关键期假说的误解中国小学不适合开设英语课.docx
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关键期假说的误解中国小学不适合开设英语课.docx
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关键期假说的误解中国小学不适合开设英语课
TheAnalysisofImproprietyofOpeningEnglishCourseinChinesePrimaryschools
Thesisstatement:
ThispaperaimstostatefromtheviewofcriticalperiodhypothesisthatopeningEnglishcourseisunjustifiedinChineseprimaryschoolsbecauseofyoungchildrenwithlowefficiencyandunqualifiedEnglishteachersinpronunciation.
Outline
1.Introduction
2.TheCriticalPeriodHypothesis
2.1TheCriticalPeriodHypothesisinfirstlanguage
2.2TheCriticalPeriodHypothesisinsecondlanguage
3.TheMisunderstandingoftheCriticalPeriodHypothesis
4.ReasonsonDisapprovalofopeningEnglishCourseinPrimarySchool
4.1TheSituationofOpeningEnglishCourseinChinesePrimarySchool
4.2ReasonsonDisapprovalofopeningEnglishCourseinPrimarySchool
4.3TheEnlightenmentofchildren'sEnglishlearningbythecriticalperiod
5.Conclusion
1.Introduction
Inmodernsociety,English,astheworld'smostwidely-usedlanguage,playsanindispensableroleinhuman'scommunication,thusitiscriticalforpeopletomasterEnglishproficiently.EnglishisacompulsorycourseinmostChineseprimaryschoolsforthereasonthatsomeeducatorssupportthecriticalperiodhypothesisthatonlychildrenbeforeacertainageareabletolearnEnglishverywell.MostparentsalsorequiretheirchildrenataearlyagetohaveEnglishtrainingclassliketheNewOrientalinordertodevelopchildren'sbrainandarousetheirinterestinEnglish.MymainaiminthispaperistohighlightthemisunderstandingofthecriticalperiodhypothesisandtoexpoundthefactthatopeningEnglishcourseisnotappositeinChineseprimaryschools.
2.TheCriticalPeriodHypothesis
ThecriticalperiodhypothesisderivingfrombiologywasproposedbyneurobiologistsPenfieldandRoberts(1959,citedinEllis,1999),theyarguedthattheoptimumageforlanguageacquisitionfallswithingthefirsttenyearsoflife,duringthisperiodthebrainretainsplasticity,butwiththeonsetofpubertythisplasticitybeginstodisappear.Thatis,childrenenabletoacquirethesecondlanguagenaturallyandeffortlesslywithintheageoften.Lenneberge(1967,citedinEllis,1999)developedtheirtheorytoproposethecriticalperiodhypothesis.Heassertedthatthereisaperiodwhenlanguageacquisitioncantakeplacenaturallyandeffortlessly,butthatafteracertainagethebrainisnolongerabletoprocesslanguageinputinthisway..
2.1TheCriticalPeriodHypothesisinfirstlanguage
ThecriticalperiodhypothesisofLenneberge(quotedfromChang,2011)mainlyconcentratesontheresearchofmothertongue.Therearemanyresearchesandevidencestodemonstratetheexistenceandtherationalityofthecriticalperiodhypothesisinthefirstlanguage.AnAmericanbiologistSperrymadeafamousexperimenttoprovetherightandthelefthemispheresofthebrainhavedifferentfunctions.Theneurologicalcapacityforunderstandingandproducinglanguage,whichinitiallyinvolvesbothhemispheresofthebrainisslowlylateralizedinthelefthemisphereafterthepuberty.Therefore,ifapersonmisstherighttimetolearnlistenandspeakthefirstlanguage,hewillnotpossessgoodlinguisticcompetence.Forexample,thewolfchild,whowasraisedbywolvesandthensavedbypeople,however,hewasnolongertospeaknormallyandfluentlylikeahuman.
2.2TheCriticalPeriodHypothesisinsecondlanguage
Thecriticalperiodhypothesiswasusedtotheresearchofthesecondlanguagelearning.NeuroscientistHirsh(quotedfromLi,2010),appliedtheFMRI(FunctionalMagneticResonanceImaging)toobserve12bilinguals,thesixpersonsinthefirstgroupofwhichlearnedthesecondlanguagesincetheywereborn,whiletherestofsixpersonsinthesecondgrouplearnedthesecondlanguageaftertheirpuberty.Hefoundthatthevibrantlanguageareasofbrainofthefirstgroupwerethesamewhentheyspoketheirmothertongueorthesecondlanguage.However,thevibrantlanguageareasofbrainofthesecondgrouphappenedatdifferentplaceswhentheyspoketheirmothertongueorthesecondlanguage.Heexplainsthatthenervoussystemlossesplasticityafterthelanguageareaofthebrainfullygrows,thus,itismoredifficultforteenagers(13-19-yearold)tolearnasecondlanguagewhentheirbrainfinishesthelateralizationofthelanguagefunction.Oyama(1967,citedinEllis,1999)foundthattheageofarrivalofsixtyItalianmaleimmigrantsintheUSAwasafarmorepotentdeterminantofthelevelsofpronunciationtheyachievedthanwaslengthofstay.Newport(1999,quotedfromLu,2011)madeanEnglishgammertestonsomestudentsandprofessorsfromTaiWanandKorea.HefoundthatthosewhohadarrivedinAmericaattheageof3to7madethesamemistakeslikenatives;thosewhocametoAmericaattheageof8to15performedworseasthegrowthofageandthosewhoimmigratedtoAmericaattheageof17to39gottheworstresults.Theseresearchesapprovethattheearlierpeoplelearnasecondlanguage,theproficienttheycanachieve.
3.TheMisunderstandingoftheCriticalPeriodHypothesis
Ellis(1999)arguedthatthelenneberge'scriticalperiodhypothesiswasonlypartiallycorrect.Onlywherepronunciationisconcernedisanearlystartanadvantageandeventhenonintermofsuccess,notrateofacquisition.HealsoproposedthatitistheolderlearnerswhoreachedhigherlevelsofproficiencywhenlearnersatdifferentageswereexposedtotheL2.Thatis,olderlearnerslearnasecondlanguagewithhigherefficiency,comparedwithyoungerones.
Rosansky(1975,citedinEllis,1999)believesthatyoungchildrenlackflexiblethinkingandareself-centred.Theyareabsentofmeta-awarenesssothattheydonotknowtheyareacquiringlanguageandtheylearnasecondlanguagewithlowefficiency.
Krashen(1952,quotedfromLu,2009)disagreestheexistenceofthecriticalperiodhypothesis.Hisinputtheorythinksifalargenumberofeasily-understandinginputandappropriateaffectivefilterisprovided,learnersregardlessofages,canacquirethetargetlanguage.Thistheoryindicatestherelationshipbetweenlanguagelearningandaffectivefactors.Thesocio-psychologicalfactorslikelanguageinputandcognitivedevelopmentisthemainfactorcausingthedifferentproficiencyinsecondlanguagelearning.
ElizabethBates(1980,quotedfromLu,2009)proposestheemergenisttheory,whichdeniestheexistenceofthecriticalperiodhypothesisbuttheinterreactionbetweenmothertongueandasecondlanguage.Thedifficultinacquiringthesecondlanguageiscausedbytherestrictionfrommothertongue,whichformsintheprocessoflearningnotinnately.Ifadultskeeponpracticingthesecondlanguageandusethetwolanguagessoundly,theproficiencyofthesecondlanguagecanreachahighlevelandevenapproachtomothertongue.
EllenBialystock(1999,quotedfromLu,2009)suggeststhatthesecondlanguageacquisitionattheearlystageexistslittleorevennomothertonguetransfer,ifthereisgeneralgrammarinthecriticalperiod.Although,themothertonguetransferofchildrenislessthanadults,butthefeaturesoftransferaresame.Therefore,thedecreaseoflanguagelearningabilityshouldcontributestothechangeofcognitiveabilitynottotherestrictionofage.Shealsosuggeststouseoptionalperiodtoreplaceofthecriticalperiod.
4.ReasonsonDisapprovalofopeningEnglishCourseinPrimarySchool
4.1TheSituationofOpeningEnglishCourseinChinesePrimarySchool
In2001,theEducationDepartmentofChinaissuedadocumentstipulatingthatprimaryschoolsincitiesandcountriesgraduallyopenedEnglishcourse.In2002,Englishcoursewereopenedinprimaryschoolsinvillagesandtownsinourcountry.ThenewcoursestandardofcompulsoryeducationofprimaryschoolregulatesthetaskofEnglishcourseaimingtostimulateandcultivatethestudents'interestinEnglish,toformgoodlearninghobbyandlearningstrategy,andtomakethemmastertheskillsoflistening,speaking,reading,andwriting.ThecourseobjectistotrainthecomprehensiveabilityofusingEnglishandtomakesurethatstudentsareabletocommunicatewithsimplesentencesinEnglishandtoreadsomeEnglishstoriesandsingEnglishsongsuntilsixgrade.Therefore,Englishcoursebecomesanimportantpartinchildeducation.
Underthissituation,alotofEnglishtrainingorganizationsemergesbytakingadvantageofthisopportunity,suchastheNewOriental,Owen,etc.AlotofparentswhoholdhighhopesfortheirchildrenspendmuchmoneyinsendingtheirchildrentoEnglishtrainingclass.BecausetheybelievethattheearliertheirchildrenstudyEnglish,thebetterresulttheywillachieveinthefuture.
4.2ReasonsonDisapprovalofopeningEnglishCourseinPrimarySchool
Nowadays,althoughEnglishboomisapopularphenomenonalloverthecountry,duetothemisunderstandingofthecriticalperiodhypothesis,peopleespeciallyparentsdonotrealizethefactthatyoungchildrenarenotappropriatelyexposedtoEnglishcourse,thereasonsofwhicharepresentedinthefollowing.
OnereasonisthataccordingtoEllis(1999),olderlearnersareabletoreachhigherlevelsofproficiency,comparedwithyoungchildren,whentheyareexposedtoL2learning.AndOyama(1967,citedinEllis,1999)makingtheexperimentonsixtyItalianmaleimmigrantsindicatesthatasfarassuccessinpronunciationisconcerned,youngerlearnersdobetter.Thatistosay,youngerchildrenlearnasecondlanguagewithlowefficiencybutonlyagoodpronunciationasanearlystartadvantage.Gui(quotedfromYin,2011)believesthatstudents'abilityofmasteringvocabulary,grammarareimprovedandinfluencedbythei
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- 关键期 假说 误解 中国 小学 不适合 开设 英语课