论文总字数：29234字

摘 要

随着全球化的迅速发展，越来越多的人开始意识到英语学习的重要性。英语也成为中学教育中最重要的科目之一。但是，在当今应试教育的背景下，学生不得不机械的记忆单词，不得不将大部分时间花在做题上，他们开始厌倦学习，在课堂上变得极为被动。为了解决这个问题，根据建构主义学习理论，学生能进行更好的学习如果他们能将新旧知识很好的联系起来。所以老师应当精心设计教学的导入环节，因为它能在每堂课的开始融合好新旧知识。本文从导入的重要性，作用，基本原则等几方面探究了导入技巧在初中英语课堂中的应用。

关键词：导入；作用；原则；运用

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Lead-in and Its’ Functions 2

4. The Principles of Lead-in in Junior English Classroom Teaching 4

4.1 Relevance 4

4.2 Instructiveness 4

4.3 Interaction 5

4.4 Interesting 5

4.5 Variety 6

5. The Application of Lead-in in Junior English Classroom Teaching 6

5.1 Lead-in by reviewing 6

5.2 Lead-in by asking questions 7

5.3 Lead-in by listening to songs 7

5.4 Lead-in by free talking 8

5.5 Lead-in by watching videos 8

5.6 Lead-in by making situations 8

5.7 Lead-in by previewing 9

5.8 Lead-in on the basis of background knowledge 10

6. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 12

1. Introduction

Along with the rapid development of the whole society and the wide spread of globalization, more and more people has begun to pay more attention to English learning. What’s more, English teaching has become one of the most important subjects in junior middle school. However, the reality is not just as one wishes, under the great pressure of examination-oriented education system, students are forced to learn new words by heart mechanically and spend more time on doing exercises. As a result, they lose the interest of learning, couldn’t concentrate themselves. They are tired of English learning and become inactive in class. Address to this phenomenon, teachers should try their best to improve students’ learning efficiency in class.

As we all know, lead in is not only a teaching technique but also an important teaching step occurred at the very beginning of each class, so teachers are supposed to carefully design this step to activate students’ learning motivation.

An old saying goes that: a good beginning is half done. Lead in, as the first step of teaching process, plays a rather significant role in teaching. So a good lead-in is essential to the whole English teaching. It shoulders the responsibility of teaching some basic English knowledge to students and provides students with the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, as well as the obligation of carrying out their ideological education and cultivating their positive and healthy sentiment.

In ancient times, the Chinese famous educationist：Confucius said that “Gaining the new knowledge by reviewing the old”. It was perfectly in accordance with the constructivist learning theory formalized by Jean Piaget. They all stand for the idea that students can formulate the knowledge framework by building a proper connection between the old and the new language knowledge. So teachers should apply this theory to English classroom teaching closely. They need to create different lead in activities to activate students’ knowledge they learnt before so as to help them grasp the new one.

Till now, experts have been exploring different lead in techniques to stimulate students’ interests in English learning and enhance the teaching effects. This thesis tries to discuss some fundamental principles such as relevance principle, instructiveness principle as well as some useful techniques such as listening to songs, asking questions and further explain how these techniques are applied to Junior English classroom teaching.

2. Literature Review

The constructivist learning theory was formalized by Jean Piaget, it proposes that learning is a process on which the learner constructs meaning based on his own experiences and what he already knows. （Wang Qiang 2000: 6）

Constructivist learning theory contents two of the key concepts, which create the construction of an individual"s new knowledge are accommodation and assimilation. Assimilating causes an individual to incorporate new experiences into the old experiences. This causes the individual to develop new outlooks, rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate what is important, ultimately altering their perceptions. Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the world and new experiences into the mental capacity already present. Individuals conceive a particular fashion in which the world operates. When things do not operate within that context, they must accommodate and reframing the expectations with the outcomes.

John Dewey provided a foundation for constructivist. He believed that teaching should be built based on what learners already knew and engage learners in learning activities. （John Dewey 1974: 223）

This theory advocates the students-centered, teacher-guided teaching mode. That is to say, it emphasizes the learners’ status and strengthens teachers’ guidance at the same time. Instead of having the students relying on someone else"s information and accepting it as truth, the constructivist learning theory supports that students should be exposed to data, primary sources, and the ability to interact with other students so that they can learn from the incorporation of their experiences. The classroom experience should be an invitation for a myriad of different backgrounds and the learning experience which allows the different backgrounds to come together and observe and analyze information and ideas. Students are the main body for information processing and meaning constructing. They must play a key role in the whole learning procedure.

According to the constructivist learning theory, knowledge is not simply acquired by teachers’ teaching. It argues that students produce knowledge and form meaning framework based on their own experience, which ask them to link the old and new knowledge in order to construct a newer, higher and better knowledge system（Piaget 1997：88）.

As is mentioned above, constructivist learning theory is closely connected with students’ learning procedure. It can perfectly explain how learning happened, how meaning established and how concept formalized. Anyhow, students can form an effective learning habit based on this theory.

For my part, as an English major for four years, I am deeply affected by the constructivist learning theory and preliminarily understand the connection between this theory and English classroom teaching, so I become interested in English classroom teaching. As a result, I try my best to write this essay about how the constructivism applied to English classroom teaching especially to the lead in step.

3. Lead-in and Its’ Functions

Lead-in is the prologue of each class, which often occurs before teaching the new language knowledge. According to National English Curriculum, a perfect English class must be student-centered and teacher-guided mode, so it requires teachers use a variety of teaching media and teaching techniques to clarify teaching objectives, to attract students’ attention, to stimulate students’ interest, and to broaden students’ thinking.

Lead-in in English classroom teaching, to some extent, refers to a situation, which is lacking in English learning environment. As a result, in order to make the students get into the best state of learning, teachers are supposed to apply smart and effective techniques to improve the classroom teaching efficiency.

The purpose of lead-in is to focus students’ attention, to motivate their interest, and finally to improve their learning efficiency. It is the whole warm-up activities in the lead-in step that can activate students’ previous knowledge which is related to the new language knowledge.

On the other hand, there are many functions of lead-in in junior school English classroom teaching.

First of all, it is good for students’ warming up. At the very beginning of each class, students may find it difficult to get into the state of learning. When they step into the English class, they may be nervous, sleepy, or even have a wide range of colorful thoughts which is not related to the class. Lead in activities can warm them up and make them relaxed to learn the new teaching material.

Secondly, a successful lead in can be directly related to the following teaching steps. It allows students to get ready to learn the new knowledge intellectually and psychologically which makes the later teaching smoother.

In addition, it will also activate students’ learning motivation. As everybody knows, curiosity is the first motivation for language learning. Students in middle school are enthusiastic about new things, so it is a good chance for English teachers to design lead in activities to draw their learning attention.

Thirdly, it can establish a proper connection between the old and the new language knowledge. Lead in is a step for digging and developing the old knowledge, which serves as a bridge to absorb the new one. Teachers can inspire students to develop the old one through different methods such as imagination and comparison.

Fourthly, it will materialize the teacher’s own value. Students today are clever enough and they are sharp at estimating teachers’ teaching levels. It’s very easy for them to tell whether the teacher prepares well about the new lesson or not just from their behaviors in the lead-in step. In their eyes, lead-in is also an examination of the teacher’s knowledge and his teaching ability.

4. The Principles of Lead-in in Junior English Classroom Teaching

In order to get good effect in English teaching, teachers must pay special attention to the lead-in step and try their best to select the most suitable lead-in technique for the new teaching material. Therefore, there are some necessary principles of lead-in in junior middle school classroom teaching that teachers need to take care of.

4.1 Relevance

First of all, the lead-in techniques in junior English classroom teaching should have clear relevance. There must be a link between the lead in activities and the teaching material, and the link should be natural, accurate and easy to be accepted. So teachers would better go through the text they ought to teach in advance and then design different lead-in techniques and activities according to different teaching material, contents and objectives. If teachers prepared well, it could play a transitional role between each teaching step. In addition, these techniques should be applied based on students’ practical situations such as cognitive level, age characteristics, interest differences and psychological status. All in all, teachers should not lead in just for lead in, the ultimate goal of lead-in is to stimulate the enthusiasm of students, to highlight the main teaching content, and to make the whole classroom teaching smoothly.

4.2 Instructiveness

Instructiveness is the necessary principle of lead-in techniques. Any activity should be instructive, or, it is of no significance. Teachers should express themselves clearly so that the students will know what they should do accordingly. One instructive lead-in can arouse students’ thinking, stimulate students’ imagination, and thus achieve the teaching objectives naturally. For junior middle school students, according to their general characteristics, they show a strong performance in a certain capacity, they are eager to show themselves if possible. So in the classroom teaching, the teacher can make the way of, for example, asking questions, talking freely, discussing with partners as the lead-in for later teaching, which can clearly give students instruction in order to begin this class. More importantly, in this way, it can inspire students’ thinking and develop the students’ language skills at the same time.

4.3 Interaction

Lead-in is not a regimented procedure acted by teachers before class but an inter-active process between students and teachers, in which the two can communicate and promote emotion with each other. This process requires not only the teacher"s passion and patience but also the acceptance and cooperation from students. Once lacked either of the two, this lead-in, to some extent, is not a successful lead-in. As is known to us all, students were born lively and lovely, which makes them easily get close to others and thus take part in any activities designed by teachers. While getting into the situation created by these lead-in activities, students can enjoy this relaxed atmosphere and preliminarily access to new lesson at the same time. What’s more, according to the National English Curriculum, it asks students to bring their subjective initiative into play maximally, which also validates the significance of inter-activeness in English classroom teaching.

4.4 Interesting

Einstein says that: Interest is the best teacher. The famous educationist Widdowson also says that: The start of teaching point firstly is to stimulate the students’ interest and aspirations in learning (Widdowson 1990：173). Students will actively use their brains to think seriously only when they are interested in it, which forms the most effective way to gain the necessary knowledge. In other words, it is what we called the thirst for knowledge. That is to say, there will be no learning desire without interests. If the class is full of interest, the students will learn comfortably, and then it can be a more conscious and active learning. In other words, teaching is to stimulate students" interest and desire. Psychology theory says that a personal interest will be something positive to know and understand the thing that you are interested in. Therefore, if class lead-in is interesting enough for students, they will be studying as a kind of spiritual enjoyment and may find it delighted rather than burdensome to learn.

4.5 Variety

There are various lead in techniques. Different learning material corresponds to different lead-in technique. For instance, if teachers want students to search for some background information in advance, they can choose the pre-view lead-in technique. If teachers want to begin the new lesson through recalling some old knowledge, it is wise of them to select the review lead-in technique. But it demands teachers to enrich various lead-in techniques if they want to reach the expected results. They are expected to design the most relevant lead-in technique according to the actual teaching situation in a flexible way. What’s more, always using the same technique such as asking questions may repel students or dampen their learning initiative. As a consequence, teachers need to change lead-in technique based on students’ needs. As long as these lead-in techniques are able to stimulate students’ interest and curiosity, expand students’ thinking and mobilize the enthusiasm of students, it should be regarded as validity.

5. The Application of Lead-in in Junior English Classroom Teaching

5.1 Lead-in by reviewing

Lead-in by reviewing is one of the most important techniques in English classroom teaching. This technique originates from the famous educationist Suhomlinski’s idea that learning is the combination of the old and new knowledge (Suhomlinski 2005：88).

Just as an old saying goes that “Gain new knowledge by reviewing the old”. It is easier for students to receive new knowledge by reviewing the old, which is useful to construct a greater knowledge system. While reviewing, teachers, on the one hand, lay the groundwork for imparting new knowledge, on the other hand, cause students to think by asking various questions.

For example, when discussing the topic of “weather” in 7B unit4, the teacher preferred to have a word competition among students to review some weather conditions that students learnt before. She guided them to make sentences based on these weather situations. i.e. I like winter because I can make snowman with friends / I will not go out because of the heavy rain.

By reviewing, the advantages are as follows: some relevant vocabulary about weather in students’ minds such as winter, cold, rain will be activated immediately in order to pave way for the new teaching material.

5.2 Lead-in by asking questions

Leas-in by asking questions is also a common lead-in technique in daily English teaching which comes from the theory of Li Tingxiang saying that questioning aims to arouse students’ enthusiasm of observing, thinking and imagining abilities (Li Tingxiang 1983: 44).

Different teaching material and different students ask for different teaching techniques. However, asking questions is an effective way to stimulate students’ thinking.

This technique is aimed at improving students’ thinking abilities, stimulating their curiosity and desire for knowledge, which can guide them to learn actively.

For example, in the case of discussing the topic of Friends in 8A unit1, teacher could ask the following questions to lead in “Do you have any friend? Who is he/she? What’s his/her name? Can you introduce him/her to us”?

In this way, students may have a deeper thought about the topic of friends and gain a sense of self-satisfaction. Naturally, their attention can be drawn to the teaching material. It will also improve the learning efficiency if students can learn following the teacher’s instruction.

5.3 Lead-in by listening to songs

The language of music is subtle and it benefits people a lot in many case studies. For example, when teaching “My favorite season” in 8A unit7, teacher could use a song called: “seasons in the sun” to begin her class. “We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, but the wine and the song like the seasons have all gone”.

Along with the beautiful song which contains the topic and vocabulary of the new teaching material, the familiar words in students mind can be activated, and they can get into the class more easily and happily, without any tense and embarrassment. By doing so, not only students’ interest can be aroused, but also the classroom atmosphere is activated. Sometimes, while appreciating songs, teachers can properly guide students to think about the deep meaning behind the lyrics in order to give them infection education.

5.4 Lead-in by free talking

Brainstorming or free-talk is usually a popular lead-in technique in Junior English class. Affected by such idea, teachers can design topics for students to talk freely, which can not only let them discuss boldly, but also improve their speaking skills.

For example, when teaching “Homes around the World” in 7B unit 3, the teacher chose the talking lead-in technique. She gave his students about 2 or 3minutes to talk about their own homes from home style, home address and their favorite place at home with partners.

By talking so, students can naturally get into the new lesson under a relaxed atmosphere. What’s more, students’ listening and speaking skills are practiced as well.

5.5 Lead-in by watching videos

Lead-in by watching videos combines images with sounds, which applies many ways to enhance students’ sensory stimulation such as flash, music or film. This is the most direct and vivid technique to attract students’ attention.

Along with the development of science and technology, the equipment used in daily education is more and more various. The computer and multimedia are using widely in order to make class more vivid and convenient.

For example, when teaching 8A unit3 “Giant pandas”, teacher can play a piece of video called the ”animal world” for students to appreciate before class, which can not only attract their attention, activate the classroom atmosphere, but also lead them into the best learning state.

5.6 Lead-in by making situations

In day-to-day teaching, we can’t expect students to keep in the normal state of learning in class. Something unexpected will happen from time to time, which demands teachers to choose proper lead-in technique flexibly according to students’ psychological conditions.

Daily life is quite different from the situation described in the text book, so teachers should create a similar situation, which can make it easier for students to get into the role and improve class efficiency. Situational lead-in technique is apparently based on the given situation, which can guide the students into the real theme imperceptibly.

For example, when teaching “Giant pandas” in 8A unit5, teacher can create a vivid animal world. She firstly decorated classroom with beautiful pictures of animals and then showed her students a short piece of video about Animal World, which attracted them a lot. Finally, she told them a story about “Xi Wang---a small panda”.

In this way, the students may become enthusiastic to the target topic: Animal. In a vivid and interesting story, not only the students’ passion can be aroused, but also the class efficiency can be improved a lot.

5.7 Lead-in by previewing

Lead-in is by previewing is also a practical technique in middle school English teaching. It refers to a situation where teachers inform the students what knowledge they need to master in advance. Students should preview these knowledge points according to the text books by turning to handbooks for help, which can later improve students’ learning efficiency in class.

This technique can urge students to prepare fully before class and well develop their self-learning ability. It is quite important for teachers to assign such tasks that are closely related to the new lesson, and also to the point.

For example, in the teaching case of 7A unit 9, the topic is “Have you been to an amusement park”, teacher assigned such questions for students to have a thought in advance “what Disney characters have you seen? Do you know snow white, sleeping beauty, the lion king and Minnie?”

This technique can make students realize what information they need to search for before class. They will prepare these materials in advance and share them with classmates in class. Under such circumstance can teachers successfully promote the English classroom teaching effect.

5.8 Lead-in on the basis of background knowledge

As a kind of language, English plays a very important and indispensable role in the world (Zhang Wusheng 1993: 36). English learners need to firstly understand English countries’ social background such as history, customs and folkways, religion or thinking ways before learning. By doing so, they can have a better understanding of English language habits and can enter into the learning atmosphere faster. Hence, teachers should introduce the relevant cultural background information to students according to the target teaching material before each class, which can not only arouse students’ interest of each lesson, but also enhance them to understand the corresponding contents.

For example, while teaching some biographies, teachers could arrange some pictures or play some music and video about their life stories or successful experiences for students to appreciate in order to preliminarily understand the relevant background knowledge, which could pave the way for later study.

While learning the western festivals, teachers could compare some introduction about traditional festivals in China or foreign countries, so that students could access to the new knowledge more easily.

Specifically speaking, while talking about the topic of “Festivals” in 8A unit3, teacher played a beautiful Christmas song and introduced its’ origin to students.

By doing so, students may have a better understanding of the background information. With the knowledge in mind, they will be confident enough to learn. What’s more, it is of great significance to widen their knowledge and activate their enthusiasm for English learning.

6. Conclusion

Lead in, as the prologue of each class, plays a key role in the whole teaching. In this paper, some general knowledge about lead in such as its’ purposes, functions, principles and techniques are discussed. Since there is a lack of theoretical basis of lead in, so this thesis tries to explain the necessity of lead in in junior middle school English classroom teaching.

From the above discussion, it is easy to conclude that lead-in in junior English classroom teaching deserves every teacher’s attention. The reasons can be cited as follows.

First and foremost, lead-in activities are well received by students because they are interesting enough so that students can be easily attracted to the new teaching material. As a result, they can naturally focus themselves in class and happily absorb the new knowledge. On the other hand, it is easy for English teachers to conduct these activities because they are practical enough. Teachers will design carefully these activities according to the new teaching material in advance, which can naturally activate the old knowledge in students’ mind and build a bridge between the old and new one and finally form a steady language knowledge framework.

In addition, since most lead-in techniques need interpersonal communication, so it is a good way to improve students’ listening and speaking skills as well as strengthen their confidence in English learning through this step. What’s more, all the lead-in activities that teacher designed in class involve students’ interaction. As a result, not their learning enthusiasm can be activated but the relationship between students can be promoted.

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