Macbeth: a poetry workshop on stage at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Keith Park, advisory teacher for Sense in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, has written a series of articles focused on the relationship between communication and access to literature for pupils with learning difficulties. In this article, he turns his attention to poetry. He explores the notion that all of us, to some extent, respond to great works of literature affectively. He describes his use of works by T. S. Eliot, James Joyce and Shakespeare in interactive and experiential sessions with pupils with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. In closing this article, Keith Park provides a case study in assessment by evaluating the responses of one student and showing how the Shakespeare workshop enabled her to become an active learner.     

How do Objects become Objects of Reference?A Review of the Literature on Objects of Reference and a Proposed Model for the Use of Objects in Communication

Keith Park, a teacher of children with visual impairments and learning disabilities, provides an analytical review of the literature on objects of reference in order to formulate a model of object use in communication. Peirce's (1932) three categories of sign (index, icon and symbol) are suggested as a method of providing a developmental framework for the use of objects of reference.     

Autonomy and social skills: a group-based programme with adolescents with learning difficulties for the enhancement of personal autonomy and social skills

A group-based educational programme on life skills was implemented with eleven participants with moderate learning difficulties, aged 17–18 years, for nine months. The aim of the programme was to enhance autonomy by means of group cohesion and the teaching of social skills. Teaching was based on the internalisation cycle model. The analysis of group processes was completed by means of content analysis of the teacher's detailed reports. Students' outcomes were computed on three questionnaires that were administered at the beginning and end of the programme: the Quality of Life questionnaire ( Schalock & Keith, 1993 ), The Progress Assessment Charts of Social Development ( Gunzburg, 1972 ), and the Self-Concept scale (Fitts,1964). Significant changes occurred in the area of social integration; at the end participants expressed a more positive feeling concerning friends. Significant improvements occurred in nearly all areas of social skills: self-help, socialisation, communication and occupation. No changes occurred in the self-concept; it was high and positive at the beginning and at the end the programme. The findings confirm the efficacy of a group-based educational programme with participants with learning difficulties.     

Interactive Storytelling: From the Book of Genesis

Keith Park, advisory teacher for Sense (the National Deafblind Rubella Association) in Greenwich and Lewisham, London, has written about his approach to interactive storytelling for BJSE before. This article describes a series of poetry workshops based on chapters 37 to 45 of the Book of Genesis (the story of Joseph and his family) using the text of the King James Bible of 1611. The workshops took place at Charlton School in Greenwich between September and November 2002. The full text of the Genesis workshops, with a clear exposition of their implementation, is provided here but the article begins with a restatement of the principles of interactive storytelling. The importance of developing curriculum access for pupils with multi-sensory impairments while simultaneously supporting staff who work with these young people in schools is emphasised. Keith Park discusses the relevance of the circle concept in storytelling and the strong focus, in the poetry workshops, on rhythm. He goes on to evaluate the impact of the workshops, both in terms of staff confidence and through examples of the pupils' responses mapped against the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) framework for recognising the attainments of pupils with learning difficulties. The article concludes with some indications of further developments in this exciting and innovative area of practice.     

A Comprehensive Approach to Human Relations Training for Teachers

This article develops a comprehensive approach to human relations training (HRT) for teachers based on knowledge of student diversity and application of communication skills. The author treats HRT as more than just training in communication skills and develops a model that integrates the two major components of HRT. He also develops specific goals, skills, and attitudes capable of being fitted into a teaching paradigm.     

商务英语专业学生的跨文化交际能力培养

传统的商务英语教学只强调听、说、读、写基本技能的培养和训练,忽视了对语言交际能力的培养。如何培养商务英语专业学生的跨文化交际能力近年来倍受外语界专家的关注。通过分析商务英语专业以及学生跨文化交际能力的现状,探讨了培养商务英语专业学生跨文化交际能力的方法。     

对高校英语课堂教学功能的思考

在中国外语学习环境中,英语课堂教学是学生学习外语的主要途径,是学生外语输出的唯一场合。课堂教学的重要性不言而喻。文章从三个方面讨论了课堂教学的任务,即基本语言技能的训练、思维技能的训练和学习策略的传授和训练,并提出课堂教学应在完成教学任务的过程中履行对学生学习指导、监控、评价和管理的功能。     

浅论职业院校英语教学中文化教育的现状与方法

语言教学与文化教育密切相关,本文论述了文化教育在职业教育英语教学中的重要性,同时分析了目前高职院校英语教学的现状以及在文化教学方面存在的问题,由此引出了在高职院校英语教学活动中应该如何培养学生的文化交际意识和提高学生跨文化交际能力。     

谈英语文化语用教学及颜色词的中西差异

一、传统的英语教学只注意语言能力的培养而忽视交际能力的培养 ,往往导致学生在交际中的语用失误。为加强学生交际能力的培养 ,笔者认为重要的一点是要突破传统的以语法教学为中心的教学模式 ,加强文化语用教学。二、由于各自民族的文化历史背景、审美心理的不同而产生的 ,是在社会的发展、历史的沉淀中约定俗成的 ,是一种永久性的文化现象。本文试图从颜色词中西文化对比的角度 ,去分析、探究各民族文化发展对颜色词的象征意义的影响。     

Communication,Communication, Communication! Growth through Laboratory Instructing

This study examined gains undergraduate students made in their communication and collaboration skills when they served as peer teachers, i.e., laboratory instructors (LIs), for a General Psychology laboratory. Self-ratings of communication and collaboration skills were completed before and after teaching the laboratory. When compared to before the teaching experience, the students rated their skills significantly higher in written expression, oral expression, and participation skills. They also rated themselves significantly higher in written comprehension and expression skills than did a comparison group of non-LIs. Results from interviews also revealed beliefs that their communication and collaboration skills had substantially increased.     

关于商务英语教学中的交际技能

商务英语属于专门用途英语，在商务英语的目标情景中，学习者需要掌握相关的交际技能，这些交际技能首先体现为语言技能，但同时也涉及到相关的经济与商务知识和目的语文化背景知识。所以，商务英语的交际技能应该是以语言为载体。结合商务专业知识和跨文化交际认知能力的三位一体的交际技能。     

(Re)framing a philosophical and epistemological framework for teaching and learning in STEM: Emerging pedagogies for complexity

Today’s learners are engaging in study where access to knowledge is easier than it ever has been in human history. Rapid advancement of technology and the increasing ease with which communication and interaction can occur has dramatically changed the landscape in which teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) operate. The contemporary skills that students are required to possess include inter alia problem solving, creativity, teamwork abilities, communication skills and emotional intelligence. Despite the universal acceptance of their importance, these skills are commonly cited as underdeveloped and in addition, are still accompanied by outmoded ‘traditional’ forms of teaching and assessment. While the approaches of twentieth-century education were successful in developing knowledge stores, the ubiquity of access to knowledge—coupled with the constantly changing nature of the world today—requires alternative conceptions of teaching and learning. This article focuses primarily on an exploration of learning metaphors and teaching with the overall lens of creating self-regulated and furthermore, self-determined learners. The article begins with an exploration of learning in STEM education and a critique of the pedagogical perspective, discussing why this epistemology may be insufficient for contemporary STEM learning. The article then considers an alternative and potentially more contemporary notion; the emergent pedagogic space. The article presents a theoretical model to conceptualise learning in STEM education, with the goal of informing both practice and research. The realisation of this proposed emergent pedagogical space is explored through an applied case study from a design and technology context.     

高职院校行政教辅人员语言文字素养之刍议

主要探讨了高职院校行政教辅人员应具备的基本职业素养之一,即包括了口语和书面表达能力在内的语言文字素养,并分析了培养和提高这种素养的方法,以期引起高职院校行政教辅人员对它的重视。     

光通信综合实验教学研究与改革

为了提高实验教学质量,培养学生具备更好的专业技能,对光通信综合实验课程教学现状进行了研究分析。阐述了在实验教学过程中存在的各种实际问题;提出了立体化教学手段改进方案,包括学习平台的建设、多维教学手段的运用、有效监督机制的建立等;从时间上和空间上多层次、多角度的改进教学手段和提高教学质量。     

外语专业跨文化交际能力培养路径研究

经济全球化的不断深化使得社会对外语人才提出了更高的要求。有别于以往重视学生语言能力,现代社会更为重视学生的跨文化交际能力。跨文化交际能力在外语教学中的重要性虽已得到普遍认同,但具体教学实践中还存在诸多问题。鉴于此,从教学实际中存在的问题出发,从课程体系建设、师资队伍建设、教学方法的改进和外语教材的优化几个方面提出跨文化交际能力的培养路径,以期进一步提高外语专业人才培养质量。     

对当前高职高专跨文化交际能力教学现状的思考及建议

我国国际交流与合作日益频繁与密切,跨文化交际已经成为一种广泛而普遍存在的社会现象,高校外语教学应当迎合这一人才培养需求。我国大部分高职高专学生跨文化交际能力不理想,在涉外交际中存在诸多障碍,文章对目前跨文化交际教学现状进行了反思,指出存在其中的问题,并对如何进行有效教学和引导提出了建议。     

大学英语口语教学中对小组讨论方式的应用探讨

小组讨论模式应用于大学英语口语教学中有着诸多的优势,如可以为学生提供更多的自主学习和自我展示机会,有利于培养和锻炼学生的自信心,从而提高他们的社会交往能力,掌握更好的英语交流沟通能力.本文详述了小组讨论学习方式的优点,并对在英语口语教学实践活动中常见的问题做了一定的论述,以供其他教学工作者交流探讨.     

Teacher Education and Lifelong Learning: The Contribution of Action 3 of COMENIUS European In‐Service Education Projects

As Article 126 of the Treaty of Maastricht on European Union of 1992 calls for the enhancement of the quality of education at all levels, the Council of Ministers of the European Union established the SOCRATES programme in 1995 to take concrete measures in this direction. This article describes the work of one of the three chapters of SOCRATES, called COMENIUS, the three Actions of which enhance the creation of European Educational Projects, target efforts for the children of migrants of various kinds, and stimulate the creation of European transnational projects for the in‐service training and further training of teachers. Various kinds of transnational projects for pupils as well as for teachers are described focussing upon enhancement of the acquisition of new knowledge, of communication skills, of creativity and of problem solving skills, of the use of the new information technologies and open and distance learning skills, and of teamwork and interdisciplinary skills. The traditional school, by involving itself in the European programmes evoked and described, must inculcate the habit of lifelong learning both to its pupils and to its teaching staff. The habit and practice of lifelong learning leading to a realization of the ideals of the learning society will be a crucial contribution to European citizenship.     

论《导游英语》课堂中对学生导译技能的传授

英语导译员不仅要有扎实的旅游专业知识、良好的英语语言应用能力,还要有现场随机应变的跨文化交际技能。现阶段很多院校在教学过程中往往只侧重导游英语知识的灌输,而缺乏对学生进行导译实战技能的传授。因此,《导游英语》课堂应突出实践性,即以培养能力为本,在培养学生的语言交际能力和非语言交际能力的同时,还要传授给学生现场随机应变的跨文化导译技能。其课程内容设置和教学模式可以采取专业素质化教学、案例教学、课堂模拟实践教学等教学方法和手段,通过导译活动的示范与演练,传授给学生导游英语知识及带团过程中的跨文化交际导译的实战技能。