Study on the Way of Cultivating Students’ Critical Thinking Ability in English Teaching under the Model of “Students as the Main Body and teacher Oriented”

【Abstract】Starting from the characteristics of English as a subject and the advantages of “Students as the Main Body and teacher Oriented” teaching mode， this paper analyzes the way to cultivate students critical thinking ability in English Teaching under this mode.

【Key words】English Teaching； Students as the Main Body and teacher Oriented； Critical Thinking Ability； Cultivation

【作者簡介】焦美蓮，云南外事外語職業學院。

With the increase in the demand for talent in the society， the quality of talents is being paid more and more attention. The ability of critical thinking， as the most important factor in the comprehensive quality of talent， has become the focus and consensus of the educational circles at home and abroad. English， as a subject， is also a language， which is essential for thinking. At the same time， English， as a required course， runs through students whole process of learning， from the kindergarten to the University. So the cultivation of students' critical thinking ability in English teaching has become a hot topic in the field of English teaching around the country.

1. The Features of English as a Subject

In schools and colleges in China， English as a subject， is a required course. Most teachers and teaching managers have been regarding it as just a subject. But actually， it is a language， a tool for expressing and communicating. It is the most original medium for thinking . This is the most essential feature that distinguishes English from any other subject. This characteristic determines that English Teaching plays an irreplaceable role in the cultivation of students' critical thinking ability.

2. The advantages of the Model of "Students as the Main Body and teacher Oriented"

The most direct purpose of education is to teach students knowledge and to cultivate their abilities. Its final product is the student. The effectiveness of education depends on the final performance of the students to obtain objective evaluation. It is clear that the main body of the teaching process is the student. Teachers， as the initiators of knowledge and the cultivators of ability， their mission is to dominate the teaching process， inspire and guide students to learn independently， and control the exploration direction of students at the right time. For English teaching， the best model is "the student is the main body， the teacher is the dominant". Its biggest advantage is that， with the help of teachers， the students' subjective initiative can be given full play， so that their questioning， thinking and analyzing abilities can be trained in a planned and directional way.

3. Way of Cultivating Students' Critical Thinking Ability in English Teaching

3.1 Adjust the teaching goals and contents.

The traditional English teaching aims at the students memory of words and syntax， and their ability of listening， speaking， reading and writing. So the students， in the process of passive acceptance， give up their own reflection and exploration on the subject. Naturally， there appears the “absence of speculation”. Adjust the teaching goal， add the specific requirements of the thinking ability training， and adjust the teaching content according to this， so that it can adapt to the needs of critical thinking ability training. Convert the students from passive recipients to active explorers. In this way， teachers and students should be guided to adjust their key points and pay attention to the training of thinking ability.

3.2 Reform the methods and means of teaching.

The traditional teaching methods and means lack the necessary elements to stimulate students' interest， so the class is rather boring. The teaching model of taking students as the main body， suitable for the needs of thinking ability training， needs to fully stimulate the initiative of the students. Therefore， in English teaching， teachers need to transform their role from “indoctrinator” to “inspirator”， and to pay enough attention to the fact whether the students' enthusiasm for participation is stimulated as a standard of teaching evaluation. We must abandon the didactic teaching method that has been applied for many years. At the same time， we should use multimedia teaching equipment or other more vivid and realistic teaching methods as much as possible， and also allow foreign teachers to participate in classroom teaching. Change the forms of classroom teaching， such as the use of games， debates， field simulations and others， allowing students to virtually forget the rigid constraints of classroom and play their natural role， so as to change the boring situation of English teaching and stimulate students' learning initiative to the greatest extent.

3.3 Reconstruct the feedback evaluation system.

The traditional education evaluation system emphasizes the students' examination results， while the design of the examination paper focuses mainly on language ability and neglects the investigation of students thinking ability. This system of evaluation leads to students' hard memory but abandoning thinking and questioning. If we want to make the evaluation system play a guiding role in the cultivation of students' critical thinking ability， we must reconstruct a set of teaching effect feedback evaluation system and balance the proportion of language ability and critical thinking ability. Add ingredients that require students to think about， systematize the test pattern and substantiate the test methods. Then it is expected to effectively guide teachers and students to focus on the cultivation of critical thinking ability.

3.4 Improve the comprehensive quality of Teachers.

The quality of teachers plays a key role in the cultivation of students' thinking ability. The requirements for teachers to convert their function from “preaching” to “enlightening” put forward higher requirements for their own knowledge and ability. They should not only have sufficient reserve of professional knowledge， but also master the skills of inducing and related background knowledge. They need to be familiar with different teaching theories， master different teaching methods， learn to control their emotions in class， and enhance their ability to control the classroom. To train the students' thinking ability in English teaching， teachers are required to improve their knowledge and ability system constantly.

In English teaching， the development of students thinking ability is a very important element that marks the learning style in which students are regards as the main body， and embodies the students' comprehensive ability. The cultivation of students' ability of critical thinking has put forward more challenges to the English Teachers. Teachers should not only possess professional knowledge， but also remember cultivating students' thinking ability as one of their teaching goals. They must assume their possibility and try their best to guide students to think about things from different dimensions， cultivating students' thinking ability and improving students' comprehensive quality.

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