The Analysis on the Problems in Middle-School English Education

Abstract: Middle-school English education has attracted more and more people’s attention. The education reform in recent years is helpful to middle-school English education to some extent. Meanwhile， because of those limits of the objective conditions， there still lie a lot of problems in the present middle-school English education. Only with a thoroughly analysis on the problems that can we push the education reform forward， thus solve those problems and embrace a new developmental epoch.

Keywords: middle-school English; Education; Problems

In the late few years， with a higher quality of the elementary English courses， education reform and social progress have provided us an unprecedented environment for English learning. However， the phenomenon of tired of studying is widespread. Moreover， most of the students are poor in oral English. To face the problems， at first we have to think about them seriously. In this way， we can solve the problems on by one， thus improve the educational reform and make new progresses.

1. The social context for learning English is still immature

In China， the English context is the dependency of Chinese context. For instance， in most cases， the English classes， after-school clubs or the summer camps are organized provisionally in order to satisfy the needs of English teaching， they belong to a kind of virtual context or simulative context. Once the students leave school or text books (including various teaching materials and training materials)， the context disappears. As a foreign language， English is undoubtedly a language for teaching. It means that English is a language without the need and condition for practical usage. On one hand， in a long period， most of the Chinese people have no need to use English. Although there are more and more people need to use English， the total number will still be small. On the other hand， the idea that wants to learn English and Chinese in the same way， in other words， to learn English as our mother tongue， is unpractical.

2. The People Orientation thought cannot be implemented efficiently.

In the Standard of English Course， for the first time， we put forward the idea that English education should be people-oriented. People orientation emphasizes the all-round and sustainable development of students rather than the number of words or sentence patterns a student can memorize. All useful men are in good behaviors and English education also need to be respondent to it as well. In fact， not only should English education aim at teaching students English language， but also at helping students develop all-roundedly.

Just as what is said in the new Standard of English Course about the purpose of the elementary English courses，...should aim at enabling students to acquire basic language knowledge and skills， to gain a sense of language initially， to obtain ability of using basic language， to develop intelligence. Ignoring the people orientation thought， we may simply go into utilitarianism and exam orientationism， consequently， English study becomes a duty with fun and students may easily become tired of studies and fidgety.

3. English education takes a teacher-centered mode

Since English study is very practical， it must emphasize students to be active in learning， experiencing and exercising， but not to concentrate on the teachers’ teaching. At present， many schools still takes the teacher-centered mode， which impedes the development of English education.

Middle-school English education should lead the students to join in the process of study and make them to be the subjects of study. This is the so-called “Experiential Learning”， it relies on the students to experience and comprehend. It requires us to construct the mode of English teaching according to the practices of the students. Firstly， we should change the educational thoughts and update our educational concepts， fully arousing the students’ enthusiasm and creativity. Only in this way that can we develop the students’ interest in English study and better follow the rule of language learning， thus get the twice result with half the effort.

4. Emphasize more on the results of the exams than on the process of study

Affected by many kinds of exams， we have made the mistake to regard English learning as the means of getting the entrance of further education. If the students study English hard just want to pass the exams， it will be very dangerous. Using language is not a result but a process， since we emphasize the use of language， what we should focus on is the process but not the result.

Modern English education requires a whole process of language learning and using for students. In the process， we should not only concentrate on “What to learn” but also “how to learn” and “how to use”， that means how to listen， talk， read and write. To give a lesson does not mean make the students know the text’s context， grammars and words， but make them know how to learn it by themselves.

5. Listening is one of the hardest

As for Chinese middle school teachers and students， listening is the hardest in English study for the following reasons:

Firstly， disturbing by the mother tongue

When doing listening， the majority of students prefer translating the listening materials sentence by sentence into Chinese to transforming the language information into some certain scenes. That is to say， they cannot think in an English way and doing translation while listening must have a bad effect on students’ reaction， memorization and comprehension.

Secondly， lacking the study of English language and culture

In order to English well， students need to acquire some basic knowledge of English and American history and literature， since English is a kind of foreign language for Chinese students. Moreover， they need to know some customs and life styles of people in Western countries. Many high school students find listening skills are really hard to improve because of their insufficient knowledge of foreign culture. As a result， many of them even feel puzzle about some basic issues.

Thirdly， being weak in basic language knowledge

While listening， students’ levels of mastering basic language knowledge determine students’ comprehension and reaction. Some students do not grasp the right pronunciation of each word from the very beginning. As time went by， they may find it even harder to distinguish sound from sound， especially when two words are sounded similarly. Some English teachers are speaking in a very slow way and thus may lead to a serious situation that their students may it hard to get used to normal speed in the English exams. The vocabulary ranges of students and how well they master them and polysemy and homophony in listening may also make it harder for students to understand the listening materials.

Fourthly， psychological stress

The comprehension of listening is a complex psychological process. When a person becomes very nervous， it appears the dread feeling. In this situation， he may get puzzled with the context he could have understood. Middle school students are generally nervous when they are doing listening exercises， thus makes it more difficult to listen clearly.