Analysis of high school students’ English learning英語專業(yè)畢業(yè)論文

Analysis of high school students English learningAbstract Senior Grade 1 is quite different from the other grades in senior high school. It is a transition period from junior high school to senior high school. In this period, English teachers in senior grade 1 have to solve joint problems. As teachers , they may tackle them from the aspects of choosing teaching materials, teaching methods and students learning strategies. However, in this paper, students become a focus for teacher to teach. Teachers should change their teaching methods in accordance with their students learning psychology . Teachers should develop not only the students intellectual factors but also their non-intellectual ones, which are psychological factors. The teaching practice has proved that if teachers pay attention to psychological factors, they can activate the students potential motivation and highly motivate them . Therefore, senior middle school English teachers should change their attitude and teaching methods according to it. If so, teachers can help their students to overcome their harmful psychological obstacles and improve their study efficiency. Besides, teachers should help students to choose suitable learning strategies and tell them how to improve their study efficiency. Thus, based on the questionnaire investigated by the author, this paper analyzes the causes of difficulties in English learning from the aspects of personal psychology and social psychology. In addition, this paper lists some teaching solutions to overcome these difficulties. Key Words Senior Grade 1; English learning; psychology; teaching solutions 1. Introduction Senior Grade 1 is quite different from the other grades in senior high school. It is a transition period from junior high school to senior high school. So, there are a lot of joint problems in it. And it is very difficult for English teachers in Senior Grade 1 to solve them. The difficulties require the change of the attitude and teaching methods of English teachers. Teachers should develop not only the students intellectual factors but also their non-intellectual ones, which are psychological factors. The teaching practice has proved that if teachers pay attention to psychological factors, they can activate the potential study and motive the study effects. Thus, the psychological analysis of the students in English study shall be more important to the teachers who promote the students to make more progress in English. In this situation, the author has investigated the English learning psychology of Senior Grade 1 students in No.7 middle school of Quanzhou. The number of the students who are investigated is 200. Among them, there are 100 boys and 100 girls. After the investigation, the author analyzes the investigation results from the following aspects: personal factors and social factors. 2. Personal factors 2.1 Motivation and attitude 2.1.1 Motivation "Motivation is a term used to refer to some kind of driving force, either internal or external in human beings. In psychology, motivation consists of internal processes which spur us on to satisfy some need." 1 "Motivation in foreign language learning may be thought of as the incentive, the need, or the desire that the learner feels to learn the foreign language." 2 "In English learning, as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the crucial force that determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres." 3 If the students in Senior Grade 1 can study English with adequate motivation, they may produce positive effect on English learning result and pave the way for their future English learning in senior high school. In the questionnaire of the investigation, question 3 is concerned with the students motivation of learning English. The result is presented in table 1-1: Table 1-1: the students motivation of learning English For interest For college entrance examination For job others Percentage 10% 85% 2% 4% Number 20 168 4 8 The result of table 1-1 shows that 85% of the students in Senior Grade 1 study English for college entrance examination, and only 10% of them study English for interest. Are there any differences between the students who study English for interest and the students who study English for college entrance examination? How does motivation affect their behavior and learning? Motivation is a complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience and so on. These factors play a role in every kind of learning situation. There are two aspects that are especially important for English learning, namely communicative need and attitudes towards the English language community. These are related to two kinds of motivation: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. (a) Intrinsic Motivation: "It is the natural tendency to seek out and conquer challenges as we pursue personal interests and exercise capabilities. When we are intrinsically motivated, we do not need incentives or punishments, because the activity itself is rewarding." 4 For example, a student may study hard for a text because he or she enjoys the context of the course. The result of the investigation shows that there are 10% of the students studying English for interest. It means that their English study motivation belongs to intrinsic motivation; they do not study English just as a school subject. They enjoy the English learning process. They enjoy English itself. So, they can study English actively. They are active in English class, and after class, they can finish homework on time and review the lesson in time. Therefore, intrinsic motivation often correlates with higher achievement in English study. (b) Extrinsic Motivation: "When people do something in order to earn a grade or reward, avoid punishment, please the teacher, or for some other reason that has very little to do with the task itself, they experience extrinsic motivation. They are not really interested in the activity for its own sake; they care only about what it will gain them. "5 For example, a student may study hard for passing an exam, or obtaining financial rewards. In the result of the investigation, there are 85% of the students in Senior Grade 1 studying English just for college entrance examination. It proves that most of the students motivation belongs to extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is not stable. Therefore, at the beginning of their study in senior school , the students have clear targets. They are full of confidence and ambition. However, after the first exam in senior school, their enthusiasms of English study will decrease easily. It can be said that the rate of learning depends upon the strength of the motivation. A strong inner urge will mean stronger efforts. Adequate motivation not only motivates the activity that results in learning, but also sustains and directs it. It is concerned with the arousal of the interest in learning. Most language teachers will agree that the motivation of the students is one of the most important factors influencing their success or failure in learning the language. Motivating learning should beat the top of the agenda of teachers task. 2.1.2. Attitude During the investigation, the investigator notices that the students who are interested in and full of confidence in English study could get higher English achievement than the students who hate English or lack confidence; conversely, high English achievers are more interested in and full of confidence in English study. The investigation result is presented in table 1-2, 1-3: Table 1-2: the relation between students interest and their English achievement have interest have no much interest hate English High English achievement 65% 35% 2% Ordinary English achievement 30% 45% 30% Low English achievement 5% 20% 68% Table1-3: the relation between students confidence and their English achievement Have confidence Have no much confidence Lack confidence High English achievement 60% 10% 0 Ordinary English achievement 35% 60% 45% Low English achievement 5% 30% 55% The results of tables 1-2 and 1-3 show that 65% of the students who are interested in English can get high English achievement; only 2% of the students who hate English can get high English achievement.60% of the students who have confidence in English learning can get high English achievement and no students who lack confidence can get high English achievement. This suggests that if the students have a favorable attitude towards the speakers of the language they are learning, they are more likely to be motivated. This is so because: (i) Favorable attitudes will enhance their wish for more intensive contact with the second language community. And they will see communicative need more clearly. In situations where people of different first languages do not have to contact each other, the learners attitudes may determine whether to perceive any communicative need at all. (ii) There is a close link between the way people speak and the way people perceive their identity. When people try to adopt new speech patterns, they are to some extent giving up markers of their own identity in order to adopt those of another cultural group. In some respects, too, they are accepting another cultures ways of perceiving of the world. If they welcome this process, it can enrich them and liberate them. If not, it can be a source of resentment and insecurity. One of the factors influencing how the students experience the process is their attitude towards the foreign culture itself. If this attitude is negative, there may be strong internal barriers against learning, and if students are compelled to learn, they may not get where they are expected to. 2.1.3 Teaching solutions (i) Incorrect motivations and attitudes towards learning may produce negative effect on learning result. In that case, teacher should help their students to change their incorrect motivations and attitudes. One of the ways to bring about this change is through persuasive communication. A persuasive communication is a discussion presenting information and arguments to change students evaluation of a topic, situation, task and so on. For instance, a deep-rooted fear or belief keeps the students from engaging in effective learning, persuasive communication helps bring these facts to light and identify the cause that underlie them. The communication comprises facts that show what the students can do to attain autonomy. (ii) Work on developing a positive relationship with the student. If the uninterested student doesnt like his teacher, it is hard to get the student to work toward any achievement goals. Show patience, but be determined to help the student and push for steady progress in spite of setbacks or resistance. (iii) Make school more intrinsically interesting. To make school more intrinsically interesting for the students, find out the students interests and if possible include those interests in assignments. For example, teachers can play some English movies in English class; hold English speaking competitions and English corner to arouse the students interests. (iv) Teach students effective English learning methods to make their learning more enjoyable and effective. Help them to set up their confidence in English learning and find ways to guide them in taking pride in their English learning. Teachers can ask their students to list their strong points and think of the achievement they have made. That would be a good way to set up their students confidence. 2.2 Gender 2.2.1Difference between boys and girls "A well-known nineteenth-century nursery rhyme by JO Halliwell goes like this: What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dogs tails. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all that nice. "6 What differences does the rhyme imply exist between boys and girls? Are any of them valid? Issues of real and perceived gender differences can be vital to effective teaching. In the questionnaire, question 6 is concerned with the levels of the students spoken English. Integrating question 6 with question 1, the investigator gets the result of the levels of boys and of girls spoken English. The result is presented in table 2 -1: Table 2-1: The Levels of Boys and Girls Spoken English Excellent Good Ordinary Not good Boys 5% 25% 40% 30% Number 5 25 40 30 Girls 15% 45% 25% 15% Number 15 45 25 15 The statistic shows that there are 60% of the girls are good at spoken English, while only 30% of the boys are good at spoken English. It means that girls have better verbal skills than boys do. In general, females score higher on tests of verbal ability; boys score higher on tests of audio and visual imagery. "During the elementary and secondary school years, there is strong evidence that females outperform males in English reading and writing. In recent national studies , females had higher reading achievement than males in grades 4, 8 and 12, with the gap widening as students progressed through school. In the same studies, females performed better than males in grades 4, 8 and 12 in writing skills. "7 P158 Girls develop verbal skills at an earlier age; they always score higher on English tests in junior school. Do they continuously score higher in senior schools? In the questionnaire, integrating question 1 and question 7, the investigator gets the English achievement of boys and girls in senior schools. The result is presented in table 2-2: Table 2-2: the English achievement of boys and girls High English achievers Good English achievers Ordinary English achievers Low English achievers Boys 8% 16% 15% 11% Number 16 32 30 22 Girls 12% 15% 15% 8% Number 24 30 30 16 The result of the investigation shows that there is no sharp distinction between boys and girls English examination results. Besides, more recent analysis suggests that in senior schools there may be little or no differences in girls and boys English achievement. For example , today males score as high as females on the English portion of college entrance examination. What is the reason for it? Probably the reason is that boys are more likely to have self-confidence in their abilities. They are full of confidence to study English well. The result of the investigation about the boys and girls confidence is presented in table 2-3: Table 2-3: level of boys and girls confidence in English learning Be Full of confidence have confidence have no much confidence Be lack of confidence Boys 21% 48% 27% 4% Number 21 48 27 4 Girls 9% 39% 41% 11% Number 9 39 41 11 The result of table 2-3 shows that 69% of the boys have confidence in English learning, and 52% of the girls are lack of confidence in it. It proves that boys are full of confidence, while girls are lack of confidence. That is because boys and girls interpret their successes and failures somewhat differently. Boys tend to attribute their successes to natural gift (eg, theyre "smart" or "naturally athletic") and their failure to a lack of effort (they didnt try hard enough.) In contrast, girls attribute their successes to effort (they worked very hard) and their failure to a lack of ability (they are not as "smart" as boys). Boys beliefs in greater natural ability make them more optimistic about their chances for future success. In addition, boys actively participate in learning activities to a greater extent than girls. They are more likely to ask questions and make comments about ideas being discussed in English class, and because they are more verbally aggressive, teacher call on them more often. In this situation, boys believe that they can study English well. Besides, boys perform better at language comprehension and logical reasoning, though they are not good at spoken English, they can also score high mark in English examination . Conversely, girls perform worse at language comprehension and logical reasoning skills, although they study harder than boys and complete homework in time, they may not make remarkable progress. So, they begin to doubt their own learning ability and they are always lack of confidence in studying English well. 2.2.2 Teaching solutions (i) Make girls recognize their own advantages of verbal skills and tell them the effective learning methods to study English well. Convince girls that their past and present successes indicating an ability to succeed and that they can avoid or overcome failure with sufficient efforts. In this way, teachers can help their female students to regain their confidence. (ii) Encourage female students to answer questions in classes actively and monitor male students to complete their homework on time. (iii) Teach both genders less aggressive and more social ways of interacting with one another. To accommodate girls more affiliate nature, provide opportunities for cooperative group work and frequent interaction with classmates. For example, teachers can hold role-play games to make their students cooperate with others. (iv) Ask them to take the initiative and devise situations and language learning techniques for themselves. According to gender differences, teacher can encourage boys and girls to choose different methods to study English effectively. 2.3 Personality and temperament 2.3.1 Personality "Personality refers to distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world." 8 There are two main personalities: introversion and extroversion. (a) Introversion Introverts can be described as shy, quiet, and reserved. They tend to relate to contents of their own minds, and seem suited to self-study and non-participation. The introvert will adapt best when in a private setting alone or with a friend . (b) Extroversion: Extroverts tend to be more outgoing, active, and sociable. They are more likely to relate to outside objects, rather than be preoccupied with their own thoughts. In the questionnaire, questions 8,9,10 are concerned with the differences between the introversion learners and the extroversion learners. The results are presented in table 3-1 and table 3-2: Table 3-1: the different reactions between the introversion learners and the extroversion learners in English classes answer questions actively answer questions follow others answer questions passively never answer questions Introverts 6% 12% 63% 19% Extroverts 31% 45% 19% 5% Table 3-2: the different attitudes toward homework between the introversion learners and the extroversion learners A B C D Introverts 23% 47% 25% 5% Extroverts 9% 33% 43% 15% Item A: complete homework and review lessons in time and actively Item B: complete homework on time and review lessons at times Item C: complete homework on time Item D: never complete homework on time From the tables, the investigator notices that extroverts are more active than introverts in English class and introverts do homework more actively than extroverts. Extroverts may well enjoy learning by participation, so activities like conversations and discussions seem appropriate. In terms of teaching, they have been said