Connection of Learning and Teaching from Junior to Senior

陳明英

中圖分類號：G633.41

Senior One students puzzle in English learning

As is known to all， English is becoming more and more important nowadays. And more and more students work hard at it and want to learn it well. But a majority of them feel puzzled when they enter Senior School， including the top ones of Junior English. They thought Senior English was just like Junior English， and learn it in the same way. Soon they meet the problem. Even they manage to remember all the words and expressions learned， read all the texts fluently and even recite them， they still find it hard to understand a new passage when reading. When taking an exam， they try to find the answers in a direct way， but surely they often fail. They begin to doubt about their ability to learn English. Gradually they lose interest in it.

Differences between Junior English and Senior English

Why do the students feel it so hard to learn English when they enter Senior school？ It is mainly because they have no idea of the differences between Junior and Senior English.

In Junior school， as most students are fresh learners of English， the teaching Aim is to get the students to know about English， primary English. While in Senior school， English teaching focuses on training the students ability in listening， reading， and writing. It is not the only thing to remember the vocabulary . Learning to use the language to listen， read and write is the purpose.

Junior English teachers find it a successful Method to teach English through activities， especially games. As it is conform to the Junior students characteristic， they students like it and like learning English. In Senior school， teachers often ask the students to read a passage silently and finish the exercises and then the period of class is over. And the students can not find their favorite “programme”.

Junior students feel it easy to Learn English well if they are able to pronounce and spell the words and phrases， remember the meaning of them. For Senior Students， it is not enough to remember the vocabulary. They must spend much time after class in enriching their vocabulary， looking for more relative background knowledge and so on.

Some suggestions in teaching Senior One English

Firstly， teachers must make sure the students know the requirements for learning Senior English. If not， the students will not pay enough attention to learning it， or learn it in the old way. They can not catch up with others once they have fallen behind.

Secondly， it is necessary for the students to grasp the “two basic skills” ----using the words and expressions in the proper way and skillfully grasp the grammar. For Senior One English teachers， one of the most important things is to teach the students to use the vocabulary and grammar correctly. After learning， the students must be able to use them rather than just remember the rules. “Vocabulary” and “ Grammar” are just like “the legs to a person”. Without them， nobody can walk. So teachers must pay enough attention to helping the students understand the vocabulary and grammar so well as to be ready for reading and writing.

Thirdly， the students need help with English learning， especially when they are puzzled. So teachers should patiently give them a hand and guide the students to learn English in the correctly way. In Junior School the students dont have much difficulty in understanding when they hear or read English. Thats because the material itself is easy. But in Senior English the material is somewhat difficult and the answer is usually indirect. So it is necessary for teachers to give the students guide and make sure they possess listening and reading skills. Take “reading” for example， it is never a good idea to read word by word and stop at a new word. Teachers should intentionally lead the students to learn to scan， skim and so on. Learning to deal with new words while reading， catching the main idea as soon as possible， knowing the writers purpose of writing and his or her attitude to something， etc， are all important aspects in reading.

Fourthly， teachers should help the students learn to make full use of the out- of- class time and available resources. Students can not learn English well by only using the in-class time. English is a very specific language. It is often related to geography， history， math， physics and some other subjects. It is better to let the students get into the habit of using available resources， such as the computer. They can find much useful information on the internet. Besides the reading material in the Students Book， out-0f-class reading is necessary. Only when the students do plenty of reading can they possess the reading ability and learn English well. So the teachers should choose some suitable material for the students to read. If the students are able to use as much time as possible to read and listen to English actively， there is no doubt that they will be successful in learning English in Senior School.