英语学习活动观视角下英语优质课的案例分析

摘要
培养学生的核心素养已成为我国基础教育改革的新课题。

英语学科核心素养包括语言能力、文化意识、思维品质和学习能力。

《普通高中英语课程标准（2017年版）》指出：英语学习活动观是培养学生核心素养的重要途径和措施。

尽管初中课程标准还未更新，但是核心素养的培养在初高中都不能缺席。

在教学中贯彻活动观，通过活动帮助学生构建知识、发展语言能力对初高中学生同等重要。

对初中生和高中生同样适用。

为了促进学习者从实际的语言活动中建构知识和发展语言能力，在初中和高中教学中落实英语学习活动观同样重要。

在我国各省市的教研活动中，大多数初中教师都学习了英语学习活动观。

考察初中英语教师如何贯彻活动观很有必要，这是考查课改效果、发现应然和实然之间差距的重要途径。

因此本研究选取全国初中优质课中的8节课例作为研究对象，通过案例分析回答以下三个问题：（1）学习活动观是否在初中英语教学目标中有所体现？（2）学习活动观是否在初中英语课堂教学中得以体现？（3）初中英语课堂教学是否与教学目标匹配？
研究采纳文本分析法和课堂观察法。

笔者首先分析8节优质课中的教学目标否体现学习活动观。

然后分别记录每节课堂中的学习活动类型，分析课程内容六要素，从而判断教学对课标的贯彻。

研究结果表明，只有3节优质课的教学目标中体现了学习活动观，4节优质课的课堂教学体现了学习活动观。

活动观的落实方面存在省际区域差异。

根据研究结果，作者就教学目标的设置，学习活动的设计，以及两者的匹配
提出了建议。

研究结果有望为各省行政部门在课改培训项目中的后续活动提供佐证。

关键词：英语学习活动观教学目标活动层次课程六要素
Acknowledgments
Two years speeding too fast, I want to show my gratitude to many people here. Without them, my life cannot be such wonderful, and I would not have finished my thesis successfully.
Firstly, I will express my gratitude and sincere thanks to my supervisor, Prof. Ji, for her scrupulous instruction, guidance, encouragement, patience, and support to me. During the writing of this thesis, she spent many hours in reading through my paper and offered me lots of insightful suggestions. Many thanks to her.
Secondly, I want to express my thanks to all the teachers who have been teaching and encouraging me during my two-year postgraduate study.
Thirdly, I also want to express my thanks to my classmates, friends and my roommates. It’s very lucky to meet them and have a colorful memory with them.
Finally, I’d like to express my deep love and gratitude to my family members.
With the expectation of all these people, I think this thesis is not the end, the pursuing process of knowledge will never stop.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction (1)
1.1 Background of the Study (1)
1.2 Purposes of the Study (2)
1.3 Significance of the Study (3)
1.4 Overall Structure of the Thesis (4)
Chapter 2 Literature Review (5)
2.1 Views of Language Learning (5)
2.2 The Activity-based Language Learning Approach (6)
2.2.1 Explanations about the Activity-based Language Learning Approach
(6)
2.2.2 Teaching Values of the Activity-based Language Learning Approach
(19)
2.3 Previous Studies on the Activity-based Language Learning Approach (21)
Chapter Three Theoretical Basis (23)
3.1 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education Objectives in Cognitive Domain (23)
3.2 Disciplinary Competency (24)
3.2.1 Learning Activities and Disciplinary Competency (25)
3.2.2 Explanation of Disciplinary Competency from Psychological
Perspective (26)
3.2.3 Compositions and Performance of English Disciplinary Competency
(26)
Chapter 4 Research Design (30)
4.1 Research Questions (30)
4.2 Research Subjects (30)
4.3 Instruments (31)
4.4 Data Collection (32)
Chapter 5 Results and Discussions (34)
5.1 Types of Teaching Objectives (34)
5.1.1 Results (34)
5.1.2 Discussion (35)
5.1.3 Redesign of the Teaching Objectives (44)
5.2 Types of English Learning Activities in Exemplary Lessons (46)
5.2.1 Results (47)
5.2.2 Discussions (51)
5.3 Key Elements of English Lessons Reflected in English Learning Activities
in Exemplary Lessons (53)
5.3.1 Results (53)
5.3.2 Discussions (62)
5.4 Matching Degree Between Teaching Objectives and Classroom Teaching
64
5.4.1 Results (64)
5.4.2 Discussion (69)
Chapter Six Conclusion (72)
6.1 Major Findings (72)
6.2 Implications (73)
6.3 Limitations of the Study and Implications for Future Studies (74)
References (76)
Appendix A Analysis for Teaching Objectives (79)
Appendix B Analysis for English Learning Activities (86)
Appendix C Key Elements Reflected in English Learning Activities (98)
Chapter 1 Introduction
This chapter briefly introduces the paper and it mainly consists of the background, the purposes, the significance and the structure of the research.
1.1 Background of the Study
The study is based on the activity-based language learning approach (ABLLA for short) which was proposed in the English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School (2017). The ABLLA has highlighted the main access to the curriculum objectives and the direction of classroom teaching reform, which is an important progress in the history of English curriculum in China. Exploring and improving the application of the ABLLA in teaching practice with a high efficiency is crucial to develop students’ English subject core competences (Wang 2019: 32).
The new curriculum standard emphasizes that activity is the basic form of and the main access to English learning in which language is used for comprehension and expression in order to cultivate cultural awareness, develop multiple thinking and enhance learning ability. English learning should be featured with students’ participating in a series of language learning activities. In the process of learning by doing, the goal of developing English subject core competences is achieved by means of reflection, exploration, evaluation and creation in English, under the guidance of teachers. It is the teachers who convert the concept of curriculum standards to teaching objectives and then implement them in teaching. Therefore, analyzing classroom teaching is a bottom-up method to examine teacher’s understanding of ABLLA in the Standards. Only with the right understanding, can the development of core competences be possible.
The understanding and implementation of ABLLA can be analyzed from its content and activities. The six elements of English lessons defined in the Standards can be taken as the criterion of content analysis for teaching design and practice. Activities can be analyzed with the Framework of English Disciplinary Competency (3*3 Framework for short). That is to say, the implementation of ABLLA can be operationalized from two aspects: the six elements of English lessons and 3*3 Framework.
Since the Standards for senior high school was issued, a large number of training has been made across different provinces to consolidate senior high school teachers’ understanding and practice of the ABLLA. But that does not mean junior high school teachers do not have to accept any training since the Standards for them has not been published. Actually, most of junior middle school teachers have been imbued with ABLLA in the municipal teaching and research forum in our country. It is highly necessary to learn how ABLLA is implemented among them.
By observing the exemplary lessons in junior high school and by analyzing the teaching content and activities, both the in-service teachers and the students in teacher education can learn how expert teachers apply the ABLLA to foster students’ core competences. It provides empirical evidence on how to interpret the ABLLA in the Standards and put it into practice. Meanwhile, the gap between the recognized practice of ABLLA and the standard interpretation of it will be perceived. Therefore, the research findings can be a useful reference for the cultivation of core competences. It might bring implications to further teacher training on this topic.
1.2 Purposes of the Study
The study takes eight exemplary lessons in a National Conference on Junior
High School English Exemplary Lessons to conduct a case study. The author first works on analyzing the teaching objectives in these eight exemplary lessons selected. Then the teaching content and activities will be analyzed with the six elements of English lessons and 3*3 Framework respectively.
The purpose of the case study is to re-examine the exemplary lessons in junior high school with the ABLLA so as to learn how to design teaching objectives and how to organize classroom teaching based on the ABLLA among China’s junior high schools. As a consequence, suggestions on how to design teaching objectives and classroom teaching based on the ABLLA will be given eventually.
1.3 Significance of the Study
The study puts emphasis not only on the theoretical study of the ABLLA, but also on the practice of the ABLLA in junior high school English teaching.
(1)Practical Significance
First of all, analyzing the problems in the teaching objectives and then redesigning them will help in-service teachers know how to design teaching objectives based on the ABLLA. Meanwhile, analyzing the types of learning activities and pointing out the appropriate proportion of each type will help in-service teachers to know how to design learning activities based on the ABLLA.
Secondly, this study, to some extent, can also help master students in English education to implement the ABLLA in teaching design and practice, to improve English teaching ability, and finally to enhance adaptability to their first post. (2)Theoretical Significance
The ABLLA is first initiated in the Standards. Analyzing the junior high school exemplary lessons from the perspective of the ABLLA will strengthen the
connection between the theory and practice so that the right understanding of the ABLLA can be broadly received and practiced.
1.4 Overall Structure of the Thesis
This paper consists of six parts: introduction, literature review, theoretical basis, research methods, results and discussion, and conclusion.
The first part is introduction. It is about the background, purpose of this study as well as the significance of the study.
The second part is literature review. The definition and explanation of the ABLLA will be introduced. And the previous studies on the ABLLA will be presented in this chapter.
The third part is theoretical basis, including Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education Objectives in Cognitive Domain, English Disciplinary Competency.
Then, the research design will be introduced, which covers research question, research subjects, instruments, data collection and procedure.
Next, results and discussion of the study will be presented.
The last part, conclusion, will talk about the major findings, implications and limitations of the study.
Chapter 2 Literature Review
The ABLLA is the key concept of this study, and it represents one of the views of Language Learning, so the ABLLA will be explained to learn the language learning approach advocated in the Standards, followed by some other terms that are necessary for the case analysis of this research. Then the previous studies on the ABLLA will also be covered in this chapter.
2.1 Views of Language Learning
Views of Language Learning refers to people’s understanding of “how language is learned”. People’s Views of Language Learning are closely related to their views of language. Generally speaking, people’s views of language can always determine how they learn a language. If language is regarded as a skill, the process of learning a language is a process of developing skills, in which plenty of practical activities are required.
Under the guidance of Views of Language, the English Curriculum Standards for Full-time Compulsory Education and Senior High School (Experimental Version) points out that the process of language learning is not only a process of developing students’ language ability, but also a process of promoting their all-round development (Cheng & Gong 2005: 68).
How will students develop their language ability? When explaining the process of language learning, the Standards points out that in English lessons, students should be encouraged to discover the rules of language through experience, practice, participation, inquiry and cooperation under the guidance of teachers to master the language knowledge skills gradually, to nurture positive affection and
attitudes constantly, and to gain effective learning strategies and autonomous learning capabilities consequently (Cheng & Gong 2005: 68).
According to the View of Language Learning in the Standards, language is not learned by receiving knowledge from books or teachers passively. Instead, during the process, students construct knowledge and develop abilities in language practice (Cheng & Gong 2005: 68). The ABLLA is just the important access to implementing Views of Language Learning.
2.2 The Activity-based Language Learning Approach
According to the Standards,the ABLLA means that students promote their knowledge learning, language skills developing, cultural understanding, multiple thinking, value judging and strategy developing in the process of solving problems based on their previous knowledge in different contexts. In the process, students can achieve these goals by means of practical and well-designed learning activities under the guidance of different themes. The theme-guided learning activities can be divided into three low-high levels for different learning purposes. They are 1) Activities for learning and understanding; 2) Activities for application and practice;
3) Activities for transformation and creation. (the Ministry of Education 2018: 13). These three levels constitute the framework of English disciplinary competence. Since each level has three sub-factors, the framework is also named as 3*3 Framework.
2.2.1 Explanations about the Activity-based Language Learning Approach
According to the Standards, the ABLLA is based on the six elements of curriculum content and English learning activities. The six elements include theme-based context, text type, language knowledge, culture knowledge, language skills
and the learning strategies. These six components constitute the curriculum content, which tells us what to learn. And the English learning activities in different levels provide us the route to learn.
The six elements of English lessons are interrelated and integrated. Under the guidance of the six elements of English lessons, all language learning activities should be conducted in certain theme-based contexts. In the contexts under the same theme, students apply language skills to extract both language knowledge and culture knowledge appeared in different genres of texts in the process of solving problems. During the process, students have to understand information from others and express their own intention or attitude, thus learning strategies are constructed. The integrated curriculum content is to be completed in activities.
2.2.1.1 Six Elements of English Lessons
The six elements consist of the theme-based context, text genres, language knowledge, culture knowledge, language skills and learning strategies. And each element will be explained in detail as follows.
A)Theme-based Context
According to the Standards, the theme provides the range of theme and theme-based context for language learning. There are three themes to be included: man and nature, man and society, man and ego.
Firstly, under the theme “man and ego”, all the related topics can be divided into two categories: one is about the discussion of life and learning; the other is about the way of being a man and planning career. And nine sub-categories for topic selection are listed down below:
1)Individual and family life, community and school life;
2)Healthy lifestyle and positive life attitudes;
3)Self-recognition and self-improvement;
4)The fun of learning, the ways of learning, and life-long learning;
5)Rules and methods of learning a language;
6)Personal virtues, correct attitude towards life, social duties and
responsibilities;
7)The meaning and value of life;
8)Career planning;
9)Awareness of innovation and creation.
Secondly, under the theme of “human and society”, four categories of related topics are divided as follows: “social services and interpersonal communication”, “literature, arts and sports”, “history, culture and society”, and “science and technology”. 16 sub-categories for topic selection are classified as follows:
1)Good interpersonal relationship and social communication;
2)Public welfare and voluntary service;
3)Cross-cultural communication, inclusion and cooperation;
4)Fiction and non-fictional literature, celebrity speeches;
5)works and authors in the fields of painting and architecture;
6)General introduction to movies and music;
7)Sports events and spirits, sports and health;
8)Customs of different cultures and traditional festivals;
9)Outstanding people in the society;
10)Important international organizations and social welfare institutions;
11)Common knowledge of law and awareness of law;
12)Tangible and intangible cultural heritage;
13)Hot issues in society;
14)Significant political and historic events, cultural origin;
15)Social progress and human civilization;
16)Development of science and technology, innovation of information
technology, scientific spirit, information security;
Thirdly, under the theme of “human and nature”, four categories, namely “natural ecosystems”, “environmental protection”, “disaster prevention”, and “universal exploration”, are divided, within which 7 subcategories are listed:
1)Geographic introduction of major countries;
2)Natural environment and natural heritage preservation;
3)Human and environment, human and animals, human and plants;
4)Natural disaster and prevention, safety knowledge and self-protection;
5)Human subsistence, relationship between social development and
environment;
6)Research findings of natural science;
7)Exploration of the Earth and the universe.
B)Text genres
According to the Standards, text genres include narration, argumentation, description, practical writing, and discourse in oral and written form. Possible topics are listed below.
1)Dialogue and interview;
2)Narrations like personal stories, figure introduction, short novels, fairy tales and
drama scripts;
3)Description of a place or an object, introduction to products;
4)Practical writing including dairy, personal letter, resume, brochure and
questionnaire;
5)News report like news headlines and special report;
6)New media information including internet information, e-mail and short
message;
7)Other types of genre like catalogue or handbook, table and diagram, calendar,
signs, map and legend, menu and recipe, rules, instructions, forecast, songs and poems.
C)Language Knowledge
According to the Standards, language knowledge includes pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, discourse and pragmatics. The subcategories of the Language Knowledge are listed down below:
1) Pronunciation Knowledge
English pronunciation contains stress, intonation, rhythm, pause, continuous reading, blasting and assimilation. Speakers express their opinions and attitudes through the change of pronunciation.
In terms of the requirements for pronunciation, judging speakers’ intentions, finding the rhythm in the poems, and distinguishing the accent and intonation when communicating with people from different areas are required in the Standards.
2) Vocabulary Knowledge
Words and phrases are collectively called vocabulary. Word, which is the constructive materials of language, is the smallest units which can be used independently. The specific requirements of required course mentioned in the Standards are as follows:
a)Understanding the meanings and functions of key words, and the intentions and
attitudes conveyed by these words with the help of dictionaries;
b)Knowing the root and affix of words and mastering the rules of changes in part
of speech, which can be used to understand information and express opinions related to the themes;
c)Applying vocabulary to name relevant things, describe behaviors, process and
features, explain concepts in contexts according to different themes;
d)Learning to use 500 or so new words and phrases, and mastering 2000 to 2100
words.
3) Grammatical Knowledge
Grammatical knowledge includes lexical knowledge and syntax knowledge. The former focuses on the morphological changes of words, while the latter concentrates on the structures of sentences. The specific requirements of required course will be listed in the following:
a)Being aware that grammatical knowledge in language use is a unity of form,
meaning and use, and that the purpose of leaning grammar is to effectively apply grammatical knowledge to understand meaning in contexts;
b)Understanding the basic meaning of oral and written discourse, describing
persons, things, scenes and events in real and imaginary world, simply expressing opinions, intentions and attitudes, interacting with people in life by using grammatical knowledge;
c)Understanding and using past future tense in the discourse;
d)Understanding and using passive voice of present continuous tense and past
perfect tense in the discourse;
e)Understanding and using infinitive as attribute and result adverbial in sentences
in the discourse;
f)Understanding and using -ed form of verbs as attribute, adverbial and
complement;
g)Understanding and using -ing form of verbs as attribute, adverbial and
complement;
h)Understanding and using infinite attributive clause introduced by relative
pronouns like that, which, who, whom, whose and introduced by relative adverbs like when, where, why in the discourse;
i)Understanding and using simple elliptical sentences in the discourse;
4) Discourse Knowledge
Discourse, which includes written discourse and oral discourse, is a language unit to express meaning. The specific requirements of the required course mentioned in the Standards are presented here:
a)The writing purpose of narrative and expository, and the characteristics of the
structure of these discourses;
b)Basic format, structure and language feature of common applications in daily
life;
c)Structure of discourse, characteristics of titles and language features of news
report;
d)Explicit connection and coherence methods in discourse such as referring,
connecting, ellipsis and substitution;
e)The Function, position and characteristics of the first sentence in each
paragraph, topic sentence and transition sentence;
f)The function of context in the process of discourse comprehension and
discourse output; the relationship between the context, structure of discourse and content of discourse.
5) Pragmatics Knowledge
Pragmatics knowledge refers to the knowledge that is used to accurately understand others and appropriately express oneself. There are some specific requirements of the required course listed in the following:
a)Selecting the language forms that conform to the occasions and speakers of the
interaction; expressing greets, introduction, farewell and gratefulness;
maintaining good interpersonal relationship;
b)Responding to others, interrupting or ending the communication by using
proper language; using non-verbal forms in oral communication;
c)Accurately understanding people’s attitude, emotions and opinions according
to interactive occasions; using proper language forms to express attitude, emotions and opinions;
D)Culture Knowledge
Culture knowledge refers to the Chinese culture and the Western culture, which is the basis of understanding the meaning of the culture, comparing the differences and similarities, absorbing the essence of culture and confirming cultural confidence in the language learning activities. The specific requirements of the required course are as follows:
a)Knowing the traditional festivals of American and Britain and their origin and
meaning; comparing the Chinese and Western traditional festivals and discussing the cultural identify and cultural inheritance;
b)Knowing the American and Britain customs; comparing the Chinese customs,
respecting and tolerating cultural diversity;
c)Knowing the mainstream sports in England and Britain and recognizing their
sports spirit;
d)Knowing the major writers, artists, scientists, politicians in England and Britain
and their contributions and achievements; leaning the outstanding achievements of human civilization;
e)Finding and understanding the different cultural elements in the discourse and
understanding their meanings;
f)Understanding the cultural connotation in English idioms and proverbs;
comparing the means of expression of idioms and proverbs in Chinese and English; understanding the relationship between language and culture;
g)Initially perceiving and experiencing the beauty of English language in leaning
activities;
h)Knowing the differences and similarities between China and western countries
in the aspects of behaviors and manners;
i)Learning and applying English to introduce Chinese traditional festivals and
cultures.
E)Language Skill
Language skill is an important component of language use. Language skill consists of listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing. The former three belong to comprehensive skills, while the latter two pertain to expressive skills. The specific requirements of the required course are listed in the following:
a)Extracting the main information and opinions from the discourse and
understanding the main idea;
b)Understanding the implicit and explicit logic relationship in the discourse;
c)Grasping the cause and effect of main events in the discourse;
d)Catching the key concept and details in the discourse;
e)Understanding the title, subtitle and illustration of the written discourse;
f)Identifying the key words and concepts and searching for the target
information quickly;
g)Predicting the theme and content of the discourse according to its title;
h)Critically judging the content of the discourse;
i)Inferring the meaning of the words according to the clues and non-verbal
information in the context;
j)Grasping the structure and language features of the discourse;
k)Recognizing the common reference and coherence in the discourse;
l)Selectively record the information needed in the process of listening, reading and viewing;
m)Understanding the intention of the speaker based on his or her tone and intonation;
n)Understanding the meaning of the utterance according to the repetition, explanation and pause;
o)Understanding the meaning conveyed by the non-verbal recourses like pictures, images, sounds, symbols and colors in the multimodal discourse;
p)Audio-visual activities after class not less than 30 minutes; the quantity of reading after class each week not less than 1500 words.
F)Learning Strategy
Learning strategy mainly refers to the actions and steps taken by students for promoting language learning and use. The learning strategies used in the process of learning and using English are metacognitive strategy, cognitive strategy, communicative strategy and affective strategy. Metacognitive strategy refers to the strategies adopted to improve the learning efficiency, and to plan, monitor and adjust learning process and results; cognitive strategy refers to the strategies adopted to accomplish language learning activities; communicative strategy refers
to the strategies adopted to maintain interaction and improve the effectiveness of communication; affective strategy refers to the strategies adopted to adjust learning emotions and maintain positive leaning attitude.
There are some specific requirements of each strategy mentioned in the Standards.
The requirements of metacognitive strategy are as follows:
a)Planning and arranging preview and review according to learning content and
important points;
b)Frequently arranging and summarizing what have been learnt;
c)Actively analyze the reasons and trying to solve problems when encountering
difficulties in learning;
d)Selecting suitable reference books and dictionaries to assistant English learning;
e)Getting wider English information and expanding learning recourses through
libraries and the Internet;
f)Consciously noticing and accumulating the English used by media in daily life;
g)Reflecting the effect of different strategies, concluding experiences and
adjusting according to needs.
The requirements of cognitive strategy are listed in the following:
a)Establishing meaningful relations between new knowledge and old knowledge;
b)Perceiving new language items from different perspectives, and focusing on
both the form of the language items and their meaning and usage;
c)Learning vocabulary and grammar in the context;
d)Consolidating the understanding and memory of vocabulary by means of
classification;
e)Collecting and arranging information by using notes, charts and mind mappings;。