A Brief Analysis of Inefficiency and Time—consuming in English Learning for Chinese Learners

沈宇　胡燕

【Abstract】Nowadays it is common to see inefficiency and time-consuming in English learning for Chinese learners. This paper makes a brief analysis of this phenomenon from two major aspects： internal factors and external factors. The former includes age factor， affective factor， efforts and gift and the mode of thinking. The latter includes linguistic factor， sociocultural factor and the examination system. And then some practical strategies are given on the basis of the Critical Period Hypothesis， considering affective factor， making enough efforts and taking advantage of gift， adapting to different modes of thinking， Krashens Input Hypothesis， the Whorfian Hypothesis and perfecting the examination system in order to improve the phenomenon.

【Key words】Inefficiency； Time-consuming； English learning； Chinese learners

0 Introduction

Nowadays English is pretty popular with Chinese learners. Some learners do fairly well in their English learning while others spend too much time in learning English inefficiently. So it is of great essence to make a brief analysis of the phenomenon of inefficiency and time-consuming in English learning for Chinese learners in order to improve English learning.

1 Factors Resulting in Inefficiency and Time-consuming in English Learning for Chinese Learners

1.1 Internal Factors

1.1.1 Age Factor

English learners in many cases learn differently at various ages. During a persons whole life， he or she may learn slowly at first， and then begins to learn faster. With time going， he or she may reach a peak of English leaning where is hard to go beyond. Later he or she may gradually start to slow down in the speed of English learning.

Although the details of English learning process may be quite different，the trend of their learning may be similar to some extent. In other words， learners are often different from each other in their English learning at each period of their life.

1.1.2 Affective Factor

As human beings are emotional creatures， affective factor is one of the most important facets in their English learning. Taking affective factor into consideration， it can be divided into self-esteem， attribution theory and self-efficiency， willingness to communicate， inhibition， risk taking， anxiety， empathy and extroversion. Take empathy for example. In common terminology， empathy means the process of ‘putting yourself into someones shoes of reaching beyond the self to understand what another person is feeling. Communication requires a sophisticated degree of empathy. Oral communication is a case in which， cognitively at least， it is easy to achieve empathic communication between there is immediate feedback from the learners. Motivation is another affective variable. Motivation is something that can be global， situated， or task-based oriented. Motivation is also typically examined in terms of the intrinsic and extrinsic motives of the learners.

1.1.3 Efforts and Gift

As a matter of fact， efforts and gift are also significant factors in affecting Chinese learners in their English learning. As far as we know， gift is a factor that a learner was born with and is unchangeable to some extent while efforts is a factor that is decided by a learner himself or herself. If a learner with a high gift does not take great efforts to study， he or she may not get too many achievements. If a learner with a low gift take great efforts， he or she may achieve some progress， but may not get so many achievements， either. So， for a learner， both efforts and gift are essential in his or her learning process.

1.1.4 The Mode of Thinking

The mode of thinking refers to the angle， style， and method of looking at things around， which plays a decisive part in peoples words and deeds. Chinese learners in many cases learn English in a mode of thinking just being similar to the learning of the native language， which sometimes is beneficial for English learning but sometimes interferes the learning process. That is one of the reasons why there is the phenomenon of inefficiency and time-consuming in English learning for Chinese learners. For example， when Chinese people meet each other in the street， they often ask such questions like “Have you eaten？” “Where are you going？” while the western people usually talk about the weather when meeting each other. In addition， as for hearing someones praise， Chinese people and western people replies quite differently. The former behaves modestly at most times while the latter mostly replies with such words like “Thank you” “Thanks”.

1.2 External Factors

1.2.1 Linguistic Factor

As for linguistic factor， it is not hard to thinking of the following questions that need to be clear in mind： what is it that the learner must learn？ What is language？ What is communication？ What are the relevant differences （and commonalities） between a learners first and second language？ What properties of the target language might difficult for a learner to master？ These profound questions are central to the discipline of linguistics. For the same learner， various learning materials means differently. That is， some linguistic materials may be easy for learners to learn while others may be difficult to master for one learner. Besides， a learners background knowledge of linguistics affects his or her understanding and master of the linguistic materials.

1.2.2 Sociocultural Factor

Cultural learning is a process of creating a shared meaning between cultural representatives. It is experiential， a process that continues over years of learning and penetrates deeply into ones patterns of thinking， feeling， and acting. Social distance refers to cognitive and affective proximity of two cultures that come into contact within an individual. So learners with various cultural and social experiences may have quite different understanding in the process of English learning. Having a decent knowledge of culture and rich social experiences may be beneficial for the learning process with similar sociocultural background. In fact， different languages have different cultures and social background. However， both similarities and differences can be taken careful consideration in order to help learners themselves to learn increasingly better and deal with the inefficiency and time-consuming in English learning for Chinese learners to some degree.

1.2.3 The Examination System

At present the examination system in China seems to pay more attention to get more knowledge and more scores as the main requirements for students. So these requirements easily become the main purpose of the examination. And learners will be asked to do so and other important aspect of leaning English may be ignored to some extent. Then the learners own thinking and personal goals in their study are not taken into enough consideration， which may not stimulate the learners interest in English learning and the learners also may not have strong sense of achievement in their learning process. In consequence， it is easy to exist the phenomenon of inefficiency and time-consuming in English learning for Chinese learners. So the examination system is one of important factors in affecting this phenomenon.

2 Strategies

2.1 Strategies for Internal Factors

2.1.1 The Critical Period Hypothesis

The Critical Period Hypothesis （CPH） claims that there is a stage in the maturation of a human being during which language acquisition is possible in a natural fashion， before and after this period true language acquisition cannot take place. In child development there is a period during which language can be acquired more easily than at any other time. What CPH suggests us is that learners need to be paid enough attention to their different ages in their learning process and then proper requirements should be given to the learners in different ages to make sure that they can do their beat at various learning periods.

2.1.2 Considering Affective Factor

Paying attention to affective factor in English learning is to make these learners learn effectively and efficiently， including modifying ones emotion and keeping in decent mood of learning according to different and practical conditions. There is suggestions for creating intrinsically motivating classroom activities. Thinking about such questions as： do you present the activity in a positive， enthusiastic manner？ Are students aware of the purpose of the activity？ Do the activity present a ‘reasonable challenge？ And then learners need to make proper motivation for English learning， which may make improvement and progress.

2.1.3 Making Enough Efforts and Taking Advantages of Gift

As efforts and gift are important factors in English learning， these two factors should be paid much attention by Chinese learners. Einstein once said， “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” What is more， “if you have at talents， industry will improve them； if you have but moderate abilities， industry will supply their deficiency.”Joshuas Reynolds， American female essayist once said.

Both of these famous sayings make an emphasis on importance of efforts as well as gift. So it is indispensable for English learners to make enough efforts and take advantage of gift at the same time.

2.1.4 Adapting to Different Modes of Thinking

It is a fact that there are different modes of thinking， which affects a lot English learning for Chinese learners. The mode of thinking may be fixed and not easy to change immediately， but learners should have the awareness of the fact at first， consciously try to adapt to it and then think thoroughly for various situations. Gradually learners may deal with different situations in English learning properly in the aspect of the mode of thinking.

2.2 Strategies for External Factors

2.2.1 Krashens Input Hypothesis

According to Krashen， the language that learners are exposed to should be just far enough beyond their current competence that they can understand most of it but still be challenged to make progress. To speak and understand a language is one thing and to attain the technique knowledge required to understand and explain the system of language –its phonemes， morphemes， words， sentences and discourse structures. It is necessary to make proper linguistic materials that are neither too easy nor too difficult for English learners to master efficiently within appropriate learning time.

2.2.2 The Whorfian Hypothesis

The Whorfian Hypothesis includes linguistic determinism and linguistic relativism. The former is that language is a shaper of ideas， the structure of a language shapes or constructs the way we think about and interpret reality in that language. The latter is that language influence the way we think about and conceptualize the reality， our thought processes are ‘filtered through the language we speak. Personally speaking， both cultural and social factors， which influence a lot the way we think and interpret the word and reality， should be taken into consideration for English learners to improve their efficiency.

2.2.3 Perfecting the Examination System

As far as we know， the purpose of English learning is mainly to use the language itself to make communication. So the check and test for English learners should be the test of English communication and practical application. The examination should not only aims to make learners learn the fixed knowledge and get high scores， but also to encourage learners to apply what they have learned to the real， social life in order to get close to society， which may have realistic meaning. Specifically speaking， the learners should be paid the most attention to and be guided to take the practical application of English learning seriously. For example， both listening and oral English that most Chinese learners are not good at should be emphasized a lot. Therefore， the excellent part of the examination system should be take fully use of and the not so perfect part should be improve to the best as much as possible. 3 Conclusion

This paper makes a brief analysis of the phenomenon of inefficiency and time-consuming in English learning for Chinese learners from two major aspects： internal factors and external factors. The former includes age factor， affective factor， efforts and gift and the mode of thinking. The latter includes linguistic factor， sociocultural factor and the examination system. And then some practical strategies are given on the basis of the Critical Period Hypothesis， considering affective factor， making enough efforts and taking advantage of gift， adapting to different modes of thinking， Krashens Input Hypothesis， the Whorfian Hypothesis and perfecting the examination system in order to improve the phenomenon.

【References】

[1]Ellis R. The Study of Second Language Acquisition[M]. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 1994.

[2]OMalley J. M. & Chamot A U. Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2001.

[3]Cheng Guifang， Ma Guanghui. Dong Juan. The Problems about Strategy in the Learning of College English and Language in Teaching[J]. Foreign Language World， 2003，02：47-54.

[4]Li Yu. On the Practical Study of the Language Learning Strategy in College English Learning and Teaching[J]. Foreign Language World， 2008，04：82-87.

[責任編輯：朱麗娜]