英语学习策略与技巧教程教师用书

Unit 1 Language Learning
Aims and Objectives
This unit introduces The objectives of this unit are for you to know something about the basic
theories of language learning which will be discussed in later units and helps students presupposed in later discussion, and for you to relate their your learning experiences to the theories in question and think about the implications for their language learning you so that they may help your L2 learning. The main points are as follows:
1. The two basic learning theories, that is, the behaviorist theory and the cognitive theory;
2. The basic terms related to L2 learning and the distinctions between them;
3. The four L2 learning models and their implications for L2 learners.
Tasks
1. As human beings, we are often engaged in some sort of learning activities all our lives.
For example, we may learn to ride a bicycle, swim, dance, play volleyball, conduct a class,
speak a foreign language, or learn a subject and so forth.
The general purposes of learning are to acquire some skills or to get some kind of
knowledge.
2. L2 learning is such a comprehensive project that it can not be easily classified into a
single type. In fact there are some elements of each type in the overall task of L2 learning.
The skill-learning elements are apparent. We usually say a competent competence
speaker of a language is capable of the four macro-skills (listening, speaking, reading, and
writing). And there are also micro-skills such as leave-taking, making small talk, writing
notes, and so on.
L2 learning is also a kind of culture-learning. As L2 learners, you should be
interested in the L2 culture, its social life, and the values associated with it.
Also There are also cognitive elements in L2 learning. For one thing, apart from the
skills, we should also have some knowledge about the L2, about its pronunciation,
vocabulary, and grammar. For another, we should have some knowledge about the L2
system.
3. In middle school English learning, there are many practices which can be traced back to
behavioristic theory. For example, when you learn a new word, you may have repeated
many times until you surely committed it to your memory. You may also have repeated
after your teacher or the tape a certain sentence pattern. In doing this you believe or the
teacher believes that repetition can reinforce the newly established connection—The more
you practice the more surely you will grasp it.
4. For example, English is a second language in countries such as India, South Africa,
Singapore, etc, and it is a foreign language in China, France, Japan, etc.
5. In the learning situation in China, more often than not, we are learning the English
language rather than acquiring it because we seldom (if ever) have any opportunity to
learn it in natural situation. Rather, we are generally learning it in formal situation of the
classroom. And we seldom had have any contact with native s

peakers of English.
6. 1) Good language teaching theories and methodology are always based on good
language learning theories. If a teacher regards learning as a kind of

stimulus-response behavior, s/he will get the students to do mechanical drills, so that
they can learn English through imitation. If s/he sees language learning as cognitive
learning, he will get the students to learn rules and meaning, and to develop their
cognitive structure so that they use English creatively.
2) The debate over whose role is more important in the classroom, the teacher‘s or the
learners‘, reflects not only different philosophies of teaching but also different
theories of learning. In the past the teacher-centered view was predominant. It
reflected the theory that the teacher was imparting knowledge to the learners who
were only sitting there passively waiting to receive it. Later on, the student-centered
view has been widely accepted. This reflects the theory that the students play an
active role in learning, and that they are not only actively participating in classroom
activity, but are interacting with the teacher and their peers.
7. It should be noted that this theory is based on research in L2 environment. They should
not be mechanically applied to foreign language learning in China because the learner
does not have any natural L2 input. In most cases, the only L2 exposure they have access
to is in the classroom or other artificial situations. Anyway, as learners we should try our
best to have some suitable natural L2 exposure.
8. There is no definite answer to this question. But an interest in the English culture will
ensure the learner‘s interest in learning the language.
9. If you are still in the process of learning the L2, you may not yet possess a wide repertoire
of ready-made, automated plans as the competent speaker. You may have to devote
conscious attention to lower-level operations. As a result your L2 production may not be
so fluent. This is where the need of practice arises.
That is to say, in order to be a fluent speaker, you have to practice the lower level
language structures until you can produce them without any difficulty in communication.
In that way, you can pay more attention to other aspects of communication such as, ideas
to be expressed, the strategies to express the ideas, and so on, without worrying about the
language form.
10. One of the reasons for the existence of different L2 learning models is that different
people see language and language learning differently. For example, if you see language
as a set of habits, you will see L2 learning as a process of forming L2 habits. In order to
form this set of habits you need to do a lot of practice, and you will prefer a model which
emphasizes learning the L2 skills.
On the other hand, if you see language as an internalized system the knowledge of
which enables you to speak grammatically, you will se

e L2 learning as a process of
internalizing the L2 system. Therefore, you need to be exposed to the L2 sufficiently until
you have internalized the system and are able to produce L2 creatively and naturally.
11. First of all, we should keep it in mind that most of the theories are suited to second
language learning. They can not be applied in China without considering the Chinese
situation. Actually English learning in China is unique in a number of ways:
1) Chinese foreign language learning is conducted in a big country where there is no
English-speaking community. The learner‘s exposure to the language has been is very
limited and foreign language proficiency is achieved mainly in formal situations.
2) All the teachers are trained in China. They themselves have little L2 cultural
experience, which makes English learning a little remote from the reality.
3) There are still a lot of learners whose purpose of learning English is not to be able to
communicate in English, but to pass exams, to get certain certificates, etc. They are
learning English as a subject, not as a means to communicate with others.
Home Assignment
1. Becoming bilingual is a way of life. Your whole person is affected as you struggle to
reach beyond the confines of your first language and into a new culture, a new way of
thinking, feeling and acting. Total commitment, a total physical, intellectual, and
emotional response is necessary to successfully sending and receiving messages in a
second langue. Second language learning is not a set of easy steps that can be
programmed in a quick do-it-yourself kit. No one can tell you ―how to learn a foreign
language without really trying.‖ The learning of a second language is a complex process,
involving a seemingly infinite number of variables.
Our understanding of second language learning is closely related to our understating
of the nature of language and that of first language acquisition.
Native-like proficiency—the goal of second language learning
Knowing a language means having acquired the competence or proficiency in the
language. The ideal goal of competence or proficiency in a second language is the native
speaker‘s competence or proficiency in the language, which is a necessary point of
reference for the concept of second language proficiency. But people agree that it is
impossible to reach the complete proficiency of native speakers. And expert suggested a
level called native-like proficiency, which is an approximation to native speakers‘
proficiency. This kind of proficiency has three components:
1) grammatical competence (linguistic competence) includes vocabulary and
pronunciation as well as grammatical structure and word forms;
2) strategic competence (the L2 learners‘ ability to compensate for problems in
communication) consists of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that may
be called into action to compensate for breakdo

wns in communication due to
performance variables or insufficient competence.
In reality, different second language learners attain different levels of proficiency
ranging from zero to native-like.
2. There is no hard and fast answer to this question.
3. There is no hard and fast answer to this question.