刘欣怡
深圳市富源学校 518000
ABSTRACT
With the development of the economic globalization, English learning is becoming much more essential for us. Children begin learning English in primary school. Einstein (1938, cited in TangYing.) said, “interest is the best teacher.” New Primary English Curriculum Standard indicates that the ultimate objective of primary English teaching is to cultivate pupils’ interest in English learning, from which it can be inferred that cultivating the students’ interest plays an important part in language teaching. However, there is a common phenomenon that primary students’ interest in English is decreasing and they become passive in learning English. Thus, this thesis aims to draw people’s attention to the significance of interest as well as some practical ways to arouse primary school students’ interest in English classes.
1.The ways to arouse students’ interest in English learning.
1.1To build a harmonious relationship between the teachers and students.
To build up a harmonious teaching and learning atmosphere and reduce the distancebetween teachers and students is an effective means to arouse learners’ interest. Harmonious relationship between teachers and students helps to ease students’ pressure and make them feel relax, which is favorable to stimulate students’ enthusiasm, increase their desire to
take part in class, and improve the teaching efficiency. There is a saying said that art of teaching is not an ability of teaching, it is encouraging, waking up and caring. If teachers really love students and care about them, students will feel it and put their heart into studying with positive attitude.
1.2To make full use of various teaching methods.
1.2.1To keep the whole class engaged.
Primary school students are active but they will not focus on one thing for a long time. There are 40 minutes for an English class and students may only pay their attention to platform and give presentation. To improve the teaching and learning efficiency, teachers can adapt some methods to keep the whole class engaged. For instance, teachers can design some topics related to the theme of text, then divide the whole class into several groups to discuss about the topics. Teachers can also arrange some activities for everybody in the class to play such as group competition. Teachers can ask each group or group representatives to make a presentation after discussing so that they have to involve themselves in activities and make full preparation.
1.2.2Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
Task-based language teaching is widely promoted in English language teaching nowadays. A task is essentially goal-oriented. It requires the group, or pair, to achieve an objective that is usually expressed by an observable result, such as brief notes of lists, rearrangement of jumbled items, a drawing, a spoken summary. This result should be attainable only by interaction between participants: so within the definition of the task you often find instructions such as “reach a consensus”, or “find out everyone’s opinions.” Clark, Scarino and Brownell (1994:40) believe that a task has four main components:
1.2.3Situational language teaching
Situational language teaching is applied to different subject teaching, especially English. It refers that teachers put some concrete life scene into English teaching to arouse pupils’ learning interest.
English subject is not only a kind of English teaching but also the carrier of foreign culture because of special nature of English. Language learning should be involved in real life scene to achieve teaching goal and training students’ oral and communication ability, which is what situation language teaching can do. Most importantly it can motivate students’ interest towards English. For example, some students are often fed up with English grammar. However, if the teacher can apply the new words to situational teaching, the students learn the words in situation, and they will find that words are funny and useful. Because the words are learned by students through their own experience, they will be impressed and raise their interest in English learning.