On the Emotional Strategies of English Teaching in Independent Colleges

【Abstract】With fragile emotion， weak foundation of English， students in independent colleges have special difficulties in English learning， so teachers should adopt appropriate emotional strategies to help the students improve the effectiveness of their studies. These strategies should include the following aspects: enhancing emotional quality of teachers， cultivating positive emotional attitudes of students， exploiting more emotional resources and creating harmonious and comfortable emotional environment.

【Keywords】emotional strategies English teachingindependent college students

【中圖分類號】C42【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼】A【文章編號】1009-8585(2011)05-00-03

With the development of mass higher education in China， a number of independent colleges ， namely， subordinate colleges of Chinese universities ， have emerged all over the country. Most of them are co-run by regular universities and non government organizations or individuals.[1]

1 Current Situation of Independent College Students

Independent Colleges are subordinate to regular universities， but they are totally different fromregularuniversities. Independent colleges enroll students whose scores are lower than the minimum passing score of regular universities in national entrance examination. The students accept the equivalent education but have to pay at least twicethe tuition of regular college students. Compared with regular college students， these students have the following special characteristics:

1.1 Weak Foundation of English

Independent college students have relatively weak foundation of English and some weaknesses in learning as well. According to recent statistics[2]，the enrollment scores of independent colleges were about dozens of points lower than those of regular universities， a fairly wide gap， thus the English foundation of the students in independent colleges is not so solid as that of regular college students. On the other hand， these students mayhave some weaknesses in learning English， such as some undesirable learning habits， poor self-teaching ability， lack ofinterest in English， passive class participation and so on.

1.2 Fragile Emotion

Fragile emotion is another weakness of independent college students. Firstly， with the unsatisfactory scores in the national entrance examination， they are likely to feel inferior to regular college students and doubt their own ability to learn English. Secondly， they tend to have ambiguous psychological orientations about their college study and future. As a new comer in higher education， independent college education has not been fully understood by most people.Even the students themselves do not know about the orientation and quality ofindependent colleges and their poor sense of security makes it hard for the students to focus on their academic studies. Furthermore， these students may take the view that higher tuition may indicate the inferiority to regular college students. Thus， they usually choose to hide these feeling in silence， which is particularly undesirable in language learning.

With so many inherent disadvantages， it’s hard to imagine that independent college students have to face the same courses and the same CET 4 tests， which are not easy even for regular college students. As a result， they have more difficulties in English learning and need to pay extra efforts to reach the same standards.

2 The Relationship Between Emotional Factors and English Learning

Emotion is a special phenomenon of human beings and an experience of whether the objective reality meets one’s personal needs. The theory of educational psychology shows learning is not only a cognitive process， but also an emotional one.[3] Emotional factors exert great influence on English learning and have been thoroughly studied in western countries but in China they are not emphasized enough in English teaching.Emotional factors in foreign language learning can be divided into two kinds: one is individual factors of learners， including anxiety， self-esteem， repression， learning motivation and so on; the other is learner-teacher and learner-learner relational factors such as empathy and classroom communication.[4] The most outstanding theory about how emotional factors influence second language learning was put forward by Krashen， an American linguist. His famous “affective filter hypothesis” demonstrats that there can be a mental block that prevents acquirers from fully utilizing the comprehensible input they receive in language acquisition. This block or “the affective filter” might be up if the acquirer is unmotivated， lacking in self-confidence， or anxious， then comprehensible input cannot get through; if it is down， acquirers can make effective use of it. Active emotional factors will greatly reduce emotional filtering so as to improve the efficiency of learning， while passive emotional factors may lead to high emotional filtering or even make the process come to a halt.[5]

3 Adopting Effective Emotional Strategies to Improve the Efficiency of English Teaching

Emotion plays an important role in English classes than any others. As is well known to everyone， when learning a language， it is vital to use it in different situations.Without positive emotions such as relaxation， self-confidence， and sense of security， there will be little or no iterraction between teachers and learners， let alone real communition. In view ofspecial emotional status of independent college students， teachers should put extra emphasis on emotional factors in teaching， which makes it easier for students to build up their self-esteem， open their mouths and learn English actively. Thus， it is necessary for teachers to adopt effective emotional strategies in order to achieve success in English teaching.

The author takes the views thatthe following emotional strategies will contribute to the success of English teaching:

3.1 Enhancing Emotional Quality of teachers

Teaching behavior of teachers can be divided into two aspects: instructional methodological aspect and interpersonal aspect. The former embodies teachers’ professional quality， while the latter refers to teachers’ emotional quality such as creating and maintaining active atmosphere in classes.[6]

In order to enhance their own emotional quality， teachers should be aware thatlove is the key to successful teaching. Only when teachers care about their students， can they get into the students’ hearts， lessen their anxiety and doubt， sincerely offer help needed by the students. On the other hand， teachers who love their students and teaching would be passionate in teaching， which will create students’ enthusiasm about learning.

Reflective teaching is another effective approach to improve teachers’ emotional quality and professional development. By communicating with students， designing effective questionnaires， observing teaching videos， making interactive assessments between teachers and students， studying students self-assessments， teachers can obtain plenty of first-hand information and perform reflective teaching. From a macro perspective， teachers can reflect whether their behavior coincides with their teaching philosophy; from a micro perspective， teachersmay observe whether their teaching methods are appreciated by students， or whether the students have certainnegative emotions such as anxiety or depression. Only with the above overall reflections， can teachers successfully control emotional factors， making them positive in English teaching.

3.2 Cultivating Positive Emotional Attitudes of Students

Being the subject in learning， students’ emotional attitudes play a key role in English learning， especially for independent college students with the double “weaknesses ” in emotion.

There are a couple of ways to take good care of their fragile emotion and cultivate their positive emotional attitudes.

First of all， situations must be created for students to improve self-confidence. Diesterweg， a famous German educator， believes that the art of teaching is not only to pass on knowledge but to encourage， to inspire and to arouse self-development in children. As for independent college students， fragile in emotion， but they are eager to be recognized and praised by teachers. Trust and praise serve as magic accelerators to re-build students’ self-confidence and fulfill their potentials. Students should also be taught the importance of confidence in English learning and try to cultivate this quality in themselves.

Secondly， situations must be created for students to experience success. Frequent successes will help students to get into a habit of striving for success. Teachers should design suitable situational dialogues and proper exercises， and with some efforts the students can smoothly finish them， experiencing satisfaction and self-fulfillment from their own success. In this way， their confidence and ability will be greatly improved.

3.3 Exploiting More Emotional Resources

Exploiting more emotional resources is a good way to arouse students’ interest and improve English teaching efficiency. To some degree， college English textbooks are criticized for a lack of interest or sense of times. Actually， most of the contents in college English textbooks are typical masterpieces with rich emotional resources. Teachers should make every effort to exploit the inherent emotional resources， combining teaching with pleasure. For example， the two passages “ A Good Heart to Lean On” and “Love of Life” in Unit3 ， Book 1， New Horizon College English， are very touching and encouraging stories，so the teacher can make full use of the passages to develop students’ personalities. Still， while teaching the passage “Five Famous Symbols of American Culture” in unit 4， book1， teachers can arouse students’ interests in American culture by showing them pictures through multimedia means and stir up their patriotic feelings by asking them to talk about famous symbols of Chinese culture. In this active atmosphere， students can learn English with greater interests and confidence.

3.4 Creating Harmonious and Comfortable Emotional Environment

Active and harmonious emotional environment is indispensable in English teaching. First， teachers should design a comfortable physical environment， including the proper place， lighting， temperature， color， sound， distance， the walking routes of teachers， the arrangement of seats and so on. All the factors are in the service of making students feel pleasant and relaxed， which will make it possible for students to actively draw in information.[7] Secondly， teachers should attach great importance to an equal and interactive atmosphere in and out of English classes. One of the important reasons why classroom teaching cannot be completely replaced by modern teaching methods such as virtual classrooms lies in the classroom atmosphere based on the interaction between teachers and students. Communication between teachers and students and interaction among students are the first step to creatingpositive emotion in English classes. So teachers should always cultivate equal， relaxing and unfettered psychological environment that leads to happy and satisfied studentswho can express freely and easily. After all， the highest ideal of education is the full exchange of diverse ideas and thoughts.

Given all that has been discussed， teachers should be well aware of the characteristics of independent college students. Aiming at eliminating the weaknesses of independent college students， the teachers who take effective emotional strategies can unlock the door of their closed hearts， arouse their interests in English learning， and promote interaction to a higher level so as to improve their English learning.

References

[1]Information on http://www.edu-sp.com

[2]Information on http://www.gaokao.com

[3]J. M. Lu: Emotional Teaching Psychology， Shanghai Educational Press， Shanghai， (2000) P. 15-30

[4]J. Arnold， H. D. Brown A Map of the Terrain， inAffect in Language Learning， Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， Beijing(2000)

[5]S. D. Krashen， T. D. Terrell: The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom， Pergamon Press， Oxford(1983)p.63-73

[6]A. P. Liu: A Probe into Emotional Factors that Influence Efficiency ofCollege Enlish Class， China higher education research， (2005， 11) p.92-93

[7]M.Y.Xiang:Emotion and College English Teaching，Tianjing Education Press ，Tianjing，(2006).