情景教学法在高中英语语法教学中的应用研究 80页

１０１６６：单位代码Ｓ邮ＮＹ乂ＮＧＮＯＲＭＡＬＵＮＩＶＥＲＳＩＴＹ学号：１４８１３０２２教育顿±学位论文论文题目：ＡＳｔｕｄｏｎｄｉｅＡＫｃａ村ｏｎｏｆＳｉ化ａｔｉｏｎａｌＡｒｏａｃｈｙｐｐｐｐｔｏＧｒａｍｍａｒＴｅａｃｈｉｎｉｎＳｅｎｉｏｒＨｉｈＳｃｈｏｏｌｇｇ巧呆教学法在离中英活语法教学中的应用研究作者姓名：田志英专业领域）：学科教学（英语指导教师：曲艳娜刘志慧２０１６６６完成日期：年月日沈阳师范大学教育硕±研究生院 类全曰制教育硕±Ｖ；编号ＩＩＩ别在职教育硕击：此夫每ｋ巧＆教育硕±学位论文题目：乂Ｓ１；ｕｄｙｏｎ化ｅＡｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｏｆＳｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎａｌＡｒｏａｃｈｔｏＧｒａｍｍａｒＴｅａｃｈｉｎｇｉｎＳｅｎｉｏｒＨｉｇｈｐｐＳｃｈｏｏｌ情景教学法在髙中英语语法教学中的应用研究专业教学部；英语专业教学部专业名称：学科教学（英语）指导教师：曲艳娜刘志慧研究生：田志英提交时间：２０化年６月目日沈阳师范大学教育硕±研究生院制 沈阳师范大学教育硕±学位论文独创性黄明本人所呈交的学位论文是在导师的指导下取得的研巧成果。据我所知容外，本论文不包含其他个人己经发，除文中己经注明引用的内表或撰，均已在写过的研究成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体文中作了明确说明并表示了谢意。日期；作者签沈名：阳师范著大作学权教使育硕±学位论文±用研声明本人授权沈阳师范入大有关数学教育据硕巧生院，将本人硕古学位论文的全部或部分内容编送交库论进行检索：有权保留学位论文并向查国家主管部口或其指定机构文的电子版和纸质版，允许论文被阅和借阅；有权可采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存、汇编学位论文。保。密的学位论文在解密后适用本规定作者签名；＼巧曰期：玄東 乂Ｓ１：ｕｄｏｎ化ｅＡｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｏｆＳｉｔｕａ村ｏｎａｌｙｐｐＡｒｏａｃｈｔｏＧｒａｍｍａｒＴｅａｃｈｉｎｇｉｎＳｅｎｉｏｒｐｐＨｉｈＳｃｈｏｏｌｇＡｔｈｅｓｉｓＳｕｂｍｔｅｄｔｏｔｈｅｃｈｏｏｌｏｆＦｏｒｅｉｎＬａｎｕａｅｓｉＳｇｇｇＳｈｅｎａｎＮｏｒｍａｌＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙｇｙ＾ｒｅｅｍｅｎｔｏｆｅｕｒｅｍｅｎｔｓｏｒ化ｅＤｅｏｆＩｎＰａｒｔｉａｌＩｕｌｆｉｌｌｌ；ｈｅ民ｑｉｆｇＭａｓｔｅｒｏｆＥｄｕｃａｔｉｏｎｉＢｙＴｉａｎＺｈｉｙｉｎｇＵｎｄｅｒｔｈｅＳｕｅｒｖｉｓｉｏｎｏｆｐＰｒｏｆｅｓｓｏｒｕＹａｒａｉａＱＪｕｎｅ２０１６ AcknowledgementsIamverygratefultoanumberofpeoplewhohelpmefinishthisthesis.Withouttheirhelp,Iamunabletofinishmythesisontime.SoIwouldshowmythanksandappreciationtothem.Firstly,IwillexpressmygratitudetomysupervisorQuYannawhoisaverypatientandresponsibleteacher.Shegivesmesomevaluablesuggestionsandcarefulcorrectionswhichhavecontributedalottothisthesis.SecondlysincerethanksgotoalltheteacherswhotaughtmeinShenyangNormalUniversity.Thecoursesarecloselyrelatedtothisthesisandhelpmefinishitsuccessfully.Finally,mygenuinethankswillbegiventomyfriendsandmyinstructorsinLankaoNo.1seniorhighschool,whoinstructmetomakethesurveyandhelpmesolvetheproblemImeet.Withouttheirsupport,Iwouldnothavethecouragetoovercomeallthedifficultiesandcompletethisthesisintheend.i AbstractGrammarisasystemoflanguagerules,whichisoneimportantcomponentoflanguage.IntermsofEnglishteaching,grammarteachinghasbeenplayingaveryimportantroleinseniorhighschool.Grammarnotonlyhasagreatinfluenceonstudents’Englishachievementbutalsotheircomprehensiveability.Withouttheunderstandingofgrammarrules,studentshavedifficultyincommunicatingwithothersmeaningfullyandevenharderforthemtogethighscoresintheEnglishexams.However,inthepresentteachingpractice,mostteachersalwaysapplytheGrammarTranslationMethodtoexplainthegrammarrules,askstudentstomemorizegrammarrulesanddoexercise,whichnotonlymakesthestudentsloseinterestingrammarbutalsohasaneffectontheEnglishteachingefficiency.Accordingtothenewcurriculumstandard,itrequiresteacherstoemphasizethemeaningfunctionofgrammarratherthangrammarrules.Therefore,themethodofgrammarteachingshouldbeimprovedandhowtoteachgrammarhasbeenaconsiderablequestion.AstheCollegeEntranceExaminationreforms,thetestemphasizesmoreontheuseofgrammarincontextinsteadofmultiple-choices.Therefore,thehotissueishowtoteachgrammarrulesinsituation.However,duringtheteachingprocedure,whenteachersusethesituationalapproach,theypurposefullyintroduceorcreateacertainrealsituationwiththeimageasthemainbodyofthevividspecificsceneinordertoattractstudents’attentionofcertainexperience.Basedonthepresentsituationofgrammarteachinginseniorhighschool,theii authorattemptedtoexploreanappropriatewaytoimprovetheefficiencybyapplyingsituationalapproachtogrammarteaching.Thisthesismainlyinvolvedtherealsituations,task-basedactivities,anddifferentkindsofopportunitiesoflanguageusetoexploretheeffectongrammarteaching.TheauthorselectedtwoparallelcommonclassesinGradeOneofLaoKaoNo.1seniorhighschoolasthesubject.Theexperimentalclasswastaughtgrammarinthecontext,butthecontrolclasswastaughtinatraditionalway.Theauthorusedquestionnaire,pre-test,post-testandinterviewtoinvestigatetheeffectonstudents’interestinlearninggrammarandstudents’attitudestowardsgrammar.Theresultshowedthatthesituationalapproachnotonlycontributedalottoarousingstudents’learninginterestsbutalsoimprovedstudents’languagecompetence.Therefore,itisnecessaryforteacherstocreatetheappropriatesituationtorenewstudents’idea,internalizestudents’knowledgeandimprovestudents’languagecompetence.Keywords:SituationalApproach,grammarteaching,seniorhighschooliii 摘要语法是组成语言的系统规则，是语言的一个重要组成部分。就英语教学而言，语法教学在高中英语学习中扮演着重要的角色.语法不仅影响学生的学习成绩而且对学生的综合能力也有很大影响。学生如果不理解语法规则，将会很难有意义的进行交流，甚至很难在英语考试中取得高分。然而，在目前的教学实践中，大部分老师一味的运用语法翻译法讲解语法规则，要求学生死记硬背，机械操练，这不仅使学生失去学习语法的兴趣，同时也影响教师的教学效果。根据新课标要求，老师更应该注重语法的语义功能而不是语法规则。因此，语法教学方法有待提高，如何讲授语法是一个值得思考的问题。由于高考改革，考试更加注重语法在语境中的运用而不是简单的多项选择。因此，如何在情境中讲授语法是一个备受关注的话题。然而，情景教学法在国外很受欢迎。情景教学法是指在教学过程中，教师有目的地引入或创设具有一定情绪色彩的、以形象为主体的生动具体的场景，以引起学生一定的态度体验，从而帮助学生理解教材，并使学生的心理机能得到发展的教学方法。基于高中语法目前的教学情形，作者试图通过情景教学法在语法教学中的应用研究探索更加有效的教学方法。本论文主要通过创设栩栩如生的情形，设计任务型活动以及提供各种运用语言的机会来探究情景教学法对语法教学的影响。作者选取兰考县第一高级中学高一的两个平行班作为研究对象，实验班采取基于情景的语法教学，控制班采用传统的语法教学，并运用问卷调查、前测、后测和访谈的方法调查情景教学法对学生语法学习兴趣及学习态度的影响。研究结果表明，情景教学法不仅能激发学生学习英语语法的兴趣还能提高学生的语言能力。因此，为了改变学生对英语语法iv 的认识，帮助学生内化语法知识，提高学生语言能力，创设有效的教学情景是必要的。关键词：情景教学法；语法教学；高中v ContentsAcknowledgements.........................................................................................................iAbstractinEnglish......................................................................................................iiAbstractinChinese.....................................................................................................ivContents.......................................................................................................................viListofTables................................................................................................................ixChapter1Introduction................................................................................................11.1BackgroundofthePresentStudy.......................................................................11.2SignificanceoftheStudy....................................................................................21.3PurposeoftheStudy...........................................................................................31.4OverallStructureofthethesis............................................................................4Chapter2LiteratureReview......................................................................................52.1SituationalApproach..........................................................................................52.1.1DefinitionsofSituationalApproach.......................................................52.1.2ThePrinciplesofSituationalApproach..................................................62.1.3TheStrategiesofSituationalApproach..................................................72.2TheoreticalFoundationofSituationalApproach................................................82.2.1ConstructivistTheory..............................................................................82.2.2RelevanceTheory.................................................................................102.2.3Krashen’sInputHypothesis..................................................................122.3GrammarandGrammarTeaching....................................................................132.3.1DefinitionsofGrammar........................................................................13vi 2.3.2HistoricalOverviewofGrammarTeaching..........................................152.4RelationsbetweenSituationalApproachandGrammarTeaching...................162.5PreviousStudiesonGrammarTeaching...........................................................182.5.1StudiesAbroad......................................................................................182.5.2StudiesatHome....................................................................................19Chapter3Methodology.............................................................................................223.1ResearchQuestions...........................................................................................223.2ResearchSubjects.............................................................................................223.3ResearchInstruments........................................................................................233.3.1Questionnaires.......................................................................................233.3.2Interview...............................................................................................243.3.3Tests......................................................................................................253.4TeachingProcedure...........................................................................................263.5DataCollectionandDataAnalysis...................................................................33Chapter4ResultsandDiscussion............................................................................354.1Results..............................................................................................................354.1.1ResultsoftheQuestionnaires................................................................354.1.2ResultsoftheInterview........................................................................374.1.3ResultsofthePre-test...........................................................................394.1.4ResultsofthePost-test..........................................................................404.2Discussion.........................................................................................................414.2.1PresentSituationofGrammarLearning...............................................41vii 4.2.2Students’AttitudetowardsSituationalApproach.................................424.2.3TheEffectofSituationalApproachonEnglishGrammarLearning....43Chapter5Conclusion................................................................................................455.1MajorFindings.................................................................................................455.2PedagogicalImplication...................................................................................465.3LimitationsoftheStudy...................................................................................485.4SuggestionsforFurtherResearch.....................................................................48References...................................................................................................................51AppendixA.................................................................................................................55AppendixB.................................................................................................................57AppendixC.................................................................................................................59AppendixD.................................................................................................................60AppendixE.................................................................................................................64viii ListofTablesTable1QuestionnaireComparisonintheExpermentalClass.……...……………….……36Table2ThePerformanceComparisonbetweenECandCC...................................40Table3ThePerformanceComparisonbetweenECandCC...................................40Table4ClozeComparisonbetweenECandCC......................................................43Table5RationalClozeComparisonbetweenECandCC.......................................43Table6ProofreadingComparisonbetweenECandCC..........................................44Table7WritingComparisonbetweenECandCC....................................................44ix Chapter1IntroductionInthischapter,theauthorintroducesthecurrentEnglishgrammarteachinginseniorhighschoolinChina,theimportanceofgrammarteachingforseniorhighschoolstudentsandthepurposeofthisstudy.Besides,theoverallstructureofthisthesisisalsopresented.1.1BackgroundofthePresentStudyNowadaysgrammarteachingbecomesacontroversialissuethatishowtoteachgrammarefficiently.Teachersfocusmoreonhowtoteachgrammarratherthanwhethertoteachgrammar.Grammarisasystemoflanguageruleswhichisthemostimportantpartofanylanguage.IntermsofEnglishgrammarteachinginseniorhighschool,itismorechallenginganddifficultforteacherstointerprettherulesofgrammar.Inseniorhighschool,teachersalwayschoosetheGrammarTranslationMethodandusethenativelanguagetoexplaingrammarrules,whichmakesteachersandlearnersloseinterest.Asgrammarisasetofabstractrulesthatadministratehowtomakeupcorrectandmeaningfulsentencesorpassages,grammarteachingfocusesmoreonaccuracy-orientedratherthanthemeaning-oriented.Asforstudentsinseniorschool,theabstractthinkingabilityhasnotbeenperfect.Meanwhile,studentshavenotmasteredenoughEnglishlanguagematerials.Soitisdifficultforthemtomastertheabstractruleswhenteachersinterpretthegrammarrules.Thoughmanyscholarshavetriedtofindsomewaysofhowtoteach1 Englishgrammarefficiently,thetraditionalgrammarteachingalwaysplaysanimportantrolebecauseofitsadvantageofbeingless-timeconsuming.However,thelearningeffectofthetraditionalgrammarteachingisnotalwayssatisfactory.AsEnglishisonlyusedinschoolandclassesforseniorhighschoolstudentsandtheyarenotabletoapplythegrammarintothecontext.Therefore,itisnecessarytofindoutthenewwaytoimprovetheteachingandlearningeffectofEnglishgrammar.Thisstudyaimstoimprovethegrammarteachingsituationinseniorhighschoolandfindabetterwaytomotivatestudents’learninginterestandmakeallthestudentshaveabetterunderstandingofgrammar.1.2SignificanceoftheStudyThenewseniorcurriculumstandardputforwardthatEnglishteachinginseniorhighschoolshoulddevelopstudents’comprehensiveability.Teachersshouldtrainstudents’listening,speakingandwritingabilitywhentheyteachEnglishgrammar.Meanwhile,afterlearningEnglish,studentsareabletosolvetheproblem.Ifstudentscannothaveabetterunderstandingofgrammarandcannotapplygrammarflexibly,itisdifficulttoimprovestudents’comprehensivelanguageskills.Asthegrammarteachingisabstract,boringandprofound,itisnecessarytofindanewwaytomakestudentsinterestedinEnglishgrammar.Besides,astheCollegeEntranceExaminationreforms,thetestemphasizesmoreongrammaruseincontextinsteadofthesimplegrammaticalpointsinthemultiplechoices.TheRationalClosehastakentheplaceoftheMultiple-choiceintheentranceexampaper.Basedonthepresentsituationofgrammarteachinginsenior2 highschool,theauthorwillexploreanappropriatewaytoimprovetheefficiencybyapplyingsituationalapproachtogrammarteaching.Thisteachingmethodnotonlyfocusesonthestructureoflanguagebutthefunctionofthelanguage.Thesituationalapproachisastudent-centeredteachingmethod.Themostimportantthingisthatthisapproachmainlyhelpsstudentsapplythegrammarintothecontextflexibly,whichaimstoimprovestudents’comprehensiveability.Therefore,thispaperwillcombinethesituationalapproachwiththerelevanttheoryandpracticetoexploretheefficientwaytogrammarteaching.1.3PurposeoftheStudyAsthenewcurriculumstandardemphasizesthemeaningfunctionofgrammar,theconcernisnotwhethertoteachergrammarbuthowtoteachgrammar.Inaword,theimportantthingforteachersishowtouseagoodmethodtoraisestudents’interestingrammarlearningandmakegrammarteachingefficient.Soteacherscanputthegrammaticalpointsintoconcretesituationwhichisrelatedtothereallifeinordertoattractstudent’sattention.Teacherscanalsousetheauthenticmaterials,songsandpictures,whichwillmakethestudentshaveafullunderstandingofthegrammarrulesandimprovetheirlanguagecompetence.ThisexperimentwillbeconductedinGradeoneinseniorhighschool,whichinvolvesintheEnglishteacherandtwoclassstudents.Theauthordesignsthequestionnaire,testandinterviewtocollectthedataandanalyzetheresults.Withtheanalysisofthecollecteddata,theauthortriestofindtheproblemsinpresentgrammarlearningandinvestigatestudents’attitudestowardssituationalapproachinseniorhigh3 school.Meanwhile,thisresearchisdesignedtofindoutwhethertheapplicationofsituationalapproachtogrammarteachingcanimprovestudent’sgrammarlearning.1.4OverallStructureofthethesisThisthesisismadeupoffivechapters.Chapteroneismainlyaboutabriefintroduction,whichconsistsofthebackground,thesignificance,thepurposeandtheoverallstructureofthisstudy.ChapterTwoisliteraturereview,whichcontainsfiveparts.Thefirstpartconsistsofthefollowingthreeaspectsofthesituationalapproach,thedefinitions,theprinciplesandthestrategies.Thesecondpartisthetheoreticalfoundationofthesituationalapproach,whichcontainstheconstructivisttheory,therelevancetheoryandtheKrashen’sInputHypothesis.Thethirdpartisaboutgrammaraswellasgrammarteachingwhichisconcernedwiththehistoricaloverviewofgrammarteaching.Thefourthpartisabouttherelationsbetweenthesituationalapproachandthegrammarteaching.Thefifthpartintroducesthepreviousstudiesonthesituationalapproachathomeandabroad.ChapterThreemainlyconsistsoftheresearchquestions,thesubjects,theinstruments,theteachingprocedure,thedatacollectionandthedataanalysis.Theinstrumentofthestudyincludesquestionnaire,interview,pre-testandpost-test.ChapterFourshowstheresultsofquestionnaires,interviewandtests.ItalsodiscussesthepresentsituationofEnglishgrammarlearning,students’attitudestothesituationalapproachandtheeffectofthesituationalonEnglishgrammarlearning.ChapterFiveistheconclusion,whichdealswiththemajorfindingsoftheresearch,thepedagogicalimplication,andthesuggestionsforthefuturegrammarteaching.4 Chapter2LiteratureReviewThischapterismainlyconcernedwithsituationalapproach,thetheoreticalfoundationofsituationalapproach,grammarandgrammarteaching.2.1SituationalApproachRichardsandRodgersreferred“thatfewlanguageteachersarefamiliarwithsituationalapproach,whichisdevelopedbyBritishappliedlinguistfrom1930stothe1960s.”(Richards&Rodgers,2008)Eventhoughneitherapproachiscommonlyusedtoday,theinfluenceofsituationalapproachhasbeenpopularforalongtime.Thisapproachhasalsoshapedthedesignofmanyforeignlanguagetextbooks,mostofwhicharewidelyusedtoday.2.1.1DefinitionsofSituationalApproachThesituationalapproachwasadvocatedbytheBritishlinguistanditwasoriginallycalledtheoralapproach.Thisapproachhasbeencarriedoutlotsofteachingexperiments.PalmerguidedforeignlanguageteachinginJapanfortwentyyearsandHornbymadeteachingexperimentsinIndia,whichhadagreatinfluenceonlanguageteaching.RichardsandRodgersstatedthat“thedistinctivefeatureisthatknowledgeofstructuresmustbelinkedtosituationsinwhichtheycouldbeused.ItmayhavereflectedthefunctionaltrendinBritishlinguisticssince1930s.Manylinguistshademphasizedthecloserelationshipbetweenthestructureoflanguageandthecontextandsituationsinwhichlanguageisused.”(Richards&Rodgers,2008)J.R.Malionwskisputforwardtheconcept“contextofsituation”in1923andhe5 oncesaid,“Exactlyasintherealityofspokenorwrittenlanguages,awordwithoutlinguisticcontextisamerefigmentandstandsfornothingbyitself,sointherealityofaspokenlivingtongue,theutterancehasnomeaningexceptinthecontextsofsituation.”(Malionwski,1923)Accordingtohisopinion,wecanseethemeaningisrelatedtothesituationalcontext.HuZhuanglinstatedthat“themeaningofanutterancedoesn’tcomefromtheideasofwordscomprisingitbutfromitsrelationtothesituationinwhichtheutteranceoccurs.”(HuZhuanglin,2008)Theutteranceisassociatedwiththesituationinextricablyandusingthewordsinsituationisindispensableforthelearnerstolearnandunderstand.Ifthesituationisdifferent,thelearnersshouldapplythenewunderstandingtoit.AsLuZiwendefinedthat“situationreferstothelanguagecontextforthetargetlanguageuse,whichcanincludetheuseofmaterialobjects,authenticenvironment,bodylanguage,nonverbalmeansandmultimediamaterials.”(LuZiwen,2012)Theaimofthismethodistostimulatestudents’emotionandlearninginterest.What’smore,ChengLinmentionedthat“thegoalofsituationalapproachistocultivatestudents’learningabilityandcreatethestudent-centeredclassroom.”(ChengLin,2015)ThismethodhelpsstudentsbuildtheirownindependentlearningconstructionandimprovesEnglishpracticalability.2.1.2ThePrinciplesofSituationalApproachEventhoughPalmer,Hornby,andotherEnglishteachingspecialistshaddifferentopinionsonspecificprocedurestobeusedinteachingEnglish,theirbasicprinciples6 werereferredtotheoralapproachtolanguageteaching.RichardsandRodgersmentionedthatthefollowingprinciplesofthisapproach.1.Languageteachingstartswiththespokenlanguage.Materialisoftentaughtintargetlanguagebeforeitisshowninwrittenform.2.Thetargetlanguageisusedintheclassroomwhenteaching.3.Newlanguagepointsareintroducedandpracticedsituationally.4.Vocabularyselectionproceduresarefollowedtoensurethatanessentialgeneralservicevocabularyiscovered.5.Grammaritemsaregradedfollowingtheprinciplethatsimpleformsshouldbetaughtbeforecomplexones.6.Readingandwritingareintroducedonceasufficientlexicalandgrammaticalbasisisestablished.Thethirdprincipleisthemaincharacteristicofthisapproach.Theteachersserveasamodel,settingupsituationsinwhichthetargetstructurecanbecreatedandmodelingthenewstructureforstudentstorepeat.Finally,thestudentsareexpectedtoapplywhattheylearntintheclassintothesituationsoutsidetheclassroom.2.1.3TheStrategiesofSituationalApproachTheaimsofsituationalapproacharemainlymanifestedintwoaspects:tostimulateandtoinspire.Theteacherscancreatethesituationswiththefollowingstrategies:1.Listentomusictocreateaharmonyatmosphere.2.Showthemodelsorthespecificthingstomakegreatimpressionsonstudents.7 3.Usepicturestoinspirestudents’imagination.4.Playtherolestoexperiencethesituation.5.Speakfirsttocreatetheauthenticenvironment.6.Choosetherightteachingmodelstointerestthestudents.Thesestrategiescanattractstudents’emotionalinterestbyprovidingthemwithgoodhintsorenlightenment.Doingexercisesisalsohelpfulforcreatingstudents’thinkingabilities.Thespecificsituationsprovidestudentssomecluesoftheoriginalcognitivestructureandtheintegration.2.2TheoreticalFoundationofSituationalApproachThefamouseducationalexpertTaoXingzhisaid“Theartofeducationistointerestlearners.Iflearnershavetheinterest,theywilldevotethemselvestowhattheyareinterestedin.”Thesituationalapproachaimstostimulatelearners’interestandinspiretheirinitiativebysettingthesurroundingsandthevividsituationaccordingtotheteachingcontentandachievethebestteachingefficiency.Lu,Juyingbelievedthat“theteachingdesignofsituationalapproachrequiresteacher-guidedandstudent-centeredprinciple.”(LuJuying,2014)Thatistosay,intheteachingprocess,learnerslearninteractivelyandhappily,changingthepassivestudyintoactivelearning.Thesituationalapproachiscloselyrelatedtotheconstructivisttheory,therelevancetheoryandKrashen’sInputHypothesis.2.2.1ConstructivistTheoryConstructivismwasfirstproposedbypsychologistPiagetin1960sandwaspopularin1990s,whosemainrepresentativeswerePiaget,Kornberrg,Sternberg,Katz8 andVygotsky.Piagetbelievedthat“childrenconstructedtheirknowledgebyinteractingwiththesurroundingenvironmentanddevelopedtheirowncognitivestructure.”(Piaget,1997)BasedonPiaget’stheory,Kohlbergmadeafurtherstudyonthedevelopmentofthenatureofthecognitivestructure.SternbergandKatzpointedoutthattheinitiativeofindividualsplayedanimportantpartintheprocessofconstructingcognitivestructureandhealsoexplainedhowtoplaytheinitiativeoftheindividualintheprocessofcognition.However,Vygotskyemphasizedthat“theimportanceoflearners’socialcultureandhistoricalbackgroundonthecognitiveprocess.”(Vygotsky,1978)Allthesestudiesmadetheconstructivisttheorymuchricher,whichcreatedconditionsforthepracticalapplicationintheteachingprocess.Theconstructivisttheoryiscloselyrelatedtolearners’learningprocessanditwellexplainshowtheprocessoflearninghappens,howtoconstructmeaningandwhatfactorsinfluencedthelearningprocess.Therearesomeviewsontheconstructivisttheory.VonGlaserfeldarguedthat“knowledgeisnotpassivelyreceivedbutbuiltupbythecognizingsubject.”(Glaserfeld,1989)Theknowledgecannotbeintheformofentityandcannotexistintheconcretesituation.Therefore,differentindividualshavedifferentunderstandingdependingonthedifferentbackgroundandthespecificsituation.Constructivismbelievesthatknowledgeisobtainednotonlybyteachingbutalsobylearners’learningincertainsituation.Soconstructivismadvocatestheteacherisguideandthelearnersareinthecenteroflearning.Withthehelpoftheteacher,learnersobtainknowledgeactivelynotpassively.Learnersanalyzerelevantinformationanddataintheprocess9 ofconstructingmeaning.Theyalsocombinethecurrentlearningwithwhattheyhavealreadyknown.ZhangJianweiarguedthatteacherscouldn’tignorelearners’experienceandforcedthemtoacquireknowledge,whichcalled“fillingirrigation”.(ZhangJianwei,1996)Teacherscanusetheconcretesituationstostimulatetheirexistingknowledge.Thesituationalapproachisbasedonthelearners’ownexperienceandthelanguageleveltocreatethesituationtopresentthetargetlanguageandmakelearnersconstructtheirownknowledgeintherealsituations.2.2.2RelevanceTheoryRelevancetheorywasputforwardbyDanSperberandDeirdreWilson,whoseektotakeimplicitinferencesintoconsideration.Theyarguedthat“thehearerwillsearchformeaninginanygivencommunicativesituationwhichcanfittheirexpectationofrelevance.”Inthisway,itwillcauseeachpersontoengageintheinteractiontoreachtheoptimalrelevance.SperberandWilsonadvocatedthatthePrinciplesofOptimalRelevance(Sperber&Wilson,1986)areasfollows:(a)Thesetofassumptionsthatthespeakerintendstomakemanifesttothehearerisrelevantenoughtomakeitworthandthehearercanprocesstheostensivestimulus.(b)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantonethatthespeakercouldusetocommunicate.Theoptimalrelevanceisthegoalthatboththespeakerandhearerachievewhencommunicating.Theimplicitmessageisrelevantenoughtomakethehearerunderstand.Asteachers,theycanprovidetherelativesituationtolearnersfortheir10 betterunderstanding.Ifwhatteacherssaidiscloselyrelatedtolearners’life,thatistosay,theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevanttolearners,Learnerswillhavemoreinterestinthecommunication.Thecoreoftherelevancetheoryisthecommunicativeprincipleofrelevance,thatistosay,theutterancethespeakersmakeiswhattheheareriswillingtolisteningto.Atthesametime,theutterancewillhavecognitiveeffectsontheprocessofcommunication.Everyostensiveactofcommunicationwillhavethetwofollowingcharacteristics:1.Thespeakergivesacluetotheheareronpurpose,andthecluetoherintentioniswhatshewishestocommunicate.2.Thehearerinferstheintentionfromtheclueandthecontext-mediatedinformation.Thehearermustinterprettheclue,takingintoaccountthecontext,andsurmisewhatthespeakerintendedtocommunicate.SperberandWilsonmentioned“thewayofconceivinghowthoughtsarecommunicatedisbythespeakerwhocanconveyasmuchinformationasneededinanygivencontext.Inthiswaythehearercanreceivetheirintendedmeaningfromwhatwassaidaswellasfromthecontextandimplications.”(Sperber&Wilson,1986)Thatistosay,contextplaysapartintheprocessofcommunicationasimportantasotherfactors,suchastheauthor"sintentions,therelationshipbetweenthespeakerandhearerandsoon.Sointhisresearch,theauthortakesthesituationofthecommunicationandthelanguageenvironmentintoaccount.Thesituationalapproachistheprocessofostensivecommunication,which11 providesenoughcontextforlearnersandthelearnersfindtherelatedsituationalinformationtoguesstherealconnotationandachievetheoptimalrelevancetomakelearnersunderstandandinternalize.2.2.3Krashen’sInputHypothesisTheinputhypothesiswasfirstproposedin1977andwaswell-knownasthemonitormodel,whichhashadagreatinfluenceonthesecondlanguageteachingpractice.Theinputhypothesisisproposedbythelinguist,StephenKranshenduringthe1970s.Kranshenclaimedthatresearchfindingsfromlotsofdifferentdomainswereconsistentwiththefivehypotheses,especiallytheinputhypothesisandtheacquisition–learninghypothesis.Kranshen’sfivehypotheseshadagreatinfluenceonthesecondlanguageteaching.Krashenassertsthatoneacquireslanguageinonlyonewaythatistobeexposedtocomprehensiveinput.Iftheinputcontainsformsandstructuresbeyondthelearner’scurrentlevelofcompetenceinthelanguage,thecomprehensionandacquisitionwilloccur.Whenteachersusethesituationalapproachtocreatethesituations,theynotonlyconsiderwhethertheycanprovideefficientlanguageenvironmenttohelplearnerslearnandacquirelanguagebutalsothinkabouttherelationshipbetweenthesituationsandthelearners’languagelevel.TheInputHypothesisalsosuggeststhatlanguagedevelopmentisaprocessoftheinputreceivedbythelearners.Krashenstatesthattherearetwodifferentwaysoflearninglanguage:language“learning”andlanguage“acquisition”.(Krashen,2004)Language“learning”isthatlearnerstakeconsciouseffortbylearninggrammarrules,12 memorizingvocabularylistsandperformingspeakingdrills.Language“acquisition”isthatlearnerstakesubconsciouseffortbylisteningtomessages,readinginterestingbooksandarticles,andotherenjoyableactivitiesthattakeplaceintheprocessoflearninglanguage.AccordingtoKrashen’stheory,theonlywaythatcanleadtofluencyofthelanguageislanguage“acquisition”.Language“learning”canonlybeusedasawaytoconsciouslyeditspeech,anditisneverthecauseofspontaneous,unrehearsedspeechorwriting.Thatistosay,iflearnerslearnthelanguagesubconsciously,languagewillbeeasieracquired.Atthesametime,learningisbelievedtobeinfluencedbythemoodofthelearner.Ifthelearnerhavemuchstressordoesnotwanttolearnthelanguage,learningwillbecomedifficult.Soitisnecessaryforteacherstocreateasuitablesituationforlearnerstoacquireknowledge.What’smore,teachersshouldpaymoreattentiontothecurrentleveloflearners.2.3GrammarandGrammarTeachingGrammarisasystemoflanguagerules,whichisanessentialpartofEnglishlearning.However,grammarisdifficultforteacherstoteachinseniorhighschool.Therefore,grammarteachingisdeservedtobeconsideredseriously.2.3.1DefinitionsofGrammarGrammarisoneimportantelementoflanguage,whichismadeupofform,meaninganduse.Differentscholarshavedifferentunderstandingsanddemonstrationsaboutthedefinitionsofgrammar.Youngpointedthat“grammarisasystemoflanguagerules.”Languageisaseriesofwordswhicharecombinedwithasetofgrammarrules.(Young,1984)Harmer13 definedthat“grammaristhewayofflectionsandcombinationsofwordsintosentences,includingthechangesofwordformsandwordorderswhentwosentencesarecombinedintoasentence.”(Harmer,J.1991)Thatistosay,wordscanbeputtogetherintosentencesandsentencescanbechangedaccordingtothegrammarrules.Therefore,grammarplaysanimportantroleinmakingupsentences.Pennyclaimedthat“grammarisasetofrulesthatdefinehowwordsorpartsofwordsarecombinedorchangedintoformacceptableunitsofmeaningwithinalanguage.”(Penny,2009)Pennybelievedthatgrammarcanbeusedtodealwithsyntaxandmorphology.Thesedefinitionsallrefertoonedimensionofgrammar.InLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglishin2012,grammarisregardedas“therulesbywhichwordschangetheirformsandarecombinedintosentences,orthestudyoruseoftheserules.”Itisclearthatthedefinitionofgrammarhaschangedfromtheformtotheuseofgrammaticalrules.Inaword,grammaristhenecessaryelementoflanguagewhichcanmakethewordsorsentencemeaningful.What’smore,HuZhuanglinstatesthat“teacherstendtoviewgrammarasakindofstaticknowledge.”(HuZhuanglin,2002)However,GeorgeYuleinterpretsthat“grammarisaconstructivesysteminwhichform,meaningandusearethreeinseparablepartsoflanguage.(Yule,George,2008)Larsen-Freemanbelievesthat“grammarhasthreedimensions:form,meaninganduse.(Larsen-Freeman,2009)Thespeaker’schoiceofakindofformandmeaningdependsonthespeaker’scommunicativeenvironmentandpurpose.”Thesescholarsviewgrammarasadynamicprocessoflanguageandattachagreatimportancetolearners’abilityof14 grammaruse.Infact,teachers’understandingofgrammaraffectsthewayoftheirgrammarteachingandstudents’attitudestowardsgrammarhasaneffectongrammarlearning.Therefore,itisimportanttoknowaboutteachers’andstudents’viewsofgrammar.Teacherswhopayattentiontotheformoflanguagecandevelopasystemofgrammarrules.Ifteachersfocusonform,meaninganduse,studentscanhaveabetterunderstandingofgrammarandlearnlanguageflexibly.Inaword,theunderstandingofgrammarhaschangedfromastaticformtoadynamicprocess,whichisthecombinationofsyntacticform,meaninganduse.2.3.2HistoricalOverviewofGrammarTeachingTheauthorwillgiveabriefintroductionofgrammarteachingindifferentstages.Thegrammarteachinghasgonethroughalongway.Therearethefollowinggrammarteachingstages.thDuringthe18century,peopleattachedimportancetogrammarteachinginEurope.ThentheGrammarTranslationMethodwasputforward.Celce-Murciaconsideredthat“theGrammarTranslationMethodfocusesongrammaticalrules.Whileusingthismethod,teacherswouldusethemothertongueratherthanthetargetlanguagetoteachgrammar.”(Celce-Murcia,1988)Whenteachingthecomplexgrammaticalitems,teachersonlyexplainedthegrammarrulesandteacherspaidnoattentiontooralEnglish.Asforthepractice,studentsspentmoretimedoinggrammarexercisesabouttranslatingsentencesfromthetargetlanguageintothemothertongue.thAttheendofthe19century,therewasnotranslationbetweenfirstandsecond15 languageandnoanalysisofgrammaticalrules.H.Douglas.BrownclaimedthattheDirectMethodwaspopularwithlotsofpeopleduringthattime.Heemphasizedtheoralinteractionandtheuseoflanguage.Duringthattime,whenteachingthegrammarrules,teachersgavestudentsmorechancetopractice.Sometimes,teachersalsocouldchoosegestures,actions,objectsandpicturestoexplainthegrammarrules.Aseducationalinstitutionstatedthattheoralapproachtoforeignlanguagewasmorebeneficialthanthereadingapproach.Grammarteachingbecamenotasimportantasbefore.AftertheAudio-lingualMethodcameintobeing,teacherstriedtoapplythetargetlanguageandemphasizedtheoverallstructureandunderstandingofthesentenceinsteadofgrammarrules.Therefore,teachersstartedtoignorethegrammaranalysis,explanationandtraining,hinderingthedeepunderstandinganduseofEnglish.Theypaidnoattentiontogrammarrulesandstudents’mistakes.However,itwasanundeniablefactthatstudentscouldquicklycommunicatewithotherstudentsandimprovetheiroralEnglish,meetingtherequirementthatsomepeoplewanttocommunicatewithforeignpeopleintheshortterm.Inaword,nomatterhowteachersteachgrammar,grammarteachingplaysanimportantroleinlanguagelearning.2.4RelationsbetweenSituationalApproachandGrammarTeachingThereisnodoubtthatgrammaristhedifficultandimportantpartfortheforeignlanguagelearners,butthequestionishowtoteachitmoreinterestinglyandeffectively.Withthediscussionabove,teachinggrammarinthesituationcontributestolearners’betterunderstanding.16 AstheLongmanDictionarydefines,“contextoccursbeforeorafteraword,aphraseorevenalongerutteranceoratext,whichoftenhelpsreadersunderstandtheparticularmeaningoftheword,phrase,etc.”Inotherword,languageexitedincertainsituationorcontext.ItisknownthatEnglishandChinesearetwodifficultlanguages.EnglishbelongstoIndo-Europeanlanguagefamily,butChineseisbelievedtobelongtoSino-Tibetanfamily.Therefore,therearebigconflictsanddifferencesbetweendifferentcultures.Malinowskisaidthat“ifthelanguageuserisnotgivenanexclusiveculturalbackground,itisimpossibletotranslateanoriginallanguage.”(Malinowski,1923)Ifonepersondoesnotconsiderlanguagefromthebroadencontextandmasterthegrammaticalrules,heorshecannotunderstandalanguageexactlyandquickly.LuHuiqingreferredthat“teacherscanapplythemultimediaintogrammarteachingandchangethegrammaticalpointsintolanguagesituation,thenencouragestudentstomakesentencesincontext.”(LuHuiqing,2013)Teachinggrammarinsituationisawaythatteachersteachgrammarinacomprehensiveview,whichcanattractstudents’interestandattention.Situationalapproachcanprovidelearnerstheopportunitiestoobservethegrammaticalformsandstructuresinrealandvividcontexts.Whenteachersexplainthepassagewhichcontainedalotofgrammarpoints,learnerscanhaveacomprehensiveunderstandingnotonlythegrammarpoints.Learnerscantakesubconsciouseffortbylisteningtomessages,readinginterestingbooksandarticles,andotherenjoyableactivitiesthattakeplaceintheprocessofgrammarlearning.WangXulangclaimedthat“situationalapproachcanbeusedineveryteachingstage,17 especiallywhenthereisthemultimedia,whichmakesteachingmorevisualvivid.Thischangestheboringgrammarteachingsituation.”(WangXulang,2016)Ifteacherscreatetheactivitiesthatlearnersareinterestedin,learnerswillpaymoreattentiontoitandtheywillacquireknowledgeinanaturalway.2.5PreviousStudiesonGrammarTeachingThestudyongrammarteachinghasgonethroughalongway.Manyscholarsdidtheirbesttostudygrammarteachingfromtheirownperspectives.Thefollowingwillpresentdifferentviewsongrammarteachingfromtheforeigncountriesandourcountry,whichwillhaveagreatinfluenceonthefuturestudyofgrammarteaching.2.5.1StudiesAbroadThereweremanyscholarsstudyingongrammarteachingandadvocatedtheirownopinionsongrammarteaching.Swainpointed,“eventhoughlearnershadreceivedlotsoflanguageinput,theywereabletousethelanguagefluently,notabletousesomegrammaticalformsaccurately.”(Swain,1985)Thatistosay,thepuremeaningteachingcouldnotpromoteandimprovetheaccuracyoflanguageform.Longpointedoutthat“thetraditionallanguageteachingwasisolatedfromcontext,neglectedthelanguageacquisitionrulesandcharacteristics,andalsoignoredthefluencyofoutsidelanguageenvironmentandinternallearningfactors.Heputforward“focusonformandmeaning”method,whichcouldimprovethefluencyandtheaccuracyoflanguageatthesametime.(Long,1991)Skehanputforwardthat“thepurelanguagecommunicativeclassroomcouldleadtolanguagefossilizationduetocompletelyignorethegrammarteachingand18 influencetheaccuracyoflanguageoutput.”(Skehan,1996)Iflearnerspaymoreattentiontotargetlanguage,itwashelpfultoimprovethedevelopmentoflanguagecompetenceandmoreusefultotheconstructionoftargetlanguagesystem.DeKeyserbelieved,“onlybyprovidingenoughcommunicativepractice,couldexplicitgrammaticalknowledgebetransformedtoimplicitknowledge.”(DeKeyser,2003)Iflearnershaveraisedtheawarenessofgrammaticalfeatures,theywillbeeasiertounderstandthecharacteristicsincontactwithlanguage.Larsen-Freemanthoughtgrammarshouldbetakenasasetofstaticrulebutinparallelwithlistening,speaking,readingandwritingskills.Sheputforwardtheword“grammaring”,whichreferredtotheabilitytousethegrammaticalformaccurately.(Larsen-Freeman,2005)Shestressedthatgrammaticalform,meaningandrulesshouldbetaughtstudentsclearly,sothatteachersshouldfullymotivatetheenthusiasmofstudents.2.5.2StudiesatHomeInourcountry,thetraditionalgrammarteachingemphasizedmoreontheaccuracyofstudents’languageratherthanthefluency.Theteacherjustexplainedthegrammarandaskedthestudentstotakenotes.Thenthestudentsdidmoreexerciseaboutthegrammarrulestaughtinclass.Intheteacher-centeredgrammarteachingclass,theteacherignoredthecommunicativefunctionandstudentshadnochancetothinkandconstructtheirknowledge.Aftertheimplementationofthenewcurriculum,ChenLinreferredtothat“thegoalofgrammarteachingistoreflectthefunctionalandcommunicativefeatureof19 language.”(ChenLin,2002)Thatis,thegrammarruleswereasimportantastheuseoflanguage.ChenShunjiangproposed“thatgrammarteachingaimedtoenlargestudents’languagethinkingspace,letstudentsacquirelanguageactivelyandmakelanguageservethereallife.”(ChenShunqiang,2007)Theteachingmodeaskedstudentstoconstructknowledge,masterthelanguageskills,promotefeelings,attitudesandvalues.YuQingpingproposedthat“theintegrationofformandmeaning”teachingmethodwassuitableforChinesestudentswhostudiedEnglishasaforeignlanguage.(YuQingping,2008)Thatistosay,changingtheformteachingintocommunicativeclasswasaneffectivewaytopromotethedevelopmentoflearners’languagesystemandtheeffectofacquisition.Theform-centeredteachingmethodcouldonlyhelplearnerstolearnisolatedgrammarbutcouldnotdeveloptheircommunicativeabilitytousethetargetlanguagenaturally.GeXianruputforwardthat“focus-on-form”languageteachingmainlyadvocatedintegratinglanguageformintocommunicativelanguageteachingactivities.(GeXianru,2009)Thepurposewastoimprovestudents’communicationabilityandtheaccuracyoflanguage.QiDaoqunputforwardtheintegrationofgrammarteachingandvocabularyteaching,theintegrationofgrammarandthinkingcognition,grammarteachingandtextualgrammarteaching.(YiDaoqun,2009)QiDaoqunemphasizedmoreontherationalismandempiricismgrammarteaching.Heattachedtheimportancetotheintegrationofcognitionandlanguagepractice,rulesmasteryandlanguageaccumulation.ChenXiaotangbelieved,“thegrammarconsciousnessisthatifa20 studentwantstoacquireaforeignlanguage,hemustlearnthegrammar.”(ChenXiaotang,2013)StudentsusedthegrammarnotonlyinthespokenEnglishbutalsointhewritingEnglish.Ifonestudenthasgrammarconsciousness,hewouldpayattentiontothekeypointswhenhemeetsthenewgrammaticalitems.Inaword,thedomesticandforeignresearchhasindeedprovidedatheoreticalsupportforthisstudy.Inordertosolvetheproblemabouthowtocarryoutthenewgrammarteachingideaeffectivelyinclassroom,itisnecessarytotestthetheoriesinthepracticalclassroom.21 Chapter3MethodologyFromthefirsttwochapters,itisobviousthatthesituationapproachandthegrammarteachingarecloselyrelated.Thegrammaticalpointsshouldnotbetaughtalone,soteacherscanputtheminthespecificsituation.Ifthegrammaticalpointsaresetintothemeaningfulsituations,learnerscanunderstandthembetterandapplythemflexibly.Therefore,teachersshouldpayattentiontotheapplicationofthesituationalapproachtogrammarteaching.Theyshouldinspirelearnerstousethelanguageinsituationsratherthansimplymemorizethegrammarrules.Thischaptermainlyfocusesontheresearchquestionsandmethodologysuchasquestionnaire,pre-test,post-testandinterview.3.1ResearchQuestionsThepurposeofthisstudyistoanswerthethreefollowingquestions:1.What’sthepresentsituationofgrammarlearninginseniorhighschool?2.What’sstudents’attitudetowardstheapplicationofsituationalapproachtogrammarteaching?3.What’stheeffectoftheapplicationofsituationalapproachongrammarlearning?3.2ResearchSubjectsThesubjectsaretwoclassesof100studentsfromthesamegradeinLanKaoNo.1seniorhighschool.Theyarefromtwoparallelclasses.Oneisthecontrolclasswhichistaughtbytraditionalgrammarteachingmethodandtheotheristheexperimentalclassinwhichtheteacherappliessituationalapproachintogrammarteaching.The22 twoclasseshavethesameteachinghoursandthelearningmaterials,andtheonlydifferenceisthegrammarteachingapproach.Beforethestudy,theirEnglishproficiencyisroughlysame.3.3ResearchInstrumentsDuringtheresearch,inthepre-test,studentsofthetwoclasseswillbetestedwiththesamepapertocheckthelevelofgrammarlearningandthedatawillberecordedtomakeacomparisonwiththepost-testtofindouttheeffectoftheapplicationofsituationalapproachongrammarlearning.Allthestudentswillalsobeaskedtofillthepre-questionnairetoinvestigatethepresentgrammarlearninginseniorhighschool.Aftertheexperiment,studentsintheexperimentalclasswillbeaskedtofillthepost-questionnairetoinvestigatestudents’attitudestowardsgrammarlearning.Interviewwillalsobeusedtofindoutstudents’attitudestowardtheapplicationofthesituationalapproachintogrammarteaching.Theauthorchoosesfivestudentsintheclasstohaveaninterviewaboutthesituationalapproach.Afterthestudy,thedatafromthetwotestswillbeanalyzedbySPSS.Theresultofquestionnaireandinterviewwillbediscussedqualitatively.3.3.1QuestionnairesThequestionnairewillbeusedtwicetoinvestigatewhetherthesituationalapproachhasaninfluenceonthestudents’grammarlearninginterest.Beforethestudy,theauthorusesthefirstquestionnaire(seeAppendixA)whichconsistsof15questionstostudystudents’attitudestogrammarteaching.Thesecondquestionnaire(seeAppendixB)whichconsistsof16questionsisdesignedtomakeacomparison23 withtheformerattitudetogrammarlearning.Theaddedquestionaimstostudystudents’attitudetothesituationalapproachandtheinfluenceofsituationalapproachongrammarlearning.Theother15questionsarethesame.ThetwoquestionnairesaredesignedinChinesetomakesureeachstudentcanunderstandthequestionsandgivetheirownopinions.Thequestionsfocusonstudents’learninginterests,grammarstrategiesandgrammaticalcompetence.Studentschoosetheanswersaccordingtotheirpersonallearningcondition.Studentsaregiventenminutestocompletethepaperandneedn’twritetheirownnamesonit.3.3.2InterviewInordertomakesurethevalidityandauthorityoftheexperiment,havinganinterviewintheexperimentalclassisverynecessary.Aftertheexperiment,theauthorwillhaveaninterviewwithfivestudentsfromtheexperimentalclassaboutthesituationalapproach.Theteacherwillchoosestudentsrandomlyandthechosenstudentsweretwogirlsandthreeboys.Everystudentgavetheirownopinionsonthesituationalapproachandtheauthorwrotedowntheiranswerscarefully.Theauthordesignsfourquestionstoinvestigatestudents’attitudetothesituationalapproach.Inordertomaketheintervieweesunderstandthequestionsbetterandgivetheiropinionsclearly,theauthorallowthemtoanswerthequestionsinChinese.Theinterviewcontainsthefollowingfourquestions:(1)Doyouthinkthesituationalapproachishelpfulforgrammarlearning?(2)Areyoubecominginterestedinthegrammarlearningnow?Why?(3)Whatisthedifferencebetweenthetraditionalapproachandsituationalapproach?24 (4)Whatdoyouthinkofthesituationalapproach?Theauthordesignsthesequestionstoinvestigatestudents’attitudestothesituationalapproach.Duringtheinterview,theauthorasksfivestudentsintheexperimentalclasstoanswerhisquestionsonebyone.Thentheauthorwritesdownwhattheysaidcarefully.Aftertheinterview,theauthorwillmakeaconclusionandanalyzetheresultsqualitatively.3.3.3TestsThetestsconsistofthepre-test(seeAppendixC)andpost-test(seeAppendixD).TheauthorwillusetheNationalEntranceExaminationPapertotesttheinfluenceofthesituationalapproach.Therearefourpartsinthepaper,cloze,rationalcloze,proofreading,andwriting.Theclozeisapopularwaytotestthecomprehensivelanguagecompetence,whichcantestthegrammaticalitemsincontext,thevocabulary,thesyntax.Rationalclozeistousethecorrectformofthegivenwordstofilltheblank,whichisthemostdifficultitemintheEnglishexam.Rationalclozeisalsoacomprehensivetestwithhighvalidityandisalsoagoodwaytoevaluatethecomprehensiveabilityobjectively.Proofreadingistomakestudentsfindthetenerrorsandcorrectthem,whichmainlyteststudents’grammarrules.Thelastpartisthewritingwhichteststhegrammarrules,thesyntax,thevocabularyandtheexpressionability.AndthewritingisevaluatedaccordingtothestandardforevaluationoftheCollegeEntranceExamination.Allthefourpartsarecloselyrelatedtotheuseofgrammarinthecontext.Thepre-testistotestwhetherthetwoclasseshavethesameEnglishproficiencyandthesameEnglishlevelofthetwoclasses.Thepost-testis25 designedtomakeacomparisonbetweentheexperimentalclassandthecontrolclassandstudytheinfluenceoftheapplicationofsituationalapproachintogrammarteachingonthecomprehensivelanguageability.3.4TeachingProcedureTheauthorchosethesituationalapproachtoteachthegrammaticalpointsintheexperimentalclassinordertomakeacomparisonwiththecontrolclassinthethreemonths.Butallthelanguageskillsandgrammaticalexerciseswerethesame.Theonlydifferenceofthetwoclasseswastheteachingmethodofgrammar.Themainteachingmethodoftheexperimentalclasswastoteachgrammarinsituationtohelpstudentsunderstandgrammarrules.Theteachercreatedallkindsofsituationsanddesignedlotsofactivitiesbasedonsituation.Theteachingprocedureconsistedoflead-in,grammarteaching,student’slearninginsituation,classactivitiesandsoon.Theauthorappliedthetraditionalapproachtoteachthesamegrammaticalpointsinthecontrolclass.Atfirst,theauthordesignedthepre-testtomakesurethecomprehensivelanguagecompetencebeforetheexperimentwasnearlythesame.Duringthethreemonths’experiment,theauthorrecordedtheteachingprocedureindetail.Theteachingexampleswereasfollows:Example1AttributiveClauseStep1.TellastoryaboutakidandaGodTheteacheraskedthestudentstolistentoastoryandguesswhoshewasandwhy.1.Youwillbehappywithyourangelwhereveryouare.26 2.Yourangelwillprotectyoueventhoughsherisksherlife.3.Yourangel’snameisofnoimportance.Givethestudentsfiveminutestodiscusswhoshewasandwhyinpairs.Theteachergavethestructure“motherisapersonwho/whom/that/whose…”todescribetheangel.Group1:motherisapersonwhoalwaysstayswithusnomatterwhatwebecome.Group2:motherisapersonwhomyoucansayeverythingto.Group3:motherisapersonwhoseloveisselfless.Group4:motherisapersonthatalwaystakescareofyouwhereveryouare.…T:Ok,youareallright.Godcouldnotbeeverywhere,sohemadethegreatperson,mother.Thencompletethefollowingstory“mother’slove”.Inthispart,theteacherusedastoryabout“mother”tointereststudentsandaskedstudentstoknowaboutthestructureofattributeclause.Step2.Lookatthepicturesandfillintheblankwithrelativepronoun.27 Mother’sloveWhenyoucametothisword,shehuggedyouinherarmsandshedecidedtogiveeverythingsheowned.Whenyouwereone-year-old,shestartedtobebusywithworking.ThemomentsheheardMAMAyoucalled,shefeltveryhappy.Whenyouweretwoyearsold,shealwaysstoodbyyourlittlebedwhereyouweresleeping.Whenyouthreeyearsold,shestartedtoteachthewayyouwalked.Whenyouwerefouryearsold,sheboughtthetoysyoucouldplay.Whenyouwerefiveyearsold,shegaveyousomecrayonsyoucoulddrawpictures.Whenyouweresixyearsold,shesentyoutotheschoolisthebestschoolinthecity.Whenyouweretwelveyearsold,sheaskedyounottoplaycomputergames,butyouwouldnotlisten.Youstillplaythecomputergameseveryday,madeherveryangry.Whenyouarefourteenyearsold,yougotboredofyourstudy,shetriedherbesttohelpyououtthesituationyouwere.Whenyouwerefifteen,youbegantohavetheburdenofstudy.Shekeptyoucompanyeverynightyouwereinbadmood.Youmaystillrememberthegiftshesenttoyouoneverybirthday.Nowyouhavegrownup,youhavelittlecommunicationwithher.Shecomplainsalot,makesyouangry.Butyoushouldknoweverythingshedoesisgoodforyou.Thegreathopeshehasistogiveyouabrightfuture.Soyoushouldbegratefultoyourmotherwheneveritis.Mother’sloveisthegreatestthingnothingcancomparewith.Inthispart,theteachermadestudentsunderstandtheuseofrelativepronounin28 thesituation,whichcouldmakestudentshaveabetterunderstandingofattributeclause.Step3.MakeaconclusionanddotheexercisesRelativepronounAntecedentElementWhopersonsubject/objectWhompersonobjectWhichthingsubject/objectThatperson/thingsubject/object/predicativeWhoseperson/thingattributeInordertomakestudentsunderstandtheattributeclausebetter,theteacherencouragedstudentstomakeaconclusionbythemselves.Step4.Discussingroups.Tellastoryaboutyourmotherandshareitwithus.Trytousetheattributiveclauseasmuchaspossible.Thisactivityaimedtoletstudentsapplythegrammaticalitemsinthesituationandimprovestudents’learninginterest.Example2might/must/couldhavedoneThisclasstheteachertalkedaboutthenewstructure“may/might/must/couldhavedone”,whichwasusedtopredictwhathappenedinthepast.Step1Lead-inTheteachersharedadetectivenovelwiththestudentsandaskedthestudentstoguesswhowasamurder.Thestudentswouldbeallowedtoanswerwiththe29 grammaticalpoints.ThemysteryofBlack’sdeathItwaslateintheevening.Thewholehotelwasinpeaceandmostpeoplewassleeping.Suddenly,therewasascreamofaman:“Help,help.”Andthentherewasabigbumpofshooting.TherichbusinessmanBlackwasfounddeadinhisroom.ThedeathofMrBlackwasamystery.Thepolicemenweredetectingthecase.Thereissomeinformationabouthisdeath.Ifyouwerethepoliceman,canyoufindthekiller?Andgivemeyourreason.MrBlack:Heisarichbusinessandtherearethreepersonsarebeingsuspected.TheyareBlack’swife(Sandy),hisson(Tim)andhisfriend(Smith).Sandy:BlackdevotedhistimetohisbusinessandSandyhadbadrelationshipwithBlack.Theyhavetheirseparaterooms.OnecompanyhasadmittedthatSandyinsuredherhusbandfor500milliondollars.Shesaidshewastakingashowerwhenthecrimehappened.Thepolicefoundthebathroomwasfullofsteamandbathsoap.Tim:RecentlytherelationshipbetweenBlackandhissonwasintense.BecauseBlackwasstronglyagainstTim’sengagementwithanactress.Blackoncestatedheneveragreedhismarriageunlesshewasdead.WhenBlackwaskilled,Timjustcamebackfromthebar.ButthebarmanagersaidTimdidn’tdrinkasmuchasheusedto.Smith:HeisoneofBlack’sbusinesspartners.Everynighttheywouldplaycardsinhisroom.Oneofthewaitersaidtheyquarreledwitheachother,becauseSmithlosttoomuchmoney.Smithclaimedthathewasswimminginthepoolalone.Inthispart,theteachersetthecontexttothestudentstotellthemthebackground30 andusedthemurdercasetoleadinthenewstructure,whichcouldarousestudents’interest.Step2DiscussingroupsThispartwasmainlyaboutthereasoningandthedebating.Letthestudentsplaytheroleasapolicemanandthelawyeringrouptomakeadebatebyusingthestructuremight/may/could/can/musthavedone.Thestudentscouldusethefollowingexpressions.1.Ithink…must/might/couldhave…,because…2.Accordingtothemotivation…must/could/can/mighthave…3.Whenthemurderoccurred…soitcan’t/couldn’t/mightn’thave…4.Consideringthedoubtfulpoint…must/might/couldhave…5.Judgingfromtheevidence…musthave…Thereweresixstudentsineachgroupandtheyplayeddifferentrolesandtheycoulddebateforthemselvesbyexplainingtheiropinion.Thethreepolicemenfoundtheevidencetoprovetheircrimeandthethreelawyersdebatebyprovidingtheevidenceofalibi.Thesesixstudentsineachgroupcommunicatedwitheachotherbypracticingthenewstructure“might/may/must/couldhavedone.”and“mightnot/couldn’thavedone.”Thediscussionwasdesignedtopracticethenewstructureinthemurdercase,itwouldmucheasiertounderstand.Step3MakeafinaldecisionStudentsmadeafinaldecisionbyusingthemodalverbstodeduct.Thefollowing31 istheresult.OpinionOnbehalfofmygroup,wethink…First,…EvidenceSecond,…Third,…Conclusion…westronglybelievethat…Inthefinaldecision,thestudentsalsousedthemodelverbstoanswer,whichcouldhelpthemunderstanditbetter.Step4InvestigationreportInthisprocess,theteacheraskedthestudentstolookatthepictureandreadthematerialtofindthekeyinformation,therelationshipbetweenthementionedpersons.32 Thestudentscouldmakeaconclusionaccordingtotheirowndeduction.Thenwriteareportonthemurdercaseaccordingtothefollowingtable.SandyTimSmithMotivationDoubtpointsAlibiAtlast,thestudentsmadeaninvestigationreportbyusingthemodelverbs.Thewholeclassinvolvedthemodelverbsinthedetectivestory.Thisexampleappliedthesituationalapproachintogrammarteaching.3.5DataCollectionandDataAnalysisTheauthorusedthequestionnaire,thepre-test,thepost-testandtheinterviewtocollecttheexperimentdata.Beforetheexperiment,theauthorgavethestudentsthefirstquestionnairetofindoutwhethertherewerebigdifferencesofEnglishgrammarlearningbetweenthecontrolclassandtheexperimentalclass.Theauthoralsodesignedthepre-testtocheckwhetherthecomprehensivelanguagecompetenceofthetwoclassesisnearlythesame.Aftertheexperiment,theteacherhadaninterviewintheexperimentalclass.Thefivestudentswereaskedsomequestionsaboutthesituationalapproach.Thentheteacherwrotedowntheiropinionsandanalyzedtheresultcarefully.Aftertheexperiment,theauthoralsousedthepre-testtomakeacontrastwiththepre-test,andthescoresofthetwoclasseswillshowwhichapproachisbetterforgrammarteaching.Thewholeprocessoftheexperimentwouldprovidemoresupportforthisresearch.SPSSwastobeusedtoanalyzethedataqualitativelyandthequestionnairewillbeanalyzedquantitatively.Aftertheanalysisofthedata,itisobviouswhichteachingapproachisbetterinimprovingthestudents’English33 learninginterestandcomprehensivelanguagecompetence.TheexperimentresultswillbepresentedindetailsinthefollowingChapter.34 Chapter4ResultsandDiscussionInthischapter,theauthorwillanalyzetheresultsoftheexperimentanddiscusstheeffectoftheapplicationofthesituationalapproachontheEnglishgrammarlearning.ThefollowingdatawerecollectedintheexperimentalteachingprocessfromSeptember2015toDecember2015.Andtheresultswillbeanalyzedindetails.4.1ResultsThedatawerecollectedbyusingthequestionnaire,thepre-test,thepost-testandtheinterview.Theanalysisoftheresultwaspresentedbelow.4.1.1ResultsoftheQuestionnairesThequestionnairewasadministeredtwice.Thefirstfifteenquestionsarethesameinthetwoquestionnaires,butthepost-questionnairewasdesignedwithasixteenthquestionabouthowtoteachgrammarbetter.Inordertomakethestudentshaveabetterunderstandingofthequestionsinthequestionnaires,theauthordesignedthequestionnairesinChinese.Theauthorgaveoutthetwoquestionnairestothetwoclassesandthequestionnairesshouldbefinishedaccordingtotheirownlearningcondition.Thevalidpapersare50ineachclass.Thefollowingtablesaretheresultsandtheanalysisofeachquestioninthequestionnaire.35 Table1QuestionnaireComparisonintheExperimentalClassQuestionsinPre-test/ABCDEquestionnairePost-testPre-test40%30%14%10%6%Q1Post-test48%36%10%4%2%Pre-test12%28%40%14%6%Q2Post-test24%40%20%12%4%Pre-test20%72%8%\Q3Post-test56%40%4%\Pre-test28%32%18%12%10%Q4Post-test34%38%20%6%2%Pre-test32%36%32%\Q5Post-test28%12%60%\Pre-test6%10%20%24%40%Q6Post-test20%24%30%16%10%Pre-test32%44%24%\Q7Post-test20%66%14%\Pre-test16%24%60%\Q8Post-test32%30%38%\Pre-test6%46%48%\Q9Post-test52%28%20%\Pre-test6%24%40%20%10%Q10Post-test16%30%34%12%8%Pre-test22%38%40%\Q11Post-test42%24%34%\Pre-test22%34%24%16%4%Q12Post-test28%36%30%4%2%Pre-test20%56%24%\Q13Post-test4%20%76%\Pre-test38%40%10%8%4%Q14Post-test20%32%16%20%12%Pre-test26%32%20%12%10%Q15Post-test32%40%18%6%4%36 Fromthetable,it’scleartofindthefollowingresults:1.Aftertheapplicationofthesituationalapproachtogrammarteaching,moststudentsrealizedtheimportanceofEnglishgrammarlearning,andstudents’interestingrammarlearninghasbeencultivated.2.Theattitudetogrammarhaschanged.56%studentsthinklearninggrammaraimstocommunicateandmorestudentsfinditishelpfultoimprovethecomprehensiveability,suchas,reading,speakingandwriting.3.TheimportantthingisthatmoststudentshavemoretimetospeakEnglishandthenumberofstudentswhocanapplythelearntgrammarintosituationnaturallyhaschangedfrom22%to42%.4.Thetypeofhomeworkhasalsochanged.Thegrammarhomeworknotonlyincludestheitemchoicebutalsothewriting,errorcorrectionandsentencemaking.Meanwhile,thenumberofthestudentswhowishteachertoteachinChinesechangedfrom38%to20%.5.72%studentsbegintolikethewayofsettingthesituationinsteadofteachingthegrammarrules.Andmorethan32%studentsthinkithelpfultounderstandgrammarbysettingthesituation.4.1.2ResultsoftheInterviewAfterthreemonths’experiment,theauthorhadaninterviewwithfivestudentsintheexperimentalclassaboutthesituationalapproach.Thefivestudentswerechosenrandomlyandtheyweretwogirlsandthreeboys.Everystudentgavetheirownopinionsonthesituationalapproachandtheauthorwrotedowntheiranswers37 carefully.Theresultsoftheinterviewwereshownbelow.Q1:Doyouthinkthesituationalapproachishelpfulforgrammarlearning?StudentBsaidthat“maybeitishelpfulforgrammarlearning,butIamnotsure.”StudentDsaidthat“yes,Ithinkso.”StudentEbelievedthatthesituationalapproachhelpedhimunderstandthegrammarbetter.Theothertwostudentsalsobelievedthatthesituationapproachcontributedtounderstandinggrammar.Accordingtotheiranswers,itisobviousthatthesituationalapproachishelpfulforstudentstolearngrammar.Q2:Areyoubecominginterestedinthegrammarlearningnow?Why?Allthefivestudentsbelievedthattheybecameinterestedinthegrammarclasssincetheteacherappliedthesituationalapproach.StudentAreferredthat“thankstothesituationalapproach,Ibecomemoreinterestedingrammarlearningthanbefore,becauseIcouldunderstandgrammaticalitemsbetterwhentheteachertaughtgrammarincontext.”StudentCexplainedthatthegrammarclasswasboringbefore,butnowitwasbecomingmoreinterestingthanbefore,becausehelikedthewaytheteachertaught.StudentEbelievedthatthegrammarclassbecamemoreinterestingandhehadabetterunderstandingwiththehelpofthesituationalapproach.Q3:Whatisthedifferencebetweenthetraditionalapproachandsituationalapproach?StudentCbelievedthat“thetraditionalapproachaimstoexplainthegrammarrulesbutthesituationalapproachemphasizesthecontext.”StudentEsaidthat“thesituationalapproachcanmaketheclassinterestingandlively.”Theotherthreestudentsalsothoughtthatthesituationalapproachcouldinspirestudents’interestin38 grammarlearning.Q4:Whatdoyouthinkofthesituationalapproach?Asforthisquestion,thefivestudentsgavetheiropinions.StudentAbelievedthatthesituationalapproachcouldmakethemunderstandthegrammarbetter.StudentBreferredthattheteachercreatedtherealsituationtohelpthemunderstandwhenapplyingthesituationalapproach.StudentCtoldthatthesituationalapproachnotonlyinspiredhisinterestbutimprovedhiscomprehensivelanguagecompetence.StudentDalsoagreedwithstudentCandhehopedthattheteachercouldcreatethevividspecificscenetoarousetheirinterest.StudentEsaidthateventhoughitwasdifficultforhertolearnEnglish,thesituationalapproachcouldattractherattention.Accordingtotheiropinions,wecouldeasilyfindthatstudentsthoughthighlyofthisapproachandhopedteacherscouldoftenadoptthisapproach.Inaword,thesituationalapproachwaspopularwiththestudentsintheexperimentalclassandthisapproachhadaninfluenceongrammarlearning.Theinterviewofthefivestudentsjustcouldbediscussedqualitatively.Theteachingeffectandstudents’achievementcanbediscussedbythepre-testandpost-testquantitatively.ThentheauthoranalyzesthetestbytheSPSS.4.1.3ResultsofthePre-testInordertomakesuretheaccuracyofthestudy,theauthorusedthepre-testtotestwhetherthecomprehensivelanguagecompetenceofthetwoclasseswerethesame.Thetestconsistedoffourparts,thecloze,therationalcloze,theproofreadingandthewriting.Allthefourpartswerecloselyrelatedtothegrammar.Theresultsweredealt39 withbytheSPSSandshowninTable2whichshowedtheperformancecomparisonbetweentheexperimentalclassandthecontrolclass.Table2ThePerformanceComparisonbetweentheExperimentalClassandControlClass95%ConfidenceStd.Std.ErrorSig.ClassNMeanIntervaloftheDeviationMean(2-tailed)DifferenceExperimentalclass5053.866718.071322.69391LowerUpper.718Controlclass5052.888920.696093.08519-4.45156.4070Fromtheabove,itcouldbeseenclearlythatthemeanscoreintheexperimentalclasswas53.8667,anditwas52.889incontrolclass.Themeanscorebeforetheexperimentalclasswasnearlythesame.ButtheStd.Deviationwasalittledifferent,whichshowedstudents’scoredistributioninexperimentalclassisalittledenserthanthatinthecontrolclass.Thesigwas0.718>0.05,whichshowedthattherewasnosignificantdifferencebetweenthetwoclassesandthestudents’Englishgrammarachievementsinstatisticsareroughlythesame.4.1.4ResultsofthePost-testThepost-testalsoconsistedoffourparts,thecloze,therationalcloze,theproofreadingandthewriting.Allthefourpartswerecloselyrelatedtothegrammar.Thepost-testwasadministeredtopresenttheperformancecomparisondifferencebetweentheexperimentalclassandthecontrolclass.TheresultswereshowninTable3below.40 Table3ThePerformanceComparisonbetweentheExperimentalClassandControlClass95%ConfidenceStd.Std.ErrorSig.ClassNMeanIntervaloftheDeviationMean(2-tailed)DifferenceExperimentalclass5059.044417.102572.54950LowerUpper.024Controlclass5053.066720.263493.02070.839611.1159Fromthetableabove,itwasclearthatthemeanscoreintheexperimentalclasswas59.0444,andthemeanscoreinthecontrolclasswas53.667.Thescoreinexperimentalclassishigherby5.9777.Thesigwas0.024<0.05,whichindicatedthereisabigdifferencebetweenthetwoclasses.4.2DiscussionAccordingtotheresultsabove,thefollowingdiscussionconcernsthreeaspects:thepresentsituationofgrammarlearninginseniorhighschool,students’attitudestowardsthesituationalapproachandtheeffectofsituationalapproachonEnglishgrammarlearning.4.2.1PresentSituationofGrammarLearningFromthepre-questionnaire,wecanseethatthepresentsituationofgrammarlearninginseniorhighschoolconcernsfiveaspects.First,moststudentsarenotinterestedinEnglishlearningandtheyfinditdifficulttounderstandthegrammarrules.Second,studentshavelittletimetocommunicativewitheachotheringrammarclass,buttheyspentlotsoftimedoingthegrammarexercisesafterclass.Third,ittakesstudentsmoretimetotakenotesingrammarclass,andstudentsfeelnervouswhenansweringthequestions.Fourth,studentsbelievethatthepurposeofgrammarlearningistopassthecollegeentranceexaminationanditisnothelpfultoimprovetheirspeakingandlisteningability.Fifth,studentsrealizethatthegrammarrulesare41 soabstractthatstudentscannotapplythegrammaticalitemstothecommunication.Inaword,thepresentsituationofgrammarlearningisnotoptimistic,anditisnecessarytofindaproperwaytochangethepresentsituation.4.2.2Students’AttitudetowardsSituationalApproachFromthequestionnaires,wecanseethatstudents’attitudestowardsgrammarlearningchangedalot.Atfirst,mostofthestudentsinthetwoclassesconsideredthattheEnglishgrammarwasdifficultandboring.Afterthreemonths’experiment,StudentsintheexperimentalclassrealizeditwasimportanttolearnEnglishgrammarandmostofthembecamemoreinterestedingrammarclassthanbefore.Meanwhile,morestudentsthoughtitusefultosetthesituationtoteachEnglishgrammar,anditwashelpfultoimprovetheircomprehensiveabilities.Intermsoftheinterview,theauthorfoundthatthestudentsintheexperimentalclassbecamemoreinterestedingrammarlearning.Thereweremorestudentslisteningtothegrammarclasscarefullyintheexperimentalclass.Theyalsotookpartinthegamesandtheactivitiesmoreactivelythanthestudentsinthecontrolclass.Theauthorappliedthesituationalapproachintothegrammarteachingbyherselfandthestudentswouldpaymoreattentiontothenewgrammaticalitems.However,studentsinthecontroljustalwaysmemorizethegrammarrulesandtakenotes.Fromtheresultsoftheinterview,itwasnotdifficulttofindthatthesituationalapproachcouldarousestudents’interestingrammarlearningandhelpthemhaveabetterunderstandingofthegrammaticalitems.Ontheotherhand,thisapproachinspiredstudents’autonomouslearningability,andthestudentsintheexperimentalclass42 startedtotakeinitiativethinking.Thestudentswerebecominginterestedingrammarclass,andtheybegantoanswerthequestionsactivelyandenthusiastically.4.2.3TheEffectofSituationalApproachonEnglishGrammarLearningTheeffectofsituationalapproachonEnglishlearningcanbetestedbythetest.Thetestconsistedoffourparts,thecloze,therationalcloze,theproofreadingandwriting.Allthefourpartshadcloselyrelationwithgrammar.Accordingtothestatisticsabove,theEnglishachievementsofthetwoclasseswereroughlythesamebeforetheexperiment.However,therewassignificantdifferencebetweenthetwoclassesaftertheexperiment.Table4ClozeComparisonbetweenExperimentalClassandControlClassStd.Std.ErrorClassNMeanDeviationMeanExperimentalclass5018.25287.325411.09201Controlclass5016.01118.420201.25521Fromtheabove,itwasclearthatthemeanscoreoftheclozewas18.2528intheexperimentalclass.Itwas16.0111inthecontrolclass.Itcouldbeseenthatthesituationalapproachcouldimprovetheunderstandingabilityinthecontext.Thisapproachwasmoreusefulforstudentstoapplythegrammaticalitemstothecontextthanthetraditionalapproach.Table5RationalClozeComparisonbetweenExperimentalClassandControlClassStd.Std.ErrorClassNMeanDeviationMeanExperimentalclass5012.18193.02853.45147Controlclass5011.06113.91270.58327Fromtheabove,itwasclearthatthemeanscoreoftherationalclozewas12.181943 intheexperimentalclass.Itwas11.0611inthecontrol.Astherationalclozeaimedtotesttheusethegrammaticalitemsinthediscourse,itindicatedthatthesituationalapproachhasaneffectontheuseofgrammaticalitemsinthediscourse.Table6ProofreadingComparisonbetweenExperimentalClassandControlClassStd.Std.ErrorClassNMeanDeviationMeanExperimentalclass507.93611.90648.28420Controlclass507.18892.06837.30833Fromthetableabove,itwasclearthatthemeanscoreofproofreadingwas7.9361intheexperimentalclassanditwas7.1889inthecontrolclass.Astheproofreadingnotonlytestedthegrammaticalitemsbutalsothejudgmentabilityinthepassage,thesituationalapproachcanimprovestudents’judgmentability.Table7WritingComparisonbetweenExperimentalClassandControlClassStd.Std.ErrorClassNMeanDeviationMeanExperimentalclass5020.67365.51203.82168Controlclass5018.80566.41013.95557Themeanscoreofwritinginexperimentalclasswashigherby1.868thanthatinthecontrolclass.Writingcouldbeusedtoteststudents’grammarandvocabularies.Theresultshowedthatthestudentsintheexperimentalclasscoulddobetterthanthecontrolclassinmakingsentences,eventhoughthereweresomevocabularymistakes.Inaword,thesituationalapproachplayedanimportantpartininspiringstudents’learninginterestandimprovingstudents’understandingofthenewgrammaticalitem.Meanwhile,itishelpfultoimprovestudents’languagecompetence.44 Chapter5ConclusionThispapermainlyfocusedontheeffectofthesituationalapproachonthegrammarlearninginseniorhighschool.Theauthormadeacontrastbetweentheexperimentalclassandthecontrolclassbyapplyingtheinstruments,suchasquestionnaire,thepre-testandthepost-test.Theresultsarepresentedanddiscussedinchapterfour.Inthischapter,theauthormakesaconclusionaboutthemajorfindingsandpedagogical.Thentheauthorgivessomesuggestionsforthegrammarteaching.5.1MajorFindingsTheexperimentlastedaboutthreemonths,butafterthethree-monthexperiment,theexperimentalclasshasabigdifferencewiththecontrolclassinEnglishlearning.Theauthorfinallycanfindthefollowingthreemajorfindings:1.ThesituationalapproachinspiresstudentstolearnEnglishgrammar.Thesituationalapproachchangesthetraditionalmethodofteachinggrammaticalrules,takingnotesanddoingexercises.Theteacherguidesstudentstoapplythegrammaticalitemsintotheabstractsituation,whichcanfullyexcitestudents’enthusiasmandinitiative.2.Thesituationalapproachhelpsstudentsapplythegrammaticalitemstodiscourseflexibly.Astheevaluationofthetraditionalmethodissingleandstudentsonlydothemultiplechoicestopracticethegrammarrules,studentsareboredwiththegrammarrules.However,whentheteacherusesthesituationapproachtoteachthegrammaticalitemsinthecontext,theteacherencouragesstudentsto45 summarizethegrammaticalrulesinthecontext.Inthisway,itcontributesalottotheunderstandingofgrammarandhelpsstudentsapplythegrammaticalitemsflexibly.3.Theapplicationofthesituationalapproachintogrammarteachinghasaneffectonstudents’grammarachievement.Thecontrastofthetestsbetweenthetwoclassesshowsthatthesituationalapproachimprovesstudents’Englishgrammarperformancesuchascloze,rationalcloze,proofreadingandwriting.Ascloze,rationalclose,proofreadingandwritingareallrelatedtotheuseofgrammarrulesinthesituation.Fromthepre-testandpost-test,itisclearthatthegrammarachievementhasbeenimprovedaftertheapplyingthesituationalapproachintogrammarteaching.Meanwhile,thisapproachstimulatesstudentstocommunicatewitheachotherinthecorrectsentencesandhasimprovedstudents’languageaccuracy.Therefore,studentsinexperimentalclassnaturallyhaveabetterEnglishgrammarperformancethanthecontrolclass.Inasummary,thesituationalapproachhasaneffectonstudents’grammarlearningandimprovesthequalityofgrammarteaching.5.2PedagogicalImplicationAftertheexperiment,therearesomeimplicationsforfutureteachingandsomesuggestionsforteachers.Whenapplyingthesituationalapproachtothegrammarteaching,theauthorgetssomeimplicationsforfutureteaching.1.Theteachingideaofgrammarhaschangedalot,butthegrammarteachingisstill46 asimportantasbefore.AsEnglishisthesecondlanguage,itisnecessaryforEnglishteacherstocreateafavorableEnglishatmospheretoteachEnglishgrammaticalpoints.2.Theteachingcontentandtheteachingmethodarethekeypointoftheeffectiveclass.Ifteacherspayattentiontothedetailswhendesigningthesituation,theywillachievetheexpectedteachingresults.3.Theteachingformshouldbeconsistentwiththeteachingcontent.Ineachteachingstage,theteachersshouldtrytodesigntheappropriatesituationtoachievetheprimalrelevance.Teachersshouldthinkitoverandoverwhenpreparingtheactivity,andthedifficultyshouldbetakenintoconsideration.Aftertheapplicationofthesituationalapproachintogrammarteaching,herearesomesuggestionsfortheEnglishteachersinseniorhighschool.First,eventhoughtheexam-orientededucationisstillthemainstream,Englishteacherscometorealizethatgrammarteachingnotonlyaimstopasstheexambutalsoimprovestudents’understandingability.Second,accordingtotheteachingmethod,Englishteacherscancreatethesituationtostimulatestudents’learninginterest,butthesituationshouldberelatedtothegrammaticalitemsandcontributetostudents’understanding.Third,asteachers,themostimportantthingistohavetheskilledprofessionalknowledge.Meanwhile,Englishteachersshoulddomorereadingandknowmoreabouttheforeignteachingmethod,whichcanimprovetheteachingefficiency.Atlast,teachersshouldhavetheteamworksprit.GrammarteachinghasahigherrequirementforEnglishteachers.Theeffectivegrammarteachingcanbecreatedintheprocessof47 discussion.Thisrequiresteacherstohelpandcommunicatewitheachother.Inthisway,teacherscanexplorethemostappropriatewaytoteachgrammar.5.3LimitationsoftheStudyEventhoughthesituationalapproachstimulatesthestudents’learninginterestandhaseffectonthestudents’Englishperformance,therearestillsomelimitations.Atfirst,theexperimenttotallylastsonlyaboutthreemonths.Thesituationalapproachisnoteffectiveinashortterm.Theresultsoftheexperimentcanbedifferentiftheauthorhasalong-termstudy.Second,thestudentsfromtwoclassescannotrepresentallthestudentsfromtheseniorhighschool.Theresultmayhavetheoccasionality.Third,theexperimentalresultscanbeinfluencedbysomeuncontrollablefactors,forexample,students’learningability,learninghabitsandlanguagecompetence.5.4SuggestionsforFurtherResearchBasedontheresultsoftheexperiments,theauthorfinallyprovidessomeusefulsuggestionsforthefuturegrammarteaching.1.Teachersshouldpayattentiontotheauthenticityofthelanguageusage.Thatistosay,teachershadbetterlinkgrammarteachingtostudents’dailylife.Ifteacherscreatetheteachingenvironmentcloselyrelatedtostudents’reallife,students’canbegreatlyinspiredtodevelopandinnovateonthebasisofexistingknowledge.Therealteachingsituationcanalsomakestudentsengagedintheintensiveandconstructivestudies.Inthisway,studentscanrealizethemeaningstudyintheprocessofinteractive.48 2.Teachersshouldattachtheimportancetotherelevance,whichcancontributetostudents’languageinternalization.Eachgrammaticalitemhasitsownpragmaticfunction.Onlywhenteachershaveabetterunderstandingofthepragmaticfunction,cantheycreatetheappropriatesituationforthestudentstounderstand.Thelinguist,LvShuxiangsaidthat“thewordsandexpressionscanbeeasilyrememberedwhenusedinthecontext.Wordsandexpressionscanbemeaninglesswithoutthecontext.Theycannotseparatefromeachotherandcomplementeachother.”Itisthesamewiththegrammar.Thesituationsandactivitiesrelatedtothepragmaticfunctioncanhelpstudentsunderstandandinternalizethegrammaticalitems.Meanwhile,itcanalsoimprovestudents’languagecompetence.3.Teachersshouldimprovestudents’comprehensiveabilitiesintheprocessofgrammarteaching.Teacherscandesigndifferenttasksaccordingtothegrammaticalitems.Thesinglestimulationoflanguagecanbringstudentsnegativeemotion.Soteachersshouldcombinelistening,speaking,readingandspeakingwiththegrammarteaching.Inthisway,itcanimprovestudents’comprehensiveability.4.Teachersshouldfocusonstudents’emotions.Nomatterwhichmethodtheteacherschoose,theyshouldconcernaboutthestudents’development.Studentsarethecenterofthegroupsorpairs.Thedesignofthegrammarteachingshouldbebasedonstudentsdevelopmentneeds.Thebestwaytogrammarteachingistoresonatewithstudents’experienceandinspirethe49 studentstostudyfuture.5.Theproportionofthereadingcomprehensionislargerthananyotherparts,whichisthedecisivefactorintheEnglishexam.SoEnglishteacherspaymoreattentiontohowtoassignhomework.Englishteachershadbetternotonlyassignthegrammaticalmultipleitems.Thegrammaticalitemscanbetestedinthereadingcomprehensionandcloze.Inasummary,insomeway,thesituationalapproachinspiresthestudents’grammarlearninginterestandchangethewayofstudents’grammarlearning.Nomatterwhichmethoditis,theimportantthingistohelpstudentsinternalizethegrammaticalitemsandimprovestudents’grammarachievement.50 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