Briefly Talk about Highly Effective English Classes

◆韋英華

(南寧市武鳴羅波高級中學)

Briefly Talk about Highly Effective English Classes

◆韋英華

(南寧市武鳴羅波高級中學)

The construction of highly effective English classes deals with many aspects．The passage is mainly about some disadvantages in traditional English teaching and the changes of the teachers in the construction of highly effective English classes．

highly effective English class English teaching

Before we talk about what is highly effective classes，let＇s experience a traditional English reading class in senior middle school．The teacher raises several questions according to the text and the students are asked to find the answers to the questions from the text while reading through the text．After checking the answers with the whole class，the teacher will explain the language points in the text one by one．Some teachers even translate the text sentence by sentence．The teacher explains the text in detail．In English reading teaching，many senior high school teachers spare no efforts to dig into the language points from the text．They even never leave out any language points．While the students listen to the teacher carefully．The class，however，is dull．What we can hear is the voices from the teacher and what we can see is that the students bury themselves in writing down what the teacher says or writes．It＇s not difficult to see that the teacher and the students work very hard and carefully．However，when asked what the they have learned in the English reading class，the students may wonder there is nothing in their brains at all．They have to refer to their notebooks to know what has been taught in the class．

Generally speaking，in traditional English teaching，the teachers just stand on their teacher desks to give their presentations according to their teaching plans，while the students trend to sit still on their chairs，keeping silient，busy taking notes of what the teachers teach．In such traditional classes，the emphasis of the teachers is just placed on their teaching task．What they do is to finish their teaching task．Some English teachers just throw out all language points to the students in order to finish their teaching task but neglete whether the students can understand or acquire the knowledge or not．In traditional English teaching，the teachers pay much more attention to their demostrations but seldom care about what or how the students have learned．The teachers and the students seldom have any interactions and the students seldom have any time or chances to practice what they have learned．Gradually，many students lose interest in learning English，which leads to the students＇poor English and low grades．Of course，the teacher will never gain satisfatory class production．As a result，some students find English classes very boring and can＇t help doing some things，such as playing games，reading novels，sleeping，to pass the time．The teachers have to devote mor time and energy to keeping the class in orer，which makes the teachers feel tired．So more and more English teachers complain that it＇s more and more difficult to teach English and achieve satisfactory class production．

To change the awful situation in English classes，the best way is to build highly effective class，I think．What is highly effective class?Highly effective classes refer to the classes where the students take active part in the class activities and acquire the most knowledge and good effects by spending the same or less time or energy．In highly effective classes，the students are not neglected and they play the leading role in the classes while the teachers are only advisors or conductors．Its emphasis is laid on the students＇learning but not the teachers＇teaching．In highly effective classes，the main factor to weigh the goodness of the teaching is not the teaching contents but the results from the students．If the students can learn well or effectively，the class proves effective．If the students can＇t not learn well or effectively，the class can be regarded as non－effective though the teachers act wonderfully．To make the students learn effectively，the students are advocated and encouraged to grasp every chance to take active part in class activities．For the purpose，the teachers have to make some changes:

First，change the teaching concepts．

Language is a tool of communication and any language learning depends on practice．There is no exception in learning English．In our country，most students＇English learning take place in classes．If the teachers spend much time explaining the language points again and again in the classes，the students will have less time to practice English，which leads to a phenomenon that many students can＇t communicate with others in English though they have learned English for many years．To change such situation，the students should have more time to practice English．The students should be given more time and chances to practice English since most of students＇English learining take place in classes．So the teachers have to change their teaching concepts to make the students have more time or chances to practice English．As teachers，they should make it clear that what they teach is not equal to what the students acquire．It is wise for the teachers to give up most of the talking and leave more time and chances for the students．

Second，give priority to the students．

In traditional English teaching，most lessons are teacher－centered．The teachers play the leading roles while what the students can do is to listen to the teachers passively．The teachers give their presentations step by step according to their teaching plans．The students just listen to the teachers carefully．They seldom take part in the class activities and express their ideas．On the contrary，in highly effective classes，most lessons should be student－centered not teachercentered．The students are the leading roles in the class while the teachers just act as advisors or conductors．The obligation of the teachers is to help the students when necessary．The teachers have to design all kinds of activities to help the students learn well．The student are encouraged to take active part in such activities to improve the ability of learning．So the students should be given priority in the highly effective classes．

Third，creat loose，harmonious and equal environment．

Highly effective English classes are different from traditional ones．Most lessons are student－centered and self－study，cooperation and probe are advocated，which calls for new relationship between the teachers and the students．In long term，the teachers have asolute authority in the class in the traditional English teaching．The students seldom exchange their ideas with the teachers equally．Besides，the students seldom question what the teachers have taught is right or wrong．They are just trying to bear in mind what has been taught．They seldom put forward any different ideas because they are afraid to be considered to disrespect the teachers．In highly effetive classes，however，the students are encouraged to raise different ideas or questions from their self－study or group discussions．So the students need an loose，harmonious and equal environment to make them feel safe and ease to express themselves freedly．Language learning is not about intelligence;the important thing to stress is that the students( are improving．So the students should always get praises from the teachers when they are getting better and encouragements when they are not doing as well as they can．On the other hand，it is impossible for the shy，introverted students to change their personalities overnight in order to learn English．The teacher should give these students opportunities to talk in small groups，but don＇t expect them to shout out answers in front of the whole class．The should teachers should give more understanding to the students．Only in this case will true communication take place．

Fourth，trust in the students．

Self－study，cooperation and probe are advocated in highly effective classes．The students acquire knowledge and improve their overall ability by cooperating and interacting with each other．So the teachers should trust that the students have the ability to study by themselves and more chances and time should be given to the students to study and explore by themselves．Besides，the teachers should believe that the students have the ability to deal with the problems and difficulties．In traditional English classes，the teachers do the most talking from the beginning to the end．The main cuase is that they don＇t trust in the students and their ability．The teachers always hold the belief that the students can＇t understand or learn well if they are not taught and doubt how the students can learn well without being taught．As a matter of fact，once the students are given more chances to explore by themselves，they always shine their ability beyond the teachers＇expectation．Why can the teachers see such ability in traditional classes? That＇s because the students have to be bounded on the chair，listening to the teachers and they seldom have the chances to walk around to exchange their ideas with other classmates and express themselves．

The last but the least，get well prepared．

In highly effective English classes，the teachers＇focus is placed on the students learning instead of their teaching plans．Whether the student can act wonderfully or not in the classes depends on the learning activities designed by the teachers．If the teachers can designe a variety of activities where the students can benefit from，the students can act wonderfully and learn well．For the purpose，the teachers have to get overly prepared．The teachers should always consider the students＇needs when preparing for each lesson．The principle for the theachers to get well prepared for the each lessons is that in each lesson the students are exposed to the English practice and improve their ability．The teachers should bear in mind that by giving a variety of interesting topics and activities，students will be more motivated and interested，and they are likely to practice more．With more on－task time they will improve more rapidly．Another important thing the teachers should bear in mind is the different levels of the students．The activities for each lesson should be suitable for the students of different levels and each student of different levels should benefit from them．

The construction of highly effective English classes deals with many aspects．However，the main factor is that the teacher－centered teaching should be changed into the student－centered learning．The realization of the highly effective classes will come true as long as many teacher spare no efforts to study and explore．At that time，the students will enjoy the learning and the teacher will enjoy the teaching as well．

［1］B．A．linsky SuHuoM．Some adive for the teachers Education science press．

［2］Yang Qi．My Ideas Of An Effective Listening Class，21stCentury．

［3］Li Bingting．22 items for highly effective classes．Shandong WenYi press．