英语教学法原著选读10：学生参与
本文英文原文选自《Success in English Teaching》（Paul Davis, Frank Pearse），第10、11页，上海外语教育出版社出版，武太白翻译。本文于微信公众账号“武太白金星人”首发，敬请转发、分享，并欢迎微信扫描如下二维码关注“武太白金星人”订阅号：
------------------------
英语教学成功之道 学生参与
------------------------
原文
Groups of learners vary greatly. Some are all you could wish for, but others are hard to control or direct, or passive and difficult to inspire. Getting and keeping your learners’ attention and their positive participation may be one of your greatest challenges. And it is not always the most energetic teachers that create the most dynamic lessons. They may do a lot themselves, but get the learners to do very little. Even during an explanation phase in a lesson, you can involve the learners actively rather than making them listen passively. Here is an example of elicitation, in other words, asking the learners questions so that they actively discover English grammar rather than just being told about it:
Teacher [pointing to a group of adjectives on the board] Which of these adjectives use ‘more’?
Learner 1 ‘Expensive’，‘comfortable’，‘modern’...
Learner 2 ... ‘attractive’.
Teacher Right—‘expensive’，‘comfortable’，‘modern’，and ‘attractive’. And which use ‘-er’?
Learner 3 ‘Big’, ‘cheap’ .
Learner 4 ... ‘old’…
Learner 5 ... ‘small’.
Teacher Right. How are these two types of adjective different?
Learner 2 ‘Big’, ‘cheap’, ‘old’, ‘small’, are ... um ... small, one-syll—um ...
Teacher Exactly--one-syllable adjectives. And they form the comparative with... ?
Learner 6 ‘er’一'bigger, cheaper ...
Teacher That s right. And ‘more’ is used with ...
Learner 1 Long adjectives一‘more expensive’，‘more comfortable’...
Teacher Right. Let’s put that on the board in two columns— adjective plus ‘-er’ on the left, and ‘more’ plus adjective on the right.
In the above example, the interaction pattern is ‘teacher --> learner/s’. This is the commonest pattern of interaction in most classrooms. Often it takes the form of ‘teacher explanation --> learner silence’ or ‘teacher model --> learner choral repetition’. But these involve the learners much less than the ‘teacher question --> learner response’ pattern above. However, offering opportunities for learners to participate actively in lessons does not always get a positive response. Some teachers despair, saying ‘I’ve asked questions, I’ve set tasks, I’ve put the learners in pairs and groups—I’ve tried everything—but they just sit there and say and do nothing.’ If learners are to participate willingly in class they must understand what is expected of them. Questions, activities, and pair or groupwork should be carefully planned to enable learners to participate. You should ask yourself questions like 'Do the learners know the English needed for the activity?' and 'Have I explained clearly what they have to do?'
Even when the learners know the necessary English and what to do in an activity, they will not participate if they lack confidence. They must not be afraid to speak up in front of you and other learners. It takes time to build up confidence, and it comes initially from your example and leadership. You set the tone for all classroom behaviour through your own reactions to learner participation, the way you encourage the learners and deal with problems. Most learners will not want to participate if you say 'No! Wrong!' every time they make a mistake, or 'Come on! Come on!’ every time they hesitate. And weaker learners will not risk humiliation if you turn in exasperation to a better learner every time they falter.
When you start teaching a new group, you need to spend some time on helping them get used to your way of doing things. It is best, first of all, to use simple activities and then move on to more complex ones. Frequent activities in pairs and groups are good for building confidence. Especially for shy learners, they offer a less threatening environment than whole-class work.
------------------------
译文
班级之间的情况天差地远。一些班级条件优越，另一些就难以控制、指导，或者显得消极被动，难以激励。唤起并保持学生的注意力，使其积极参与教学活动，这可能是教师最大的挑战之一。也并非最有活力的老师就能上最有活力的课。可能他们自己会做许多，但学生做得不多。即便是在课堂的解释环节，老师也能让学生积极地参与进来，而不是让他们被动地只听不说。下面试举一例“诱出”，即教师提问，学生回答，以此积极参与发现英语语法，而非仅仅听老师讲述：
（课堂对话略，请见原文）
上例中，互动形式是“老师-->学生”。这是绝大部分英语课堂上最常见的互动形式，经常是“教师解释-->学生静听”或“教师示范-->学生齐声重复”。但这样的形式与上列“教师提问-->学生反应”相比，学生参与度要低得多。然而，提供学生积极参与课堂活动的机会并不一定能获得积极回应。一些教师就此绝望，说“我问了问题，设置了任务，给学生了结了对、分了组——啥都干了——可他们就是往那一坐，什么也不说，什么也不做”。要让学生乐意参与课堂，他们必须知道教师对他们期待些什么。应该精心策划问题、活动、结对活动和小组活动，使学生能够参与进来。教师应该自问：“学生有没有掌握这一活动所需的语言？”“他们需要做什么，我解释得清楚吗？”
即便学生掌握了必要的英语，也知道活动中要做什么，如果他们缺乏信心，也不会参与活动。不能让他们害怕在老师和同学们面前说话。信心的建立需要时间，最开始需要教师的榜样和引领。教师通过自身对学生参与的反应——鼓励学生、处理问题的方式——设定整个课堂的基调。如果学生一犯错误，老师就说“不对！错了！”，他们稍一犹豫，老师就催促“快点、快点！”，绝大部分学生是不会愿意参与的。如果教师每次遇到稍弱的学生不会，就气呼呼地转而提问其他学生，那这些“差生”也不会冒着遭到羞辱的危险参与活动的。
开始教学新的班级时，教师需要花一些时间帮助学生习惯新的教学方式。起初最好使用简单的活动，然后再做复杂的活动。经常进行结对或小组活动对建立信心是有帮助的，尤其是对于较为害羞的学习者，这些活动与全班活动相比能够提供不那么令人生畏的环境。