A Study of Vocational College English Teaching Based on Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

CHEN Ying-dan JIANG Jing-xin

【Abstracts】Piaget has taught us that we learn a great deal about how students think by listening carefully during the class，by paying attention to their own ways of solving problems.If English teachers understand the Vocational College students thinking，they will be better able to match teaching methods to students abilities.

【Key Words】Vocational College； English Teaching； Piagets Theory

1.A Brief Introduction of Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

During the past half century，Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget devised a model describing how humans go about making sense of their world by gathering and organizing information.Cognitive development is much more than the addition of new facts and ideas to an exciting store of information.

According to Piaget （1954），our thinking processes change radically，though slowly，from birth to maturity because we constantly strive to make sense of the world.Piaget identified four factors---biological maturation，activity，social experiences，and equilibration that interact to influence changes in thinking （Piaget，1970）.Maturation，activity，social experiences all work together to influence cognitive development.

As a result of his early research in biology，Piaget concluded that all species inherit two basic tendencies，or “invariant functions”.The first tendency is toward organization.The second tendency is toward adaptation.

Organization：people are born with a tendency to organize their thinking processes into psychological structures.Piaget gave a special name to these structures：schemes.In his theory，schemes are the basic building blocks of thinking.They are organized systems of actions or thought that allow us to mentally represent or “think about” the objects and events in our world.

Adaptation：people inherit the tendency to adapt to their environment.Two basic processes are involved in adaptation：assimilation and accommodation.

People adapt to their complex environments by using exciting schemes whenever these scheme work （assimilation）and by modifying and adding to their schemes when something new is needed （accommodation）.

Equilibration：According to Piaget，organizing，assimilating，and accommodating can be seen as a kind of complex balance act.Piaget assumed that people continually test the adequacy of their thinking processes in order to achieve that balance.

2.Values of Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development for Vocational College English Teachers

According to Piagets theory of cognitive development，we can learn a great deal about how students thinking by listening carefully，by paying close attention to their ways of solving problems.If teachers understand their thinking，teachers methods and strategies toward students will be better improved.

2.1.Re- recognizing vocational college students，and understanding their thinking

Piaget's theory pointed that：the students in any class will change greatly both in their level of cognitive development and in their academic knowledge.As vocational college teachers，we should observe our students carefully as they try to solve problems we have presented.For example，what kind of methods can we provide to the students when they have troubles in reading，listening or writing？ Do they focus on only one aspect of English learning？ What are the main obstacles for vocational college students to learn English？ As teachers，we couldnt always be the actors in the class without students interactions.We should re-recognizing vocational college students，understanding their thinking on English learning.Teachers try to be the guides to help them to construct knowledge and understand knowledge，lead them to solve the problems or modify the mistakes if necessary.Teachers are not the leaders in the class any more，but the guides or the participants among the students.The students are the best sources of information about their own thinking abilities.Therefore，taking students as the center，significant activities as the carrier，will greatly affect the implementation of English teaching patterns.

2.2.Making teaching strategies to vocational college students abilities

It is worth for teachers to making teaching strategies to vocational college students abilities.Many teaching materials and lessons can be understood at several levels and can be applied for a range of cognitive abilities.In the English listening courses，if teachers can use classics such as fairy tales which fit for the students，they would enjoy and concentrate the courses.It is also possible for students to be introduced to a topic together，then work individually on follow up activities which adapt to their levels.

3.Helping the vocational college students to construct English knowledge

As we know，English language learning will partly determine how much efoort teachers put into helping students to construct their English knowledge.the presence of English in the class immediately facilitate practice opportunities such as writing reviews of English TV programmers，keeping a diary of curricular activities or encounter projects.Its absence creates greater but not insuperable challenges for teachers.Teachers need to think about sources of authentic input，about manageable out of class practice，and about creating a balance of skills work to make the most productive use of class.

In addition，all students need to interact with teachers and peers in order to test their thinking and language abilities，to be challenged，to receive feedback，and to watch how others work out learning obstacles.As a general rule，students should act，observe and talk and write to the teacher about what the have experienced during English learning.

4.Conclusion

Piagets influence on developmental psychology and education has been enormous.And many English teachers agree with most of Piagets insightful descriptions of how students think during English learning.In summary，English course should build vocational college students abilities to engage in purposeful learning，to adopt a range teaching styles necessary for interacting successfully with authentic materials，and to develop students English learning awareness.Teachers should understanding the students thinking，then carry on the courses according to Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development for teaching.

References：

[1]Piaget，J.（1954）.The construction of reality in the child.New York：Wiley.

[2]Piaget，J.（1985）.The equilibrium of cognitive structures：the central problem of intellectual development.Chicago：University of Chicago Press.

作者简介：

陈映丹（1981-），女，重庆工商职业学院旅游与文化学院讲师，硕士，主要从事英美文学、高职外语教学研究。

江晶鑫（1982—），女，重庆工商职业学院旅游与文化学院讲师，硕士，主要从事英美文学、课程与教学论研究。