How to Compensate the Lack of English Teaching Facilities in Mountainous Regions

Zhao+Peipei

【Abstract】The balance of education is the crucial factor of building harmonious society. However， as for regional differences， there exists the serious educational imbalance in English teaching between modern cities and mountainous regions， especially on the different teaching facilities. According to the current situation survey of English teaching in Liangshan Middle School， and the problem analyses of Middle School English teaching in Mountainous Regions， the author comes up with some solutions， which are aimed to improve the current situation， and to ameliorate the quality of English teaching in mountainous regions.

【Key words】Mountainous Regions； English Teaching； Facilities

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Wang Cairen has pointed that， learning and using English is not only the English professors job， but every person should master it on some extent. He also said that， in order to improve the new generations quality， on one side， we should develop the education of English professors；on the other side， we have to promote English fundamental education， especially the primary and secondary English teaching in mountainous regions；The lack of an emphasis on English teaching quality has also been noted by Shu Dingfang in 1998. Similarly， G.Lozanor raised that the arrangement and setting of English class， the use of teaching aids and the authority of teachers also play a vital role in English.

1.2 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to reverse the disadvantages of English teaching in mountainous regions. We must keep up with the pace of times， seize opportunities， change earnestly the backward situation of English teaching in remote mountainous area and improve the overall quality of English teaching.

The study can make the local government and educational departments be aware of the seriousness of English teaching facilities shortage and the influence on the quality of education. Government should take corresponding measures to change the situation.

Besides that， these solutions in the study play a vital role in the building and development of schools in mountainous areas.

1.3 Significance of the Study

The present study is quite significant to accelerate the development of education in remote mountainous areas. The most crucial point is that the study can give impetus to the building of mountainous areas. The study also can make teachers be aware of the importance of improving teaching quality of schools in mountainous areas.endprint

2. Effective Facilities in English Teaching

Educational facilities are basic to teaching activities. The design of facilities is very important to the development of school environment in mountainous regions. But， the great majority schools in mountainous areas dont have the relevant teaching facilities.

The writer thinks that the fundamental measure to solve the problem is to update teaching concept， adjust teaching distribution， and increase investment in the building of teaching facilities.

2.1 Hardware Facilities

The most important hardware facilities in our current society may be the audio- visual teaching. Audio visual teaching is the use of tape recorders， epidiascopes， projecting apparatus， video recorders， TV， film recorders and other modern equipment for English teaching. With the use of audio visual teaching， the language， people and environment are more closely integrated， so are the language learning and language usage.

Computer is the most advanced teaching facility which is used by modern English teaching The use of computers in English teaching class can improve students insight， arouse their interest， enrich their imagination and broaden their thinking space. In English teaching， teachers should make full use of computer facility and make it combine with lively teaching methods.

2.2 Software Facilities

The influential factors of English teaching are of complexity and diversity. Teaching environment is the crucial one. It includes two categories：material environment and mental environment.

The first one is positive class-spirit. Class-spirit is a spiritual situation what all of the students form in the learning. In a good learning atmosphere， most students study diligently， pursue higher learning aim. Besides that， students can have a strong learning motivation， and overcome all the difficulties of the learning in the good learning atmosphere.

The second one is friendly interpersonal relationship. The expectation and love of teacher and the friendly interpersonal relationship play an excellent adjustment and construction role in students mental activity， and improve the efficiency of their learning.

Last but not least， schools should improve the professional training of part-time teachers in order to make them become professional and perfect teachers. Those measures are helpful to the overall improvement of teachers quality.

3. Existing Problems of Current Facilities in Mountainous Regionsendprint

Problems

As we know， there are many problems of English teaching in mountainous regions， which finally cause the quality decline in that area. To be specific， the decline of educational quality can be depicted in the following aspects.

3.1 Shortage of Professional Teachers

As we know that in mountainous area， the developmental space of economic and society is quite small， the level of living is quite horrible， the traffic is so inconvenient and the medical situation is bad. A statistic shows that the part-time teachers take up 10 percent of the whole teachers in the school of Liangshan state. From this， we also can see that the professional teachers are severely shortage.

3.2 Shortage of English Teaching Facilities

The shortage of English teaching facilities is also a vital point， which makes the English teaching of mountainous areas difficult to keep up with the pace of modern English teaching. But in English teaching， teachers should pay attention to audio-visual teaching. References and the school library are sources of getting “nutrition”， therefore， educational departments should promote investment in the teaching facilities to the schools of mountainous areas. However， due to space and funding， schools of mountainous area cant be equipped with libraries， books audio and video data. Teaching facilities are the crucial aspect of controlling quality of teaching.

3.3 Out-Dated Concept of Teaching

The last but not least is out-dated concept and methods of teaching. Most of teachers are lack of language teaching. They consider that English learning is just focus on words， grammar and the only method of learning is mechanically memorize， so they emphasize repeat on the memory of language point， students learn English by the” spoon-feeding” approach to education， but they neglect the real aim English learning is to use English.The role of teachers is no longer just” preaching， imparting knowledge， solve doubts” man， but they should become researcher， demonstrator， parents and friends of students.

4. Solutions

In order to change the inferiority of English teaching in mountainous areas， teachers must keep pace with the modern society， improve the backward situation， and improve the overall quality of English teaching.

4.1 More Professional Teachers

In mountainous regions， most of students depend on the teachers education， enlightenment and guidance to enrich life， accumulate emotion， catch inspiration， raise awareness， accumulate language， broaden horizons， express emotion， consolidate technique and behavior. Teachers in remote mountainous area are not only the guiders of students learning， but also the leaders of youths ideological character. “The hope of revitalizing the nation is based on education， the hope of education is based on teachers”， which gives the stability of teachers work， puts forward to the new requirements of education.endprint

For leaders of schools， they should optimize the structure of teaching staffs， and comprehensively improve the overall quality of teachers. More important is that English teachers should have a sufficient understanding of the relevant national culture， history， customs and habits of language， and help students study from English language.

The government should pay for the recommendation of foreign teachers to the schools of mountainous areas. The opening teaching methods， the rich culture of mother tongue of foreign teachers have can bring new ideas for English education， and improve the English teaching level.

4.2 Various Multi-Media Resources

Because of the significance of audio-visual teaching， the government should provide education facilities of modern distance learning for the schools in mountainous regions. Radio， television， film， video， communications satellites， computers， automation simulation experiment and multimedia equipments have been widely used.

4.3 Better Learning Environments

The government should increase the reformation of English teaching， and explore suitable teaching methods. Seeking effective teaching method for teachers， who are in mountainous areas， is also very important. The natural environment in mountainous area is better than the city and natural resources are relatively abundant， therefore， teachers can make full use of these resources to train students basic skills of language.

5. Conclusion

We should make full use of existing resources to compensate the lack of English teaching facilities in mountainous regions. Government should increase investment in the facilities of English mountainous regions. Only in that way， can we eliminate the imbalance in teaching between the modern cities and the mountainous regions.

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