Humanistic Learning and Its Application in Community Language Learning

◎楊潔

Abstract：Traditional concepts of English teachingwhich focuses on teaching knowledge by mechanically drillsmay damage students’personal identities.However，learning how to learn is more important than being taught something from the superior role of a teacher.Humanistic learning emphasizes thatlearners acquire language proficiency by teachers’role as a facilitator.Set in Community language learning，teachers establish a comfortable environment and communication situation，and students are encouraged to make decisions and find ways to solve problems.

KeyWords：English teaching，learning，humanistic learning，community language learning

1.Introduction

1.1 Traditional English Teaching at present The way of traditional English teaching still remains flavors that consider listening，reading，writing and speaking as ameans by which the students can grasp the grammar rules after drilled practices.So it’s common that students are always confronted with the situation where they hesitate or dare not to express their ideas in answering the teacher’s questions.One of the reasonsmay be that teacher’s role asa dominant decision－maker avoids creating students’initiative thinking and improving self－directed problem－solving abilities.

1.2 The aim of this study It isgenerally recognized that learners learning process inside and outside classroom can’t be neglected.Brazilian educator Paolo Freire（1970，cited in Brown 2007：98）mentions about“empowerment of students in classrooms”in which he focused on teachers’guidance of dynamical interaction and encouraged learners to be empowered to make decisions and find ways to solve problems.This paper focuses on humanistic learning and its application to Community Language Learning.

2.Humanistic Learning

Humanistic Learning.Humanistic learning concentrates on dealing with personal involvement in the spheres of internal feeling and external environment in the learning situations.Earl Stevick is one of themost important figures for humanistic learning approach.He（1980：4）points out：“in a language course，success depends less onmaterials，techniques and linguistic analyses，and more on what goes on inside and between the people in the classroom”.Teaching is to be a help for learning and efficient learning is no longer simply satisfied withmemorizing rules and items.Itoccurswhen differences in individual behavior，attitudes become obvious by way of meeting individual needswith the intent of generating his／hermotivation for personal growth and development.

3.Community Language Learning

3.1 Community Language Learning Learner－centered foreign language teaching applies to situations where learners can make decisions on needs for language learning，on choices for learning content.Perhaps the most wellknown applications of humanistic learning in foreign language learning are performed by community language learning（CLL）drawing on Carl Rogers’s theorywhich emphasizes the learners humanistic learning highlights the interactive nature of learning and advocates“fully functioning persons”（Rogers 1977，cited in Brown 2007：97）.CLL advocates true human learning taking place in a communicative situation.The presence or absence of supportand acceptance of teachers are growing to have increasing significance for learners to develop trust，confidence and personal identities.In CLL，studentsare seated in a circle to form a“community”whereas the teacher sits outside the circle fostering emotionally secure environment.

3.2 Process of Community Language Learning Student A starts a conversation by establishing an utterance in his／her native language（Chinese），which the teacher reflects the idea in target language（English）in a warm tone by gently putting his／her hands on student A’s shoulder as a way of support.Sentences at the very beginning of the language learning are suggested to be simple language of about five or six words.Student A then is encouraged to repeat the English as accurately as possible to be recorded by tape recorder.The teacher is expected to aid learnerswhen they are hesitantormispronouncing on the target language sentences.Sensitive understanding of teachers towards students playsan important role in lowering the defenses.Student B in the circle responds StudentA’swords in Chinese；the utterance is translated in English by the teacher；Student B repeats it and his／her utterance is recorded when it approaches to accuracy.The whole conversation runs in terms of dialogues.The whole process is intended to reinforce accuracy and correctness.After having gradually gained greater confidence in his capacity to perform phrases，ideas，students slowly move from a situation of dependence on the teacher as a facilitator to a state of independence.Moreover，students arouse awareness to take responsibility for their foreign language classroom and actively take part in the group interaction.Then the teacher can arrive at a stage without difficulty to directly intervene in grammar errors aswell as adding idioms ormore complicated structures since the learners are secure enough to accept instructions.At the end of the class，teacher and students replay the tape recorder to pick out important grammar patterns and phrases briefly indicated by the teacher.In other words，students choose and decide the learning content.

3.3 Advantages of Community Language Learning First，As opposed to force learnersmemorize grammar patterns and ruleswithout being able to cope with a conversation，CLL allows teacher’s particular insight to students’personal needs and communicative intent.Teacher is required to“relax completely and to exclude any function of forming or formulating somethingwithinme，not trying to do something”（Curran 1976：33）.Under the counselingmodels of learning，learning is viewed asa unified，interpersonal experience.The learner is seen as an identicalmemberwithin a group rather than in isolation.

In addition，role of group work arouses students’attention to their peers by caring about each other’s feelings，understanding each other’s strengths and weaknessand form a united community.Members should interact in an interpersonal relationship.Meanwhile，teacher and studentswork together to facilitate learning by valuing each other.

4.Conclusion

Community Language learning is one of themosteffectivemethods.Given non－defensive surroundings，having the right of choosing learning content，gaining senses of security，support and confidence，students tend to fulfill their performance in interactional group activitiesmore successfully.While it is sensible to combine both the advantages of CLL Method and othermethods focusing on linguistic proficiency in order to establish amore practical way of learning for students tomaximize their language learning abilities.

Student－centered model of teaching is meaningful for it provides them with trust and confidence in coping with typical learning process.In this point of view，promoting linguistic proficiency that explains specific language items and cultivating humanistic learningwhich aims to explore students’motivation through self－initiated efforts should be balanced.