional language in realistic contexts.They are rich in language,providing a variety of activities,chants,games and songs,and some interesting cultural content.As you know the workbooks focus predominantly on developing listening,with some attention to speaking and reading,and just the learning of the alphabet at level 2.
I would hope that teachers use the Student's Book together with tile practice activities in the workbook,to avoid moving directly from presentations to production stages,without the intermediary skills development,and the systematic move from controlled to freer practice.I would also suggest that they use the Teacher's Book,if one is available,since a good Teacher's Book can offer a form of teacher training.Without this,a teacher may get lost in the flurry of exciting activities,and lose sight of the language objectives.It would be easy for a teacher to neglect the language agenda,and to go through the book without spearating,at each stage,the new and essential language from the incidental or recycling aims.
Another danger of working without the guidance of the Teacher's Book is ignoring function and register:I found several teachers who greet their pupils each day with,"Nice to meet you",not realizing that this is used only at initial introductions,and similarly unaware of the formality and implication in the use of "Good morning",as against"hello",or"hi".I also think that it's dangerous to let children use "dog","duck",and "pig",and is likely to cause error later,since in English we would not use this form;we would talk of "a dog","the duck",or "pigs"in general.
One more consideration was to includes more focus on reading and writing,on "playing and acting","audio-visual instruction"mid on the use of stories in the teaching of the skills mid systems.
李毅：使用和处理教材是一个大题目，总的来说，在小学阶段的英语教学中，教师应该通过活动来进行教学，要求学生自己看、听、说、想、做，形式可以是说故事、唱歌，做手工等等，但这些活动只能是为了一个目的——学习英语，否则，英语课就变成了手工课或音乐课。
高歌：我们的教师都是从“以教师为中心，以句型操练为手段”的教学模式中培养出来的。因此在使用“以学生为主体，以交际活动为主”的新教材时，往往感到束手无策，于是又回到了枯燥的“请跟我读、背单词、背课文”的老路上去。这样，学生对英语的好奇心和积极性很快就会消失，教师和学生都会感到索然无味。因此，教师必须从学习语言习得理论，转变观念入手，认真观摩优秀教师的课堂教学，认真研究好的教案，分析学生在一节成功的课堂中的行为表现，对照、探索自己的课堂教学方法和技巧，并苦练习教学基本功。相信通过几年的教学实践和业务学习，小学英语教学一定会有一个突飞猛进的提高。
记：谢谢各位接受采访。