英國(guó)語(yǔ)言學(xué)家Postman說過:“我們應(yīng)該把課堂提問藝術(shù)作為英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的一個(gè)中心問題來研究?!弊鳛橛⒄Z(yǔ)教學(xué),課堂上離不開提問,因?yàn)檎n堂提問是課堂語(yǔ)言交流的基本形式,是傳授知識(shí),幫助學(xué)生鞏固已學(xué)知識(shí),激發(fā)學(xué)生參與課堂活動(dòng),鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生思考,培養(yǎng)學(xué)生各項(xiàng)思維能力和語(yǔ)言表達(dá)能力的重要手段。我從自己多年的教學(xué)實(shí)踐中感悟到,英語(yǔ)教學(xué)中課堂提問確實(shí)是十分重要的,提問的形式可以多種多樣,除傳統(tǒng)的模式:教師發(fā)問——學(xué)生回答——教師反饋之外,還可以探索多樣的提問方式,以此來幫助學(xué)生順利完成學(xué)習(xí)任務(wù),激發(fā)學(xué)生的創(chuàng)新思維,從而提高語(yǔ)言運(yùn)用的綜合能力。這是二期課改對(duì)反思型英語(yǔ)教師的基本要求。
一、高效的提問促進(jìn)學(xué)生的語(yǔ)言思維
一般來說,思維是由問題而不是答案來刺激的。如果在各項(xiàng)科學(xué)領(lǐng)域沒有問題的提出,就不會(huì)有各項(xiàng)成果的產(chǎn)生。如果沒有新的問題的提出,也就不會(huì)有理論的發(fā)展和科學(xué)的進(jìn)步。因此,問題是刺激思考的一個(gè)驅(qū)動(dòng)力。那么,什么樣的問題是刺激思考的有效問題?
(一)問題的分類
有關(guān)用來檢查知識(shí)、理解的問題是相對(duì)封閉的(closed), 而且教師心中已有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案,屬于低效問題。而促進(jìn)理解,需要學(xué)生通過分析推理來表達(dá)情感觀點(diǎn),或做出聯(lián)想等思維活動(dòng)的問題是相對(duì)開放的(open),是沒有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案的,是高效問題。
(二)教學(xué)實(shí)例
(A scene from a soap opera)
Calvin arrived home late for the third time in a week. He was out of breath from running. His dinner was waiting for him, cold, on the kitchen table. His mother emerged from the living room, glowering at him. “That’s it” she said, “You don’t go out with your friends tomorrow.” Calvin signed. “I know what we agreed, Mom, but you know the lady with the walking stick two blocks down? She asked me to come in and help her change a light bulb and then we got chatting. I feel so sorry for her. She is so lonely.”
Something about his eyes made his mother suspicious. “I don’t care what you have been doing,” she said. “ You have to learn to get home on time.”
對(duì)于高中生來說,看懂上面這篇文章沒有很大困難。但筆者注意到了其中有一些生詞。
所以在設(shè)計(jì)提問中包含了一些低效的問題,如:檢查知識(shí)性的問題Do you know what “emerge” means?Who might know the meaning of the word “glower”?檢查理解的問題What did the woman tell her son?How did the woman look at the son?檢查運(yùn)用的問題Do you know any other verbs like “glower”?Who knows the opposite word of the word “emerge”?
如果教師的提問只在這一層面上是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的。接下來提問的高效問題,對(duì)于學(xué)生能力的培養(yǎng)是很重要的。如:要求學(xué)生分析的問題Why do you think the mother reacted like that?要求學(xué)生思維合成的問題Would she have said the same thing if her son had been truthful?要求學(xué)生評(píng)價(jià)的問題Was her reaction fair in your view?
對(duì)于上述低效問題,教師是為了檢查學(xué)生對(duì)單詞的掌握和運(yùn)用,以及對(duì)文章的理解而設(shè)計(jì)的。對(duì)于上述高效問題,教師是沒有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)答案的,問題是開放式的。學(xué)生需要通過思考,根據(jù)自己的理解做出不同的回答,從而達(dá)到了激勵(lì)學(xué)生思維,提升學(xué)生語(yǔ)言表達(dá)能力的作用。
二、多樣的課堂形式培養(yǎng)學(xué)生的想象思維
在下面這個(gè)的活動(dòng)中,筆者采用了學(xué)生向?qū)W生提問的方式進(jìn)行,而且還解決了一個(gè)如何在學(xué)生人數(shù)眾多的大課堂里提高學(xué)生發(fā)言機(jī)會(huì)的問題。
Edward caught the express train early in the morning. He was going to the next town to visit his relative. He had got up very early, and he felt tired, so he soon fell asleep. About an hour later, he woke up suddenly in the middle of a dream. In his dream, he was in a crowded tunnel. People were pushing him from all directions, and pulling at his clothes. So he woke up, she realized that it wasn’t only a dream---somebody was really pulling at his coat pocket. He opened his eyes just in time to catch sight of a man slipping out of the compartment. His hand went to his pocket---his wallet was missing! He jumped up and ran into the corridor. But the man had vanished.
在讓學(xué)生讀完這段話之后,請(qǐng)一位英語(yǔ)基礎(chǔ)較好的學(xué)生到講臺(tái)前來扮演主人公Edward,其他同學(xué)留在座位上,對(duì)Edward那天發(fā)生的事進(jìn)行提問。同學(xué)們積極提問,問題有許多是貼近文章內(nèi)容的。如:When did you wake up the other day? What did you do?Why did you fall asleep?What happened when you were sleeping? etc.
學(xué)生還提出了一些較深入的問題,而這些問題因?yàn)樵谖恼轮姓也坏浆F(xiàn)成的答案,對(duì)于提問者和被問者想象力的開發(fā)、語(yǔ)言組織運(yùn)用能力的培養(yǎng)都有著積極的作用。
扮演Edward的同學(xué)因?yàn)閷W(xué)習(xí)能力較強(qiáng),語(yǔ)言功底較好,能較好地通過運(yùn)用想象力,對(duì)同學(xué)的問題都作了回答,因此最大程度地得到了鍛煉。而其他同學(xué),因?yàn)閱栴}沒有對(duì)錯(cuò)之分,因而學(xué)習(xí)能力相對(duì)較薄弱的學(xué)生也能積極參與,同樣達(dá)到了培養(yǎng)語(yǔ)言思維能力、激發(fā)想象力、培養(yǎng)想象思維的作用。
三、教師巧妙的提問,幫助課堂任務(wù)的完成
《新課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)》倡導(dǎo)以學(xué)生為主體,教師為主導(dǎo)的教學(xué)模式,多種多樣的教學(xué)活動(dòng)被引入課堂。教師巧設(shè)課堂提問,可啟發(fā)學(xué)生的思維,幫助學(xué)生順利地開展活動(dòng)。
例如,在下面Role-play中,教師要求學(xué)生以小組形式模擬出一個(gè)街頭乞丐和路人對(duì)話的場(chǎng)景。這個(gè)角色對(duì)學(xué)生來說是不相關(guān)的(irrelevant),所以學(xué)生很難進(jìn)入角色。教師通過提問,幫助學(xué)生準(zhǔn)備角色。
綜上所述,對(duì)于不同層次的學(xué)生,在課堂的不同階段,針對(duì)不同的活動(dòng),提問的方式可以多樣化。但是教師在提問過程中應(yīng)注意到問題要清晰明了;教師應(yīng)給予學(xué)生適時(shí)的提示、幫助和引導(dǎo);多給予學(xué)生表?yè)P(yáng)和鼓勵(lì);允許學(xué)生有充分的考慮時(shí)間;特別是應(yīng)合理安排提問順序,從低效到高效,從封閉到開放。
在課堂教學(xué)改革過程中,應(yīng)注重對(duì)學(xué)生多方面能力的培養(yǎng),不斷嘗試新的提問方式,激發(fā)學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)興趣、啟發(fā)創(chuàng)造思維、培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)新精神、提高學(xué)生綜合素質(zhì)。教師若能重視到這一點(diǎn),定能讓自己的課堂教學(xué)豐富多彩,從而使師生共同享受到課堂教學(xué)的快樂。