What to teach and how to teach Chinese?
The basic teaching form of Chinese course in modern primary and secondary schools is that teachers lead students to read texts one by one. The main activity of Chinese class is reading the text. Strictly speaking, it means listening to the teacher's analysis and reading the text. However, the inefficiency of speaking and reading texts has been criticized by all walks of life, so we have been studying how to improve the effectiveness of speaking and reading texts. In fact, mother tongue courses in developed countries do not adopt the method of "speaking and reading texts", and mother tongue courses in many countries focus on learning languages. For example, in the United States, France and other countries, the main subjects of mother tongue courses are English classes and French classes, mainly to learn the use of language knowledge and train expression skills. Of course, they also offer reading classes and literature classes, but reading classes don't talk about texts, but let students read by themselves. It is understood that reading classes in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and other countries are for students to read in the reading room. Japanese Putonghua textbooks only have 3-4 texts per semester, and more than 60% of the time is spent on listening, speaking, writing and language knowledge learning. Looking at Chinese courses in developed countries, we find that "speaking and reading" is not the only form of Chinese education, let alone the best form. Therefore, China's Chinese teaching reform should jump out of the mindset of reading and speaking texts, explore effective ways and methods of Chinese teaching in primary and secondary schools according to students' psychological characteristics and the law of learning Chinese, and fundamentally change the long-term passive situation of "high input and low output" in Chinese teaching.
Chinese should be taught in literature and Chinese.
At present, one of the main problems in Chinese curriculum is to confuse the two different concepts of "text content" and "teaching content". What is the teaching content? Teaching content is the facts, concepts, principles, skills, strategies, attitudes, values and other elements selected to achieve the course objectives. Texts in Chinese textbooks give "text content", but they are only examples of learning Chinese. What language knowledge to teach, what methods to learn and what language skills to practice with this text need teachers to choose and determine according to their own teaching experience. This has brought great difficulties to Chinese teachers, and also caused confusion in the selection of teaching content to a certain extent. At present, many teachers just mistake the content of the text for the content of Chinese teaching, so after the Chinese class, the impression left by students is mostly the trace of the text content, not the trace of Chinese teaching content.
In fact, except for a few classic titles such as ancient poems, most of the text contents in Chinese textbooks are basically not teaching contents. The content of Chinese teaching mainly refers to the Chinese knowledge, Chinese methods and Chinese skills that students must master and can use for life. These knowledge, methods and skills are relatively stable and irreplaceable.
Why is the text content not equal to the Chinese teaching content? Because the content of the text is replaceable. We can use this text to teach these Chinese knowledge and methods, or we can use another text to teach them. In classroom teaching, a lot of time is spent on combing the content of the text and understanding the thoughts and feelings, so the language often has no Chinese flavor. Regarding "Moonlight Song", we discussed how to create Moonlight Song. The last issue of Bird's Paradise discussed the characteristics of Bird's Paradise and why it was called Bird's Paradise. The last issue of Bat and Radar discussed how scientists discovered the secret of bats' pathfinding, what is the relationship between bats and radar, and so on. This makes Chinese class a history class, a thinking class and a science class. How can such a class have Chinese flavor?
This paper analyzes the reasons for the confusion between "text content" and "Chinese teaching content" from the inside of Chinese curriculum. First, it is due to the comprehensive characteristics of this subject. Chinese curriculum not only undertakes the task of cultivating language application ability, but also undertakes many tasks such as ideological and moral, emotional aesthetics and multicultural education. Therefore, the content of values education such as ideology and morality contained in the text is also the content of Chinese teaching, and teachers must properly handle the relationship between these two tasks. Second, the teaching content of Chinese textbooks is not clearly given, and teachers need to choose by experience. This makes some teachers directly regard the text content as the teaching content. From the external analysis of the curriculum, it is precisely because of the influence of the social and political environment that for a long time, Chinese curriculum has unilaterally emphasized the task of ideological and moral education and put the education of emotion, attitude and values in a very inappropriate position. Its direct consequence is to alienate the essence of Chinese curriculum and interfere with the direction of Chinese curriculum reform.
Organize teaching with ontology teaching content as the main goal.
According to the explanation of the function of Chinese curriculum in the curriculum standard, Chinese teaching content can be roughly divided into two categories: cost-based teaching content and non-original teaching content. The so-called Chinese ontology teaching content is the teaching content that embodies the essential characteristics of this subject and is different from other courses, including Chinese knowledge, Chinese strategies (methods) and Chinese skills. This kind of teaching content is the task that Chinese curriculum must undertake, which embodies the essential characteristics that Chinese curriculum is different from other courses. The completion of these teaching contents can lay a solid foundation for students to learn various courses, and also lay a foundation for the overall improvement of students' humanistic quality. The so-called non-ontology teaching content of Chinese includes the education of emotion, attitude, aesthetics and values, the study of multiculturalism, the cultivation of thinking ability and innovative spirit. This kind of teaching content is not undertaken by one subject of Chinese curriculum alone, but by all courses of basic education. The role of school, family and society in the formation of students' "feelings, attitudes and values" far exceeds that of Chinese curriculum.
The proposition of ontology teaching content and non-ontology teaching content can make us clearly distinguish our own work and part-time job in Chinese curriculum. As a Chinese course with the nature of learning language and writing, there is no doubt that ontology teaching content should be the main goal of every text teaching. As Mr. Ye Shengtao said, the focus of Chinese teaching lies in language. Although Chinese teaching is full of educational significance, it is not full-time. However, in normal Chinese classroom teaching, many Chinese teachers still regard the understanding of the ideological content of the text as the main teaching goal of a class, that is to say, taking the non-ontology teaching content as the main goal, which leads to the dislocation of ontology teaching content and non-ontology teaching content. Please look at the following lesson:
Gorky and his son;
First, reveal the topic and create a love atmosphere;
Second, read "Planting Flowers and Appreciating Flowers" to experience the deep affection between father and son;
Third, read "Writing to Teach Children" to understand the connotation of letters;
Fourth, expand sublimation and understand great fatherly love.
The teacher sent two famous words from Mr. Gorky, hoping to grow up with you!
Obviously, the main goal of this course is to create an atmosphere of love, realize the deep affection between father and son, and let students receive the education of love. Teachers organize classroom teaching around this goal, which is conducive to the education of emotion, attitude and values to the maximum extent; However, the defects are also very obvious. This course is not mainly about learning the use of language, but about feeling the father's love and getting the education of emotion, attitude and values. As a result, the nature and characteristics of Chinese course have been changed, making it an ideological and moral course. As a Chinese course for learning the use of language and characters, it is natural to complete the task of Chinese class, that is, to organize the teaching process around "learning the use of language and characters" with the ontology teaching content as the main goal. Let's understand how to correctly handle the ontological and non-ontological teaching contents in Chinese class through the teaching link of Gorky and Son taught by Yu Yongzheng:
First, learn to read aloud;
Second, learn to write annotations;
Write a letter according to the text.
What this lesson teaches the teacher is: First, learn to read the text with emotion. At first, students can read correctly and fluently, but they have no feeling. Teacher Yu asked the students to listen to themselves read aloud. Teacher Yu read with emotion, and the students clapped involuntarily. Students wake up: Yes, this is called "emotional reading". Next, Mr. Yu asked the students to imitate him, read the text with emotion, then communicate at the same table, and then discuss it in the whole class, so that the students can fully show it. Then, the teacher and the students discuss "which parts of this text move you most", let the students draw these paragraphs or words, and then write comments next to them. After the students finished writing, he asked the deskmates to communicate with each other first, and then the whole class made comments. Then, Mr. Yu showed his comments to let the students understand what a good comment is. Finally, Teacher Yu asked the students to write a letter to the "father" (Gorky) as a "son" according to the content of this text. In this way, each student has a writing exercise.
In this class, the teacher mainly does not guide students to analyze and understand the ideological content of the text, but takes the text as an example to guide students to learn to read aloud with emotion, learn to write annotations, and let students practice writing a letter in combination with the content of the text. It can be seen that the teaching goal of this course is aimed at the teaching content of Chinese ontology.
Some teachers may worry that organizing teaching around ontology teaching content will lead students to fail to understand the ideological content of the text. Will it lead to the failure of the task of emotional attitude and values education in Chinese class? In fact, this is alarmist. According to the nature and characteristics of Chinese curriculum, the education of emotion, attitude and values should permeate the process of Chinese teaching and be completed simultaneously with the training of Chinese knowledge and skills. In other words, for the text Gorky and his son, the value education of "giving is always more pleasant than taking" should be permeated in the process of emotional reading, learning to write annotations and letters.
Design teaching process according to students' cognitive rules
The normal teaching process of Chinese text is: reading the text for the first time, initially understanding the content of the text-speaking lessons, reading in sections, deeply understanding the thoughts and feelings of the text-summing up and improving, and summing up experience. This teaching process is designed according to the goal of understanding the ideological content of the text, which is not conducive to students' mastery of Chinese knowledge and the transfer and application of Chinese learning methods. Because the main goal is to understand the ideological content of the text, the teaching of Chinese knowledge or learning methods in the text can only be piecemeal addition and interspersed, but not according to the learning rules of these knowledge or methods themselves. As a result, the teacher taught it and the students couldn't use it. Please look at the lesson Fengyun Century:
First, reading the text for the first time, questioning and asking questions
Second, read the first paragraph.
1. Focus on the first sentence: comparative rhetorical question;
2. Focus on the second sentence: synonym contrast "discovery and invention";
3. Experience the function of word repetition: unexpected discovery and invention. It is these discoveries and inventions. ...
Third, read the second and third paragraphs and experience the expression.
1. In what way did you show the scientific achievements of the 20th century? Understand the expression of "give an example";
2. Experience the accuracy of descriptive words ("million years" and "million years");
Fourth, small practice: in the 20th century, human beings ...
To be sure, this teacher pays great attention to the content of ontology teaching, so this class has the characteristics of China, but this class is designed based on the understanding of the ideological content of the text, so there are two problems. First, the teaching of Chinese knowledge and methods is fragmented, and there is no internal connection between the contents taught. For example, rhetorical questions, the comparison of synonyms, the methods of explanation, and the characteristics of words used in the text, including the final writing exercises, are all taught by teachers. Second, students lack practical exercise. Because there are too many things to teach in a text, the teacher dare not give up anything, but scratch the surface and have no time for students to practice by themselves. Therefore, some people say that teachers often "shoot for a position" in Chinese classes. What the teacher pursues is that the important content has been "taught", and students often consider whether to learn or not.
In fact, whether teaching Chinese knowledge or Chinese learning methods, we should follow the cognitive law of students from cognition to practice to design the teaching process. We all know how the math teacher designs the teaching process. Every class teaches a mathematical formula. Teachers spend one-third of their time teaching examples and then two-thirds of their time asking students to do exercises. Because the math teacher understands that if students don't do problems, they can't really master these formulas. Chinese teachers should learn from math teachers at this point, not satisfied with "teaching", but should pursue students' learning and design the teaching process in strict accordance with the cognitive law of "knowledge-practice-transfer". Chinese is a practical course, and students' Chinese ability is formed in practice, so students must have enough practice time in Chinese teaching. Chinese teachers must deeply realize that the core index to evaluate the effectiveness of a Chinese class is not how much knowledge the teacher teaches, but how well the students learn.
Language accumulation is more important than learning Chinese knowledge and methods.
Paying attention to the study of Chinese knowledge and methods is a great progress in modern Chinese teaching. Undoubtedly, the teaching of necessary Chinese knowledge and methods can promote the development of children's Chinese ability, but the teaching of Chinese knowledge and methods must be based on a large amount of Chinese accumulation. "Chinese Curriculum Standards" clearly points out that "the rules of language structure and application must be gradually mastered by students in practical application on the basis of rich language accumulation and good sense of language". We should understand that at the age of children with "poor understanding and good memory", unilaterally strengthening the teaching of Chinese knowledge and methods, thus relaxing or even giving up language accumulation, will have a great negative impact on the language development potential of children throughout their lives, and this loss may be irreparable at any time and in any way in the future. Let's learn the teaching content of the following text:
Perhaps, not far away, there is a stout golden monkey hanging on a big tree, blinking a pair of clever little eyes at you. Perhaps, a group of antelopes who are good at running will suddenly run out, and before you can see clearly, they will disappear into the jungle ahead. Perhaps, with luck, you will find an innocent giant panda sitting there chewing fresh bamboo leaves in the dense bamboo forest in the distance. Perhaps, you will also see an agile little panda running down the hillside to the bottom of the valley and looking at the mirror in front of the lake happily.
When teaching this passage, the teacher usually grasps the parallelism sentence composed of four "maybe" or the writing method describing the characteristics of animals. A good teacher will also analyze how to write specific animal characteristics through appearance, movement and expression description. These are the teaching contents discovered by the teacher when he carefully reads the text when preparing lessons, which should be affirmed. Some of these contents belong to Chinese knowledge, and some belong to writing methods, which are the noumenon teaching contents of Chinese courses. What needs to be studied is, is there any more Chinese content worth learning in this passage? Yes, that's the language of the text. Look at a passage describing the golden monkey in the article: "There is a stout golden monkey hanging on a big tree, blinking at you with a pair of clever little eyes." It means the same thing. If you change the students' language, it is likely to be written as "A golden monkey is looking at you in the tree", "I see a golden monkey in the tree" and "I see a clever golden monkey looking at you in the tree"-the students' language is often one sentence, but the text has written three sentences. This is the difference between students' speaking and writing language. How did the author write the golden monkey in written language? He first wrote what kind of golden monkey is, and then wrote what it looks like "vigorous posture"; Then write where this golden monkey is, and "climb and hang" to write a naughty monkey; Then write how the golden monkey looks at people, not looking, but "peeking" and "blinking at you with a pair of clever little eyes", and write about the intelligence and vigilance of the golden monkey. Students write one sentence and the text three sentences; Students only write about the attitude of the golden monkey to people, but can't see its characteristics and appearance. The text tells what kind of golden monkey is, where it looks at people and what it looks like, which makes the naughty, clever and alert of golden monkey very concrete and vivid. This is called writing.
How to write the article specifically? Most students have no language and suffer from language pain, but Chinese teachers focus on writing articles. Although the teaching of writing methods is also very important, language accumulation is more important for primary school students in the critical period of language development. Because the application of language knowledge and writing methods must be based on a large amount of language accumulation, without a certain amount of language accumulation, no matter how much language knowledge and writing methods are useless. Just like building a house, you need to prepare bricks, wood and other building materials first. The number of building materials determines the height of the building. Even the best architectural design is useless if there is a lack of building materials. Of course, we don't want to deny the value of Chinese knowledge and methods in Chinese teaching, but we just want to show the view that language accumulation is more important than learning Chinese knowledge and methods for primary school students at the critical stage of language development, and it is more effective in improving Chinese ability. Modern Chinese teaching puts too much emphasis on the teaching of Chinese knowledge and methods, and regards it as the focus of Chinese course teaching. In fact, it does not necessarily conform to the law of children's language learning, which must attract our attention.