What Does Teaching in Samoan Bilingual Classrooms Look Like？ Observations as Evidence-Based From a New Zealand Professional Learning and Development Perspective

This paper reports on the instructional practice of teachers who have similar language and culture as their students in a bilingual cluster （Cluster A） involving three schools and seven teachers in delivering the curriculum to year 0 （5-year-old） to year 8 （12/13-year-old） students. The 30-40 minutes baseline observations conducted on teachers＇ instruction during a reading session were part of a Ministry of Education＇s （MOE） professional learning and development project （in progress） to increase student achievement in English literacy in these classrooms through evidence-based in-class facilitation. We hypothesized that teachers in these bilingual classes were perhaps not making optimal use of children＇s prior knowledge, particularly their linguistic and cultural strengths, to increase robust and in-depth oral discussions for understanding the texts during the reading lessons. The baseline observations were coded under exchanges known to enhance reading comprehension and specifically related to vocabulary, checking, incorporation, extended talk, awareness, and feedback, and were analyzed for the purposes of： （a） feeding back to teachers what their instruction looked like; （b） creating discussions around teachers＇ strengths and weaknesses that had arisen out of the instructional and student achievement data; and （c） identifying professional development needs for teachers and their students. It was found that teachers and students＇ discussions around a concept or word were limited and that students＇ oral strengths were not fully optimized for understanding. We report here the first phase involving Samoan teachers teaching Samoan students in Samoan bilingual classrooms. The second phase is in progress with the last phase starting midyear. The findings from these two phases will enable some discussions to be made around shifts in instructional practice, if any, their impact on student achievement and how these might be sustained.     

＂E-book flood＂ for changing EFL learners＇ reading attitudes

This paper was intended to investigate the effects of using e-books （or texts with multimedia support） in an ERP （extensive reading program） on EFL （English as a foreign language） learners＇ attitudes toward reading in English. In a junior high school in northern Taiwan, 109 students from 3 intact classes were recruited in the 10-week ERP of e-books. Each class was introduced to a list of 140 selected e-books for the reading program; each student was then encouraged to read e-books after school, with the target of reading 4 e-books every week. The degree of changes in reading attitudes was assessed by using the reading attitudes scale （Stokmans, 1999） before and after the e-book ERP. In addition, the teacher＇s class notes of the students＇ reading behaviors and reactions as well as their spontaneous oral or written feedback were analyzed to be triangulated with the quantitative data. The results showed that the e-books had positive effects on the students＇ attitudinal changes in all dimensions of reading attitudes, namely, utility, development, enjoyment and escape, as well as in all the cognitive, affective and conative components. The results also showed that the features of the e-books, especially oral reading, highlighting, animations and music/sound effects, were considered important to change their attitudes. The implementation of interaction and learner control in the e-books guaranteed positive attitudinal changes as well.     

Using web blogs as a tool to encourage pre-class reading, post-class reflections and collaboration in higher education

This paper reports on the students＇ experiments of using blogs to encourage themselves to do pre-class reading assignment and reflections after class. The sample in the study included five ESL （English as a Second Language） graduate students in a course of teaching methods, and 90 software engineering students in an undergraduate information technology program. Results indicated that there was a positive attitude towards the use of blogs for pre-class preparation and post-class reflections. However, considering the successful experience, it is important to consider the class size, students＇ educational level, and the type of reading assignment.     

How to Improve Students' Listening Ability

At present, the purpose of middle school English teaching is to improve students＇ skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the teachers and the students yield to the examinations, which result in many problems in English learning, particularly in English listening. The main causes of it are as follows： （ 1 ） Teachers and students think it＇s not important to practice listening in junior one and junior two. They prefer tactics for the examination of entering schools of a higher grade. （2）Listening is not taught systematically to students, such as how to choose words, make sentences, organize paragraphs, conceive the whole essay and so on.     

Cohesion Theory and Its Implications for English Reading Teaching

Abstrct: According to College English Curriculum Requirements(2007), reading is the main training aim of our college English teaching. And for the college graduates, reading is the main way through which they obtain information needed in their specialty.Most often, students think their problem in reading is vocabulary, which is not necessarily true. Sometimes even the readers look up all the new words, it is still hard for them to understand the text exactly and thoroughly. Though vocabulary plays an important role in reading comprehension, it may not be the biggest hindrance on our way of correct comprehending. English reading teaching shouldn’t be confined to the teaching of vocabulary or sentences but should develop students’ ability to analyze text beyond sentence level. It’s impossible to cover all the aspects of discourse analysis in one article and since cohesion is important and basic knowledge of discourse analysis, we will concentrate on the cohesive functions of discourse in English reading in this article.     

EFL EXTENSIVE READING AT COLLEGE LEVEl

To a student of English, reading is one of the four basic skills. And his ultimate goal in reading English is to be able grasp idea as quickly and eaily as he would if he were reading his native language. Yet in early stages of language acquisition, the first inclination in reading of most English students is to translate. Translation is a slow, laborious process. The writer＇s train of thoughts may become lost, as well as the enjoyment of reading. Moreover, translation is an art in itself and not a practical procedure for everyday reading. The student should attempt to develop a feeling for the target language so that he is really reading, not deciphering word for word.     

The use of music to teach life skills to students with emotional disabilities in the classroom

This article discusses the teaching of life skills to urban American youths who are highly fascinated with the hip-hop culture--songs, raps, miming, lyrics, dressing and musical rhythms, especially individuals with emotional disabilities in the public schools. This is an instructional curriculum strategy to encourage positive and active participation of these students, promote perfect school attendance, encourage good behaviors, deal with anger management and motivate committed learning in the classroom. The instructors＇ understanding of students＇ culture, learning needs and styles, and using such background knowledge to educate them become imperative in this setting. These urge for innovative and leadership projects in the author＇s special education classroom necessitated the application of hip-hop music to teach life skills, reading and other functional skills in the classroom. The outcome was positive and rewarding to both the teachers and students. There are recommendations for interested teachers to devise creative teaching methods, differentiated instruction and appropriate classroom management practices to attain student achievement.     

Teaching College English Reading by the Student-Centered Approach

This thesis is about the student-centered approach to the teaching college English reading in China. The student-centered approach reflects a widespread desire in English teaching community to develop means of allowing learners to play a fuller, more active and participatory role in their language study. This thesis presents the reasons for the student-centered approach in contrast to the traditional English reading teaching; and shows the ways of applying the student-centered approach to the teaching of English reading by making students read autonomously and cooperatively.     

A Study on Cross-cultural Barriers in Reading of English

This paper,from the perspective of cross-cultural communication,is trying to analyze the role of cultural knowledge in reading comprehension,and to generalize the comprehension barriers Chinese students meet in the comprehension process of English reading and explain the relationship between the barriers and language.The paper then analyzes the internal causes of the barriers.And lastly,it brings forth approaches and methods for eliminating the barriers.     

School to Work： Using Active Learning to Teach Business Writing

To succeed as tomorrow＇s workers in the knowledge society of the new century---a world characterized by ceaseless change, boundless knowledge and endless doubt, today＇s business writing students must develop the skills and traits needed to become creative problem-solvers, flexible team-players and risk-taking life-time learners （Bereiter, 2002a）. And teachers must play an important role in helping students transit successfuUy from school to work by finding ways to develop useful life skills and the flexibility that facilitates a willingness to work cooperatively and a readiness to learn continuously. Preparing today＇s students for tomorrow＇s work world challenges 21st century teachers to reinvent their professional personas by creating a fresh professionalism founded not on old, comfortable abilities and attitudes, but on new, unfamiliar skills and traits. For many teachers （most of whom teach exactly as they were taught--typically, following the talk-chalk model that fills a classroom with five or 10 rows of passive listeners in fixed seats, and fills a class period with 50 or 60 minutes of garbled monotones in lecture format）, learning to teach in ways they were not taught represents the greatest challenge of their careers （Silberman, 1996; Hargreaves, 2003）. Challenging students and teachers to rearrange the furniture and to reconfigure the lecture, a well-considered active learning model （Bonwell ＆ Eison, 1991） can be applied to the business writing classroom （an application unexplored in the literature） to help students develop the abilities and attitudes most required for success in the work world of the 21st century （an area explored in the ＂futuristic business literature＂）--to help students learn and transit. In fact, classes in business writing, professional writing and tecl＇mical writing can function, through the use of active learning strategies, as dynamic workshops in which students can prepare for the change and doubt of the knowledge society by becoming creat     

基于核心素养培养的英语阅读教学策略研究

大量的课内外阅读对英语教学具有十分重要的作用,能够拓展学生知识面,开阔学生知识视野,提高学生英语学习能力和应用能力,提升学生英语核心素养。教师在英语教学中要注重培养学生阅读兴趣,激发学生阅读热情,提高阅读教学效率和教学质量。文章结合教学实践,对基于核心素养培养的英语阅读教学策略进行研究。     

基于商务内容的商务英语阅读教学

商务英语阅读课程的教学目的除了要求学生了解英语语言知识外,还要求学生从阅读中获得相关的商务知识,即商务英语阅读课程必须要达到既培养语言能力又传授商务知识的双重目的。本文旨在分析商务英语阅读课堂中了解和掌握商务内容的必要性,以及如何进行基于商务内容的商务英语阅读教学,并提出了应该注意的事项,为商务英语阅读教学提供一种新模式。     

英语阅读教学新视角

我国大部分英语阅读课的教学采用的是"语法-翻译"法,这使得阅读课勾不起学生的兴趣,实际教学效果不好。通过对阅读三要素、阅读模式和影响二语阅读因素的分析,借鉴相关学者已知研究,以《新视野大学英语》为例,可以总结出一些阅读教学设计的新原则:阅读选材要有趣;主要课堂活动是阅读;把学生的经验带入课文;教学活动要多样化;采用DRTA教学法;教授阅读策略。同时,英语教师还应该在教学实践中不断开拓新的领域。     

英语阅读课中“Whlie-reading”部分的设计

英语阅读课在提高学生阅读能力和丰富知识方面起着非常重要的作用。一堂阅读课设计的好坏,特别是Whie-reading部分的设计,直接影响着阅读课的有效教学的进展。本文从如何设置问题,如何指导学生运用有效的阅读方法以及对不同题材课文的组织设计三个方面阐述了Whie-reading部分的设计。     

大学英语阅读教学改革初探

阅读作为学习英语的最重要的技能之一,其重要性不言而喻。高职英语阅读教学是培养学生成为能利用英语快速获取各种信息,并具有高职专业知识技能和外语交际能力人才的有效途径。针对当前高职英语阅读教学中的问题,采取激发阅读兴趣,扩大词汇量,培养良好的阅读习惯等相应的对策进行解决。     

图示理论在英语阅读中的应用

图式是人脑中已有的知识经验,在英语阅读中起着重要作用,学生英语阅读的失败常常是因为缺乏内容图式所造成的。分析了图式理论及其在英语阅读中的作用,并探讨了在英语阅读中获得图式的途径。     

试论遗传学双语教学中发展学生的英语应用能力

本文就大学遗传学双语教学实战中发展学生的英语应用能力进行讨论,提出三点措施:一、结合具体的专业知识点,讲解英语使用方法;二、改革教学方式和考试方式,积极创设使用英语的语言环境;三、抓好课前预习,课后针对性地辅导学生阅读课本.     

任务型语言教学法在英语泛读课中的运用

任务型语言教学法是近年来新兴的课堂教学手段,是一种以任务为核心来计划、组织语言教学的教学方法,旨在强调把语言运用的基本理念转化为具有实践意义的课堂教学模式,在课堂教学活动中让学生用英语完成各种真实生活、学习、工作等活动,从而培养学生运用英语的能力.目前,大多数高校英语泛读教学还是采用传统的方式授课,表现为过多地承担了词汇、语法等语言基础知识的任务,逐字逐句地讲解、翻译等.这种“满堂灌”的方法忽略了学生参与课堂教学的积极性,学生缺乏主动建构知识的动力,严重影响了阅读教学的效果.以英语泛读教学为突破点,依托任务型语言教学的核心理据,结合英语泛读课堂教学实际,对英语任务型泛读教学进行探析.     

论影响英语阅读的非语言因素

传统的英语阅读教学，以注重语言因素为甚，忽视了非语言因素对阅读理解的影响作用。影响英语阅读水平的三个主要非语言因素是文化背景知识、跨学科信息量的掌握以及阅读者的心理因素。忽视非语言因素的作用，会对提高阅读水平有很大的限制和影响；将语言因素和非语言因素很好地结合起来，才能尽快地提高英语阅读水平。     

浅谈英语泛读教学中的提问策略

课堂提问作为课堂话语重要的组成部分之一,在英语教学活动中起着举足轻重的作用,它不仅可以帮助学生获取知识,促进学生的语言交际能力,还是搭建师生沟通和交流的重要桥梁。本文就在英语专业泛读课堂上教师从阅读前、阅读中、阅读后三个阶段分别采用不同类型的提问策略和设计课堂提问时应遵循的原则进行初步探讨。