how-to-teach-english

BookReviewofHowtoTeachEnglishHowtoTeachEnglishbyJeremyHarmerForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,2010,203pp,￥27.9ISBN978-7-5600-1902-4ReviewedbyLiXianWhenIwasachild,Iwasmovedbythestoryofagreatteacher----AnnieSullivan.ShewastheteacherofafamouswriterHellenKeller.ShetaughtHellen,ablindanddeafgirl,howtoread,howtowrite,howtolearn.ShebroughtbrighttoHellenandchangedherlife.Fromthenon,ImadeupmymindtobecomeateacherlikeMissSullivanafterIgrowup.AfterlearningEnglishteaching,Ifounditisnoteasytobeagoodteacher.But,itispossibleifIdomybest.LastmonthIreadabook,HowtoTeachEnglish,writtenbyafamouseducatorJeremyHarmer.Englishisoneofthemostwidelyusedlanguagesintheworld.Itisspokenbynearlythreehundredmillionpeople：inEngland,theUnitedStates,Australia,Canadaandmanyothercountries.Itisoneoftheworkinglanguagesatinternationalmeetingsandismoreusedthantheothers.Itissaidthat60percentoftheworld'sradiobroadcastsand70percentoftheworld'smailareinEnglish.MillionsofbooksandmagazinesarewritteninEnglish,too.Englishisreallyabridgetoknowledge.WiththehelpofEnglishwecanlearnmodernscienceandtechnologyfasterandbetterformthedevelopedcountries.Inthiswaywecanserveourcountrybetter.InChinatherearethousandsofEnglishlearnersandtheyarekeenonagoodEnglishteacher.AsagoodEnglishteacher,youshouldlearnhowtoteachEnglish.HowtoTeachEnglishisacompletemanualofteachingEnglishasaforeignlanguage.Itiscompletebecauseofitswide-rangecoveragefromgeneralissuesaboutteachingandlearningEnglishuptospecificproblemsthatEnglishteachersfrequentlyencounter.Betweenthesetwoextremes,readerscanfindalmosteverythingdealingwithteachingandlearningEnglish.ThosewhoareinterestedindevelopingtheteachingoflanguagecomponentsmayrefertoChapter5.Abriefreviewaboutsentenceconstructions,partofspeech,nountypes,verbformsaretopicswithinthischapter.Notintendingtodichotomizeweaknessandstrength,badandgood,thesetopicsindicatethatthedescriptionsofgrammarusedinthisbookrefertotraditionalviewofgrammar.Chapter7-10dealwithteachingthefourlanguageskills.Theyare,therefore,appropriateforthosewhowantapractical,easytounderstandreferenceofteachinglistening,speaking,reading,andwriting.Asateachingmanual,asthewritersaysinitsintroduction,HowtoTeachEnglishisapracticalbookconcentratingonexamplesofteachingandteachingpracticesratherthanondetailedanalysisoflearningtheory.Itspracticalcharacteristicmakesthisbookappropriatefornoviceteacherswithevenlimitedcomprehension.Chapteronedescribesomeofqualitieswhichgoodteacherspossess:anabilitytogiveinterestingclass,usingthefullrangeoftheirpersonality;thedesiretocommunicatewithstudents,treatingthemallequallyhowevertemptingitistodootherwise;and‘knowingalltheirnames’.Languageteachersusewithstudentsshouldatalltimesbecomprehensible,and,especiallywhengivinginstructions,itshouldbeclearandwellstaged.Teachersneedtowalkafinelinebetweenpredictabilityandsurprise,withoutlurchingintoeithermonotonyoranarchy.Alsoagoodteachercouldrespondflexiblytowhathappensinclass,evenwhileattemptingtofollowapre-arrangedplan.Chaptertwolookedatwhatmakesagoodlearnerandtalkedabouthowlearnersdifferfromeachotherinageandlevel.Goodlearnerstakesomeofresponsibilityforlearningthemselves.Whilstbeingsensitivetotheireducationalandculturalbackground,teachershouldtryandencouragethepracticeofself-study.Goodlearnersarewillingtoexperimentlisten,askquestionsandthinkabouthowtolearn.Thisimpliesthedesirabilityofusingappropriatestudyskills.Choosingappropriateactivityisalsoveryimportant.Chapterthreediscussedtheteachers’physicalpresence,sayingthatweshouldpayattentiontoourproximitytothestudents,thinkabouthowmuchteachersmovearoundtheclass,andconsidertheappropriateofourbehavioringeneral.Teachersneedtomakecontactwiththeirstudents,especiallyeyecontact.Teachersneedtoeclearlyaudiblewithoutshoutinginadisagreeableandstressedtheneedforvarietyinthewayteachersusestheirvoice.Differentactivitiescallfordifferentvoice,andthevarieduseofthevoicemakesformoreinterestingclasses.Chapterfourtalkedabouttheelementsnecessarytolearnlanguageintherealworld:exposure,motivationanduse.Threeelementsarenecessaryforsuccessfulteachingandlearninginclass:E(engage),S(study),andA(activate).Sometimethesethreeelementscanmixtogetherandindifferentorder.ItalsotalkedaboutdifferentmodelswhichpeoplehaveusedtodescribeteachingsuchasPPP(presentation,practiceandproduction),task-basedlearning(whichputsthetaskfirstandlanguagelearninglast)andcommunicativelanguageteaching(withitstwinemphasisonappropriatelanguageuseandactivationmethodology).Chapterfivetalkedabouthowtodescribelanguage.Itdescribedthistopicverycomprehensively,fromgrammartopronunciation.Chaptersixsaidthatstudentsneedtobeexposedtolanguage.Theyneedtounderstanditsmeaning,understanditsconstructionandpractiseit.Inordertomakesurestudentsunderstandthemeaningofwordsandgrammar,theteachercanshowobjects,picturesanddrawings.Theycanusemime,gestureandexpression.Theycancheckquestionstomakesurestudentsunderstandconcepts.Theycanusetimelinesforverbtensesorexplainmeaningbylistingoppositemeanings.Theycangetmoreadvancedstudentstowritedictionarydefinitionsandthencompare