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少问Do you understand?,那问什么?简单,CCQs! - 英语教学法原著选读特刊

2017-08-18 英国文化协会 武太白英语教学


英语教学法原著选读总目录(截至2016年)


“学习者语言”是个什么概念?(下) - 英语教学法原著选读112(有奖练习)


在前面许多期英汉对照翻译的“英语教学法原著选读”文章之后,我终于感到了一丝疲倦。我决定,出一期不带翻译的特刊,既减轻自己的疲倦感,也减轻朋友们的审美疲倦。当然,本期也没有有奖问答,请朋友们见谅!也让我休息一下。


我想起本系列的最初,就是不带翻译的,不信朋友们看看(点击下面链接即可进去):


英语教学法原著选读1:成功英语教师的五大特质


当然,请朋友们放心,这只是一个小小的调剂,带翻译的原著选读下周会继续跟大家见面。当然,还有问答积分!


言归正传,今天我们要说的是Concept Checking Questions,理解检测问题,缩写为CCQ,复数形式是CCQs。标题中所说的CCQs就是这个。


CCQ这个概念,和PPP紧密相关。所谓PPP,大家都知道的,Presentation, Practice, Production,呈现、练习、输出,这是英语教学的经典模式,是任务型教学法风靡之前的一种通用教学范式。其实直到如今,许多英美大学的英语语言预备教学(帮助留学生迅速打好语言基础,进入专业课程的学习)还是采用的PPP这种方法。


那么,CCQ究竟是干什么用的呢?标题中说了,现代英语教学法要求英语教师在课堂上检查学生是否理解所学内容时,少问Do you understand? 这样的问题,因为一般来说这种问题不会促进学生的理解,只会使学生觉得尴尬,一般学生只会回答Yes。为了避免这种基本上无效的问题,就有了CCQ的应运而生,也即以语言降解的方式,对所需掌握内容的核心概念进行理解检查。比如,要检查学生有没有懂得impenetrable(固若金汤的)这个单词的意思,老师可以问如下问题:


1、If something is impenetrable, can you get through it?


2、Is it difficult or easy?


这样的问题简单易行,能够检查出学生对所学内容的核心是否已经掌握,从而方便教师把握下一步教学的节奏。


关于CCQ,两个要点是:


1、并不是每一项教学内容都需要设计CCQ,一些比较浅显的、已经用图片或视频加以解释的东西,完全可以略过这个环节;


2、CCQ的设计,不仅限于一般疑问句(YES/NO),可以用选择疑问句甚或特殊疑问句,这要视具体情况而定。


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(以下内容转载自英国文化协会http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/checking-understanding网页)


In a standard language focus lesson following a PPP (present, practise, produce) or similar format, the target language (structure or vocabulary) is normally presented in context, then isolated and analysed. Analysis of the language consists of two sub-stages, often known as highlighting and concept checking.

Highlighting is taking the model sentence and showing, telling or eliciting what the problems are in terms of form, function, and phonology.

Concept checking 
is checking the understanding of difficult aspects of the target structure in terms of function and meaning. Concept checking is vital, since learners must fully understand the structure before any intensive practice of form and phonology is carried out.


  • Ways of checking understanding

  • Concept questions

  • Some examples

  • Learning to construct concept questions

  • Conclusion

 

    Ways of checking understanding
    Concept checking is normally achieved by the use of a set of questions designed to ensure comprehension of the target language, raise awareness of its problems, and to indicate to the teacher that the learners have fully understood.

    The question 'Do you understand?', or the remark 'OK?' do not achieve any of these aims, and are unlikely to receive a truthful answer from all the learners. Concept questions are one way of checking understanding, but are often used in combination with other methods, often visual, depending on the nature of the target language involved. Here are some other methods:

    • Time lines to establish tenses. Time lines are not a substitute for concept questions.

    • Truth lines to establish probability e.g. must be / could be / might be / can't be.

    • Reality lines to establish degree of reality or imagination e.g. conditional sentences

    • Clines to show grades or scales e.g. yellow-amber-orange, frequency adverbs

    • Pictures to distinguish between similar objects e.g. cup / mug, lane/ road / highway

    • Discrimination to check function and register e.g. Do I say 'hey!' to my boss?

    • Negative checking e.g. Do I say 'I were'?

    • Translation (where appropriate and possible).

    • Extensions to consolidate understanding. Homework often reveals lack of understanding, as do guided practice exercises.

     

      Concept questions
      Concept questions themselves are often difficult to construct since they involve clarifying function and meaning using simple language but not the target language itself.

      Apart from their classroom value, thinking of good questions also helps inexperienced teachers to understand the complexities of form, function and meaning, and to practise grading their language. Some basic tips for good concept questions are:

      • Make sure the questions are simple and that no difficult language is required to answer the question. Yes/no questions, either/or questions and simple 'wh' questions are particularly effective

      • Don't use the new (target) grammar in your questions

      • Don't use unfamiliar vocabulary

      • Bring out basic concepts such as 'time' and 'tense' in your questions

      • Use as many questions as possible to check various aspects of the language and to cover as many learners as possible.

       

      Some examples
      These examples show how concept questions could be used to help differentiate between the main functions of the present simple and present continuous.

      Target sentence: Look! They're painting the wall

      Checking questions 


      Is it happening now?

      Yes

      Can you see it? 

      Yes

      Is the painting finished?

      No

      Are they painting now?

      Yes

      Is this the past, present or future? 

      Present 

       

      Target sentence: She's a shop assistant. She works in a shop

      Checking questions


      Has she got a job?

      Yes

      Is she working now

      Don't know

      Does she work there every day?

      Yes

      Is this the past, present or future? 

      Present, but also past and probably future.

       

      This example shows how concept questions can be used to clarify the meaning of more complex structures:

      Target sentence: If I won the lottery, I'd buy a new car 

      Checking questions 


      Have I won the lottery?

      No

      Am I going to win the lottery? 

      Probably not 

      Am I going to buy a new car?

      Probably not

      Has he got a lottery ticket?

      Maybe

      Is this real, or imaginary? 

      Imaginary


      Learning to construct concept questions


      One way of beginning to think about concept questions is to break the meaning of a word or structure into components. A vocabulary item might be diagramatically represented. Here is an example of the concepts included in the word 'bed-sit'

      Questions may be of different types:

      • Yes/no questions. 'Is a bed-sit a room?', 'Are there other rooms in the house?', 'Can you sleep in it?'.

      • 50/50 chance questions. 'Is it a room or a building?', 'Is it cheap or expensive?', 'Do you buy it or pay money every week or month?'

      • Information questions. 'Who lives in it?', 'How many people live in it?'

      • Discrimination questions. 'Do you only sleep in it?', 'Can you cook a meal in it?', 'Is it the same as a flat?'

      • Shared experience questions. 'Is there a bed-sit in this building?'

      • Life experience/culture questions. 'Have you ever lived in a bed-sit?' 'Are there bed-sits in your city/country?'

      • Remember that the answers 'sometimes', 'it depends' and 'I don't know' can tell you as much as 'yes' or 'no'.

       

      Another way of constructing concept questions is by writing a sentence containing all the elements of the concept, from which questions can be formed. This is a useful method when distinguishing between two functions of the same structure, particularly where those functions would be expressed by different forms or tenses in other languages. For example:

      • 'He's been eating garlic.'
        Concept
        : He isn't eating garlic now, and I didn't see him eating it, but I know he was eating garlic because I can smell it.

      • 'Harry's been working here for two years.'
        Concept
        : He started working here two years ago, he's still working here, and he'll probably continue working here.


      Conclusion
      The value of concept questions should not be underestimated, but many teachers either forget to use them or find them difficult to construct. Teachers are often satisfied that the learners 'seem to understand' on the basis of their performance in practice exercises. A few important points to remember are:

      • Concept questions are particularly valuable after the presentation and explanation of an item, and may be asked at any stage during a lesson. They are valuable after guided practice, particularly if the learners seem not to have grasped the target language fully, and at the end of a lesson, as a final check and review.

      • Time lines and other devices are not substitutes for concept questions. They are aids to explanation, but do not necessarily check understanding. Concept questions, however, may be used to elicit a timeline from the learners.

      • Concept questions are particularly valuable where a concept does not exist, or is different in the mother tongue (e.g. the perfect aspect, ways of expressing the future), and where a language item is culturally loaded as in the case of the word 'subway' which has very different meanings in British and American English. In such cases, concept questions often form part of the initial teaching process.

      • Concept questions are also useful for raising awareness of association and connotation, and for drawing attention to collocations and fixed expressions. They are also good listening practice for learners, and can even lead on to class activities such as guessing games in which the learners write their own questions.

      • The teacher does not have to concept check every new item. In many cases, function and meaning are clear because the language has been presented in a meaningful context.

      • When learners perform poorly in guided or less guided practice, it is often because they are not clear about the function or meaning of the target language. This may well be because the teacher has asked 'do you understand?' or 'is that clear' rather than good concept questions.

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