The Application of the Situational Teaching Method in English Classroom Teaching at Vocational Colleges

By+Xin+Miaomiao

Abstract： With the trend towards globalization and information networking， English play a very important role in people's daily lives. Society puts forward new requirement in English teaching. The application of the situational teaching method in English classroom can solve the problems in English teaching and achieve good results in teaching and learning.

Key words： situational teaching method； English classroom teaching； Vocational colleges

With the trend towards globalization and information networking， English has become more and more important in people's daily lives. The English teaching receives a lot of attention. The vocational colleges are boosted up in recent years. On account of the pertinence and particularity of English teaching in vocational colleges， the innovation of English teaching in vocational colleges also become focus. It can make teaching and learning achieve good results that teachers apply the situational teaching method in English classroom teaching and create reasonable situations.

I. Establishing Teaching Activity of Situation to Activate the Situations in Real Time

（i） Applying the performance to experience and inspire situations

The performance in the situational teaching method has two types： one is to get into character， another is role-play. "To get into character" is to suppose "I" am one character of the text. The role-play is to play the roles of the text and does the performance in the class. Because students get into character and play the role of the text， the characters of the text come alive in front of students. All of Students become passionate actors or audience and all of them are in the situations described in the text. The characters of the text are not in the book， they are themselves or their classmates. At that moment， they become the characters in the book truly. "I" （students） integrate into the situation which the character is in. The feeling of the characters is the feeling of the students. Under the function of empathy， students cannot help to think and perform according to the situations and the characters which they play. Then students show a series of behavior according to the expectation of students and express themselves by exact language. Because of the change of the role， the language and behavior also changes. The whole situation is filled with passionate performance. Students are not just the performers. They are melting into the situation unconsciously. And then students devote the whole mind and whole being to the teaching activities and become the real protagonist of the situation. At this moment， the traditional "passive role" of the students turns into "active role". Then students feel the affinity to the characters of the text. Naturally， they have inner experiences deeply.endprint

（ii） Applying debates to present and activate the situations

Debate is one of the breaches in the traditional teaching method and also is one of methods in classroom teaching of foreign countries. Debate can argue with each other to distinguish the right and the wrong， and master the knowledge. When the author teaches Unit 4 Text A-I Like Animals， she designs an interesting debate and divides students into two groups. Each group chooses 4 students as the delegates. One group uses "I Like Animals" as the subject， while the other group uses "I don't Like Animals". Then two groups debate with each other. Students can think and organize the language according to the information provided by the text. In the process of the debate， debaters often flush because of the excitement. Although the language they used is not very exact， it fits the subject. Audiences listen to the debate in spirit and also want to try. It obtains unexpected good effects. As we know， debate needs a long time. But if we arrange several debates in one term， it can make students get rid of their trepidation and prudency， meanwhile devoting them into classroom teaching naturally.

II. Applying Modern Teaching Media to Expand Situations

（i） Applying modern teaching media to expand situations intuitively

Though concrete objects， pictures， stick drawings， photos， slides， VCD measuring projectors and other measures， situational teaching can arouse students' interest directly and make students concentrate on English learning. Intuitionist measures are clearer than the expression of language and can stir students' curiosity.

（ii） Applying modern teaching media to introduce background information for expanding situations.

There are many texts related history in the teaching materials. For example， Unit 3 Text A -I can't Accept Not Trying （by Michael Jordan）， Unit 2 Mistaken Identity （by Mark Twain）. Through various ways （e.g. through the internet） to find related materials and background information about the history in advance， the author uses the information to make PowerPoint Presentations or lets the information come in the form of key words or pictures. By introducing the writer and discussing background of text， the author leads students to an actual language atmosphere. It combines language learning with language appliance closely. It achieves the teaching aim， expands students' knowledge and fits the principle that input is more than output.endprint

III. To Design Situations according to the Teaching Materials

According to the contents of the teaching materials， the author designed the situations of the story to inspire students' interest in learning English； according to the contents of the teaching materials， the author designs situational dialogues to create language environment； Utilizing the illustrations， the author designs situations by questions-answers and discussion.

To apply reasonable situations， it can inspire students' interest in learning English. It can cultivate students' capability in autonomous learning， cooperation and dealing with problems as well as improve the professional capability. It can promote to improve students' application ability and achieve the practicability of English teaching. And then it makes teaching and learning achieve good results.

參考文獻(xiàn)：

[1] Cook， V.. Linguistics and Second language Acquisition[M]. United Kingdom： Macmillan Publishers Ltd， 1993.

[2] Krashen， S D.. A Response to Mclaughlin， The Monitor model： some methodological considerations[M]. USA： Language Learning， 1979， 29： 151-67.

[3] Piaget， J.. The Construction of Reality in the Child [M]. New York： Basic Books， 1954.

[4] http：//www.fzlz.fz.fj.cn/2006/jietilunwen/lunwen/yinyuzu.htmendprint