Application of Extracurricular Activities in English Teaching of Middle Schools

李陽

【Abstract】As an efficient extension and compensation of classroom teaching， extracurricular activity is becoming more and more popular. Four concrete forms of the extracurricular activities are chosen to be discussed in this thesis， which can provide a good reference for the English teaching.

【Key words】extracurricular activities； English teaching； application

1. Extracurricular Activities and English Class

In China， class teaching is the chief means of acquiring knowledge and extracurricular activity plays a secondary role as a beneficial supplement. As for the learning of language， extracurricular activities can provide a real and natural environment for students.

2. The Application of Extracurricular Activities in English Teaching

2.1 English Speech

English speech is one of the most direct and brief method to practice students oral English effectively， particularly consolidating what they just have learned in the English class teaching. Teachers can make students prepare the English speech after their preview according to the theme in their learning materials. When class begins， they can step on the stage and make their voluntary speeches one by one within three minutes. Teachers can provide a relevant theme or help students extend the topic according to the teaching materials.

Take the topic of unit 4 for grade 7 of Middle School English textbook as an example， the title is “I want to be an actor”， which is about the occupations. Students can be required to prepare a speech about what they want to do when they grow up.

2.2 Learn to Sing English Songs

Learning to sing English songs can increase the efficiency of English study. There are many requirements for the correct pronunciation in songs， such as weak forms， stressed words， linking and so on. For instance， the students book for grade 7， unit 4 I want to be an actor， there is a popular English song named Be what you wanna be that can be applied into this unit.

doctor， actor， lawyer or a singer

why not president， be a dreamer

you can be just the one you wanna be

police man， fire fighter or a post man

why not something like your old man

you can be just the one you wanna be

driver， actor， lawyer or a singer

why not president， be a dreamer

you can be just the one you wanna be

The word ‘wanna in the lyric above is a kind of brief form in the spoken English， it is very common in the songs or the relationship of two familiar persons with its meaning of ‘want to. Then students should remember the pronunciation of wanna /'wan?/. The stress sounds of these words， doctor， actor， lawyer， singer， postman are all on the first syllable， then the tone of these words are falling.

2.3 English Wallpaper

English Wallpaper is a common extracurricular activity for English writing practice and the students ability of design and operation.

The whole class can be divided into several groups and each group needs to make the wallpaper in turn or together. The forms of the content may involve poems， classic songs， short stories， famous proverbs， easy riddles and so on. After the activities， some useful messages can be learned and shared with all the classmates together with the help of teachers. Especially the famous Chinese and foreign festivals， such as Spring Festival， Mid-autumn Festival， April Fool s Day， Christmas Day， Easter Day and so on， these may be the good topics for wallpaper， and can make students have a great knowledge about culture.

2.4 Role Play

Role play can be the pair work or the group work， which is up to the need of the role and the circumstance in class teaching， especially the conversation in class. If the conversation involves two roles， and they should know who is A and who is B， then they need exchange the roles with each other so that everyone can get the chance to practice.Teachers should distribute the roles rationally. It will be better for teachers to decide the roles for students to avoid the confusion. After finishing， teachers can correct the errors and encourage them to get better.

For instance， in the section A of unit 2 of Middle School Students English textbook for grade 8， there is a pair work which requires two students to play the roles. The one is the doctor， the other is the patient， and they two should make a conversation by using the given sentences.

3. Suggestion

When teachers are selecting the contents of the extracurricular activities， they should consider some factors for their students with their language proficiency level， their age and the condition of psychology as well as their interest. In another word， the selected contents of the extracurricular activity should be neither too difficult nor too easy for the students.

4. Conclusion

To conclude， extracurricular activities are of significant value to the English teaching in Chinese middle schools and they will become an indispensable supplement to classroom teaching so as to meet the ultimate goal of the English teaching.

References：

[1]連鵬.英語歌曲在中學英語課外活動中的應用研究[D].重慶師范大學，2014.

[2]Gao，Y.H.Implementing Communicative Activities in English Reading Class[J].English Language Teaching，2008，1（1）：14-18.