The Application of Pair Work in English Teaching at Higher Vocational andTechnical College

余莲君

摘 要：小组活动是高职英语教学课堂中较常用的教学组织方式之一 ，它有利于提高学生参与课堂，从而提高学生的英语语言应用能力。本文通过分析小组活动的理论基础，重点阐述了小组活动在高职英语教学中的重要作用，从而得出结论，高职英语课堂教学中应该充分利用小组活动的优势，让学生加强彼此之间的语言交流，以此提高学生的语言能力。

关键词：应用 小组活动 英语教学

Abstract： One of the most effective teaching methods adopted in English teaching at higher vocational and technical college is pair work. It contributes to improve students' language competence in English teaching. Based on constructivism， pair work is mostly used in English teaching to make students be more active， increase their input and output， and also enhance students' interactive ability. Thus the conclusion is drawn that pair work should be strengthened to improve students' language competence.

Key words： application pair work English teaching

I. Introduction

With the development of higher vocational education， more and more students are admitted into vocational colleges. It is found that most of them are poor at English. students. They lack English words， sentence structures and so on. Besides， they lack ability to learn and think actively. They have few ideas of how to learn a foreign language， how to acquire knowledge actively. Whats more， most students are still passive learners in English learning. Teachers tell students what they need to grasp. They make use of textbooks to teach students. Thus students learn “deaf-and-mute English”. This can not meet the requirement to foster students interactive competence.

It is known that interlocutors negotiate meanings with his peers when interacting with others. They share each others thoughts， feelings， information or ideas between two or more people. This can provide them with “scaffolding” that enables them to produce structures that would be beyond them. In the process of talking or discussion， students try to make themselves understood or contradict others to support their own ideas. They send and receive messages. This kind of communication is effective. Students cooperation results in reciprocal effect on each other. Also， students produce a greater quantity of language and also better quality language when working with others in English than students in a teacher-fronted， lockstep classroom setting.

Pair work provides students more opportunities for language production and greater variety of language use in initiating discussion， asking for clarification， interrupting， competing for the floor， and joking. In such cases， teachers act as mediators， directors， consultants， and others. And in China， there are many students in a class that students cant act freely in class. So， pair work is one of the best ways to initiate students cooperation in class. [1]endprint

II. Pair Work Based on Constructivism

Pair work is an activity which involves lots of communication. When interacting with their deskmate or fellow member， students gather their information and take part in discussion. They discuss in comprehensible language. They try hard to have themselves understood. Learners acquire a language through the process of learning how to communicate in it. Generally speaking， pair work integrates students listening， speaking， reading， writing and critical thinking abilities that challenge them to interact more actively in the classroom and contribute to the development of language ability. Thus， pair work is an important way to improve the students oral interactive competence.

Piaget and Vygotsky， the forerunners of constructivism， indicated that human cognition is formed from the conceptions people obtain from the interaction with society （Ausubel， 1968）. “Constructivism is a philosophy of learning which is founded on the premise that we all construct our own understanding of the world we live through reflection on our own experience. Learning is the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodating new experience.”（Jia， 2004：183） The purpose of language learning is to construct ones own meaning， not just to memorize. Learners actively participate in constructing personal meaning from their experiences when interacting with their partner， and they develop their interlanguage through interaction. In fact， learning and interpersonal interaction are social and cooperative activities， which cannot be taught in class. It is through interaction with others that learners build up their own knowledge structure. Constructivism puts emphasis on learners subjective understanding of the realistic world.

In constructionist approach，learning is an active construction process rather than a passively receiving process. Under this approach， students make new second language acquisition based on their own knowledge and experience. Constructivism lays its emphasis on students themselves. And the significance of classroom tasks lies in the fact that students can see their improvements and progresses they have made and have a strong sense of accomplishment due to their fulfillment of tasks. In this way， learners confidence can be established in the process of learning.[2]

At the same time， constructivism needs teachers to change their roles and become a helper，a supporter，and a promoter. Students former existing cognitive structure will help them construct their own knowledge. “The teacher will therefore use multiple real world contexts， strategies and coaches，and create a bunch of environments for the learner，so he gets to practice thinking in different ways. The result will be a learner who is better prepared to handle different situations.” （Jia， 2004：185） Pair work gives students enough time and space to actively construct their own knowledge structure through negotiation with others and teachers provide help for students when necessary.endprint

III.The Use of Interaction in English Teaching at Vocational Colleges

Through pair work， students have lots of activities of listening， speaking， reading and writing. It plays an important role in students English learning. By doing these， students can negotiate meanings with their fellow students and have more opportunities to interact reciprocally.

4.1 Turning Students into Active Learners

According to Piagets constructivism， learning is an active construction process rather than a passively receiving process. Individual learners should be active ones instead of passive ones. It is through pair work that learners construction of knowledge occurs. Therefore， it is crucial that college students should have active learning both in class and after class. The nurturing of learner autonomy is one of the most important tasks that language teaching undertakes.

Pair work contributes to after-class learning. When given a topic or a task， every student in the class undertakes the same or different tasks. They look up the related materials and do a lot of reading practice in order to make a good preparation for class participation. They also discuss with their partners to share a lot of related information. They also make many modifications when it is necessary and add more information if they need to. Thus， students become active in language learning in searching for information， expressing their ideas in class and evaluating after the activity.[3]

4.2 Increasing Students Language Input and Output

Because of students active participation， students get the opportunity for acquisition. According to Swain （1985）， input is the first step for the second language acquisition. And Krashen （1985） also indicated that in order to make second language acquisition， learners must have more opportunities for the exposure to the second language， which is a little beyond （that is， “1”） his or her current level of language competence （that is， “i”）.

In order to perform smooth interaction during pair work， interlocutors often make some modifications to be understood. Thus they get more comprehensible input during their interactive activities in the process of expressing themselves. They negotiate the new input， thereby ensuring that the language which is heard is modified exactly to the level of comprehensibility they can manage. In this way， students comprehend each other and obtain more opportunities to be exposed to the target language and get much input.endprint

4.3 Enhancing Students Interactive Ability

It is through interacting that students maximize the comprehensible input that they receive， and， crucially， interaction is vital to students language development. That is， only listening to new language structures does not lead to successful language learning. Students have to become active participants in the target language by using the received input in immediate interaction and communicative patterns with other students.

During the process of preparation and pair work， students are negotiating meaning and language uses， which aim to let them make comprehensible output. Pair work involves lots of students language input and output， and even feedback from their partners. The more exposure to the language and adjustments students make in their language acquisition， the more opportunities they obtain for second language acquisition. As a result， students confidence and courage are developed. This can form a virtuous circle. And their interactive ability is enhanced.[4]

IV. Conclusion

Pair work is a teaching method leading students to paying much attention to listening and speaking. It advocates to cultivate students language practical competence in daily life. This meets the teaching requirements of the English curriculum requirements of higher technical and vocational education. The principle of student-centered should be followed in classroom teaching to make students become actively in English learning. Thus they could be nurtured to meet the development of the society.[5]

Bibliographies

[1] Brown， D. Teaching by Principles： An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2001

[2] Ellis， R. Learning a Second Language Through Interaction [M]. Amsterdam，John Benjamin Publishing Co，1999

[3] Hornby， S. Oxford Advanced Learners English and Chinese Dictionary. Beijing： The Commercial press， 1997

[4] Krashen， S. The input hypothesis： Issues and implications [M]. London： Longman， 1985.

[5]贾冠杰.《应用语言学高级教程》[M]. 上海：上海外语教育出版社，2004.endprint