How Can I Cultivate
My Non-English StudentsÕ Interests in
English?
Liu Binyou, ChinaÕs Experimental Centre
for Educational Action Research in Foreign Languages Teaching, Guyuan Teachers
College.
June 2004
Abstract: In my case-study I reveal how I changed my
methods to enable students to take a more active part in lessons. I found new
ways to attract their interest and helped to motivate them. These methods
consisted of introducing issues of personal interest to the students, and
paying attention to the learning needs of individuals. I also describe in
detail the responses of one student to a new method of teaching, in which his
own talents as a poet are harnessed to motivate him to study English. I show
how changing my methodology has helped my students to become better learners.
My background:
As a small child I
dreamt of becoming an excellent teacher when I grew up. After I had graduated
from the Foreign Language Department of Ningxia University, I became a teacher
in Guyuan Teachers College and I realized my dream. I knew clearly that to be
an excellent teacher, needed not only knowledge, good teaching methodology,
enthusiasm, and commitment, but also devotion. Among these factors methodology
will influence teaching directly. Teaching in a relaxed environment, with
humorous methods and high engagement/involvement of students often impresses
students deeply and makes the knowledge easier for them to absorb and use. To
find good teaching methods, it requires time and patience. But how can a new
teacher manage his/her class efficiently without experiencing several years
teaching? I am lucky enough to
have met Dr. Laidlaw (a VSO volunteer) and Action Research, which she brought
to Ningxia, when I had just graduated from the university and worked for two
years in the college under her help and other colleaguesÕ help. I know a good
teacher should be a researcher, so I attended the group (AR group in Guyuan
Teachers College) without any hesitation.
In traditional
classroom teaching, usually teachers taught and students listened to the
teachers passively, and the students just learn passively and they donÕt have
enough interests in English, (at least my teachers did so when I was a
teenager) as if teachers stuff the knowledge into the students. And students
just sat there and seldom spoke as they were doing in non-English major classes
now. In this kind of situation, in my first cycle I focused my attention on
ÒHow can I motivate my new students to speak in non-English major classes?Ó and
began my Action Research, which is:
Òa practical way of looking at your
own work to check that it is as you would like it to be,Ó as well as: Òa form of self-reflective
practice.Ó (McNiff, 2002)
In my first cycle
I focused my attention on the Music class and I made some progress on my
question:
ÒHow can I motivate my new students to speak in
non-English major classes?Ó
Ding Shengyong Lu
Yuhong and Du Wendi, three students in my class began to raise their hands and
answer my questions during the English class, and the times they answered my
questions were 4, 4, 6 on average respectively. And they escaped the vicious
cycle: canÕt speak----donÕt speak----donÕt practise----no response----canÕt
speak.
Because I had made
some achievement and my class was adjusted by our department on the purpose of
changing teachersÕ courses, I focused my attention on the Chinese Education
Class: a 39 students class with half boys and half girls, half of them came
from other regions of Ningxia province such as Pingluo, Zhongwei, Lingwu and
one third of them came from other provinces such as Heilongjiang and Qinghai.
Most of them are about 20 years old and their English levels are about high
school level. They were brave spoke to me a lot, which meant they were open and
frank.( because they were influenced by the relatively advanced environment ).
But the rest of the students came from Guyuan and they were not as active as
other students in their class. Sometimes they were afraid to talk with me
although I encouraged them by saying that we were friends, we could discuss any
questions after class. A teacher was not in an elevated position above them,
just a friend to help them and give them knowledge. By talking and joking with
students and they gradually began to ask me some questions like: Do you have a girl
friend? That was a great surprise because students usually dare not ask such
questions related to a teacherÕs personal life. That meant to me that our
relationship was warmer than before and the gulf between us less. With the gulf
being breached and the experience I got in those two years teaching and
researching, I found that personal interest is very important and if a student
is interested in a humorous tale or a story, he/she is more likely to remember
it easily and be able to retell it to other students, so I set about
cultivating studentsÕ interests in English and hoped they would remember their
English knowledge and retell what they learned to other students. Action
Research, I found, is:
Òa practical
way of looking at your own work to check that it is as you would like it to
be,Ó and Òa form of self-reflective practice.Ó (McNiff: 2002)
What would I
like to improve?
As a new teacher
in a new environment, during my two years of teaching I gradually realized that
the students in Guyuan Teachers College were not as knowledgeable as I thought
college students should be. I believe them to have been influenced by poor
conditions and the low degree of development, and also lack of practice. Facing this I was not disappointed,
however, and tried to integrate AR into their class to solve the contradiction:
their poor English foundation versus the advanced teaching materials.
During my everyday
life I found they liked playing basketball and, as a result they often played
it in the playground, and they liked singing and they began to sing as often as
they could. A question arose in my mind: if they liked learning English they
might speak English and use it frequently. But the question is, they never
opened their mouths to speak English and it seemed as if they would never like
learning English. So I thought if I could cultivate the studentsÕ interests in
English, cultivate them to like English, they might begin to learn it with
greater interest.
Why am I
concerned about it?
The studentsÕ
meagre participation and keeping silent and their non-responses to my questions
made it very difficult to teach and also inefficient for students to learn. If
they couldnÕt read the words or sentences, they wouldnÕt open their mouths to
practise speaking, and they made no progress without speaking, as a result,
they wouldnÕt understand what I said and they wouldnÕt even be able to speak a
whole sentence. Less participation and more teaching tasks made the class
Òteacher centeredÓ with students just sitting and listening to the teacher
passively. It made the class dull and also made teaching and learning a vicious
cycle: canÕt speak----donÕt speak----donÕt practise----no response----canÕt
speak. The old story.
ÒInterest is
the best teacher.Ó(Chinese
saying) Cultivating studentsÕ interest is a basic way for non-English major
students to learn English better. After finishing my first AR circle ÒHow can I
motivate my fresh students to speak English in non-English major class at
Guyuan Teachers College?Ó I achieved so much just as I mentioned in previous
context with Ding Shengyong Lu Yuhong and Du Wendi, three students in my class
began to raise their hands and answer my questions during the English class.
The times they answered my questions were 4, 4, 6 on average respectively. And
they escaped the vicious cycle: canÕt speak----donÕt speak----donÕt
practise----no response----canÕt speak.
In the process of
my research, I found interest could trigger students to open their mouths to
speak and to learn as well. With the small achievement and experience I made in
former question, I focused my attention on interest----Òthe best teacherÓ from
the very beginning of this semester, and I began my Òproblematic
practiceÓ(McNiff, 2002) again.
During my
teaching, I found students were enthusiastic about their interests, such as
singing songs, playing ball games and listening to pop music etc. and they
could easily grasp the skills of doing those things. For example, if they like
singing, it is very for them to sing a song after several times listening. If a
story is interesting they can retell it after listening to it. At least in my
class most of the students can do so: once I asked a student to teach the other
students to beat rhythms and dance Tap dance, most students grasped the skill quickly,
before I believe they donÕt know how to dance. And I convinced my idea by
asking the students after class. I thought if I could cultivate my studentsÕ
interest in learning English, they might grasp some English language skills and
change their attitude towards English and they might also learn English well.
How can I
improve it?
To solve the
problem, I tried to find solutions to this question by studying my students, by
asking my guide Moira Laidlaw and other colleagues in the Foreign Languages Department
of Guyuan Teachers College. I also invited Moira. Laidlaw and other colleagues
to visit my AR class and from their suggestions and my research I imagined some
detailed ways of solving the problem. So I set about cultivating studentsÕ
interest in English in my AR class, a group of Chinese-major students, whenever
possible.
I adopted the
following methods according to my studentsÕ hobbies and things they were
interested in their daily life.
Let them
listen to English songs and music and teach them to sing English songs.
There is an item
in the New Curriculum (NC) that says that students should have a cultural
context and the New Curriculum requires language to be in a context, not in a
vacuum. My students like Chinese songs, I thought they might like English
songs, so I gave them several English songs and after listening to the music
and an English song, I asked my students to give the general idea of the song,
and try to understand the meaning of the song while they were singing. Once I
gave them: Ò Big Big Girl Ó----a pop English song. After listening to it, I
asked my students:
ÒWho caught the
first two sentences and their meaning?Ó
Most of the
students answered ÒIÕm a big big girl live in a big big world.Ó That is
correct. Then I changed the song in another way: ÒYouÕre clever clever students
donÕt read or read novels in class.Ó Then I asked them to sing in the same way.
They sang and a few students, who were reading novels, put their
reading-material away and participated in our work. It is English songs that
triggered their enthusiasm for English on this occasion.
People are
eager to know what they donÕt know around them.
The New Curriculum
says that students should grasp such skills as speaking, listening, reading and
writing and group work. As students in the Chinese Department, they are eager
to learn words relevant to their major-subject. Most students asked me Òhow to say 中文系 (the Chinese Department) and 汉语教育 (Chinese Education) in English. I gave them the answer and changed
their question according to circumstances: how to say 外语系 (the Foreign Language Department)in English and so on. This inspired them to
ask many questions. It is a simple but practical method to cultivate the
studentsÕ interests in English. Just as I wrote in my journal (May 16): a
student named Li Wen, who never opened his mouth in our English class, after I
gave汉语教育(Chinese Education) and asked how to say 英语教育(English education)in English, he answered
correctly although with a little bit dialect without any hesitation. And Wang
Enyu, Zhang Linlin and many other students answered voluntarily. But still
several students such as Shi Zhixian and Ji Zhenfang kept silent and didnÕt
gave any sign of understanding. So I asked them to work in pairs and one
student ask the other how to say 体育系(the PE Department)in English,and then take the turn. By this way I found
that Shi Zhixian and Ji Zhenfang began to speak in English. ThatÕs great, they
began to open their mouth and show a little interest in English because they
were laughing after they had had their turn.
Asking them
to perform some humorous English short plays and tell short humor or stories in
English.
One of the aims of the New Curriculum is interests and motivation. ÒHumor causes people to laugh and think.Ó (Mark Twain) By asking students to perform short plays and humorous stories, students began to realize the differences between the Chinese and English languages. They could understand the English language by comparing it with Chinese. Witticisms are difficult to transliterate as they require a deeper understanding of the language. By trying to explain English humor, they realized that the English language is as profound as the Chinese language, and as language learners they were willing to find what those differences amounted to. Because of our cultural and historical differences, it is difficult for Chinese students to understand English humor and for English students to understand Chinese comedy as well.
Once I asked my students to perform the story named Òface to face with gunsÓ. Each group did a very good job - right pronunciation and intonation, clear enough and easy to understand for all the class. Zhang Lingling, was one such case, a girl with very clear pronunciation. But one groupÕs presentation impressed me most: a boy named Yao Zijia robbed a robber! He used his right hand as a gun and performed vividly and loudly and his clear voice made all the students applaud.
And a girl named Zhang Liling was very brave and asked if she could borrow my bag as a prop to perform in English. That surprised me because it was a bold move on her part. Their performances were nearly perfect with proper expressions in English. Just as Dr. Laidlaw said later,
Zhang Liling was very brave and dared
to ask you to borrow your bag. The boy (Yao Zijia)
also gave a spirited performance, as well as a pop song.
She also mentioned, however, that: they should face their classmates when they are performing. (Yao faced the blackboard when he gave his play.)
In that class many
other students groups were eager to present their plays but time was so limited
and they seemed so disappointed when the bell rang. But they all looked excited
after class. In that course the textbook is only one kind of teaching material,
because just as it says in the New Curriculum we are using the textbooks not teaching them.
Translate
some of their own published Chinese poems into English and encourage them to
write English poems and articles.
Confident willing
and trans-culture communication are the aims of the New Curriculum. Writing
poems and articles are their favorites and publishing them is their favor too.
The students in my AR class often write and publish poems and articles on
campus newspaper and other famous poetry anthologies. Translating their own
poems and articles into English is one of the most efficient ways to trigger
their interests in English. A student named Li Wen, was a shy but clever boy
who never opened his mouth or showed any interest in our English class. But I
knew he was intelligent because he had published several Chinese poems in the
campus newspaper and in other poetry anthologies. He didnÕt open his mouth not
just because he was not interested in English, but because he was shy. His
Chinese teacher told me that he performed quite well in the Chinese class as he
loves Chinese. I supposed if I could cultivate his interest in English, he
might perform well in our English class. I designed several methods to realize
my idea: Encouragement, personal guidance and explanations. But my efforts were
initially in vain. When I asked for help in our AR meeting, one of my
colleagues, Fang Fang, showed me the way. She said: Why not translate one of
his poems into English and give it to him?
That was a great
idea. When I read my translation before the class and asked who was the author
of the poem, they donÕt know. Even Li Wen himself didnÕt know. I told them that
it was Li WenÕs poem, and that I was merely a translator. They couldnÕt believe
their ears. When I gave them the original one, they believed and clapped and Li
Wen was so excited and blushed. I praised him immediately and encouraged him to
read the English edition of his poem and to write some English poems or
articles. The next class, he was a little bit confident and came to the
platform, gave us his speech, although with many grammar and pronunciation
mistakes. However, thatÕs a great beginning, he at last was opening his mouth,
and was becoming more confident than before, he dares to give us a morning
report and ask other students to teach him. His deskmate----Feng Jiafang once
was so shy when Li Wen asked her to correct his pronounce before. And in my
later class, he occasionally answered my question loudly. In my class in the
afternoon on June 6,2004, it was so hot in that afternoon and most students
seemed so sleepy. So I asked the whole class: who can give us a witticism or a
song or a poem to drive our sleepiness away. Li Wen - the shy boy Ð who had
begun to open his mouth after I had given his poem to the whole class - asked
me if he could sing just several sentences of a song. I, of course was happy
and permitted him. He sang a sentence of a song and it was not so tuneful, and
all the students began to laugh because of his tuneless song. The shy boy
seemed no longer to be as shy as before, and also began to answer my questions
suddenly and often caused the whole class to laugh. (His dialect is the reason
for the laughter, but he never seemed to mind and continued causing laughter
occasionally.) My method was beginning to work and I am still trying.
Who can help me
and how?
Action research is
a great undertaking. It will become more significant in Guyuan Teachers
College, in Ningxia as well as in China, and, I believe, even in the whole
world. At present, Dr. Moira Laidlaw, Dean Tian and other colleagues in the
Foreign Language Department at Guyuan Teachers College, and also Jack Whitehead
and Jean McNiff and other AR members at Bath University, Britain, are helping
us by discussions, e-mail correspondence and personal visits to China. And the
regular two meetings each week are also very helpful, as we can discuss any
problems and any questions appearing in our AR enquiries. This is a very
practical way to collaborate and to improve together.
How did I know
I had improved?
During my teaching I always took journals and wrote
down each change that I thought itÕs a progress, by observing and studying for
about 5 mouths, through the following items I found I improved:
1)
Li Wen, a shy
student is no longer as shy as before and often causes the whole class to
laugh. He has also begun to answer my questions, even in his dialect. And he
has begun to raise his head when I am teaching, which didnÕt happen before. He
is more confident and interested in English: opens his mouth and gives his
morning report voluntarily two times a week without hesitation.
2)
By inviting
foreign teachers such as Dr. Moira Laidlaw to attend my class, most students
showed their eagerness to communicate with her and were eager to ask questions
about western culture. ÒWhen I first sat in the classroom, my deskmate, a
boy was eager to speak to me and at least there is one student in your class
interested in English.Ó (Comment
from Dr. Laidlaw, March 1st, 2004)
3)
With my
encouragement, some students such as Li Jianping, Liu Jianhong and many others
participated in many activities in the English-culture Festival and Li Jianping
got the second prize in Òchallenging the hostÓ program and Liu Jianhong also
got the fifth prize in ÒCompetition of English Backgrounds Ó.
4)
They are
eager to translate their own poems into English and ask me how to express them
in English. Once a student named Zhang Lingling asked me how to express his own
poem-line Ò夜风在月光下梳整着垂柳Ó in English. It is a very powerful
sentence in Chinese, and I tried to find the answer: At night, the breeze
combs the branches of the willows in the moonlight. When I gave her my translation she was so excited and
I encouraged her by saying that her poem would be published in an English
edition if she would just work harder.
My
understanding of AR and my career
Action research is
a great undertaking. Every week we meet and share what we achieved in our
classes. Dr. Moira Laidlaw, Òis teaching her colleagues to investigate and
evaluate their own practice, using an action research methodology. This means
that teachers begin to problematise and evaluate their work by asking, ÔAm I
entirely satisfied with what I am doing? In what ways could I work differently?
How do I improve what I am doing?Õ Moira is encouraging teachers not only to
investigate their practice; she is also encouraging them to make their stories
public, so that other people can learn from those stories.Ó (Open letter from Jean McNiff about why
she is coming to China in December, 2003 Ð http://www.jeanmcniff.com )
To be an excellent
English teacher in the new century, I have a long way to go as Òthe process
of my teaching is also the process of my learning.Ó (McNiff, 2002). AR can help me to
understand more how to use my own methods and my self-reflection to improve my
teaching quality and to integrate the methods for the New Curriculum in English
teaching. I am sure my career as an English teacher will be glorious in the
future under the guide of AR, and I also know that AR is a life-long work. It
needs not only patience, enthusiasm, and commitment, but also devotion. So long
as all of us---- the staff in this center work hard in collaboration, our young
tree will be fruitful in the near future.
All that IÕve done
and achieved is just a beginning, and IÕm still observing what is happening in
my class, and renewing my methods as time goes on. And, of course I will still
focus my attention on ÒHow Can I Cultivate My Non-English StudentsÕ
Interests in English?Ó
whilst continuing with my practical job.
Bibliography:
Hu
Zhuanglin,(1995) ÒA Course Book of LinguisticsÓ, Beijing: Beijing University
Press.
Laidlaw, M. (2002)
ÒA Handbook of Communicative MethodologyÓ, Guyuan Teachers College.
McNiff, J., with
Whitehead, J.,(2002), ÒAction Research: Principles and PracticeÓ, Routledge,
London and New York.
McNiff, J., Lomax
P., Whitehead, J.,(2002), ÒYou and Your Action Research ProjectÓ, Routledge,
London and New York.
McNiff, J.,
(2003), ÒWhy I am Going to China Ó, A E-mail to Dr. Laidlaw.
Laidlaw, M. (2004)
Òcomment to Liu BinyouÕs classÓ, Guyuan Teachers College.
The New
Curriculum: http://flete.wwxy.bnu.edu.cn/~chengxt/lectures.htm.