语境理论在高中英语语法教学中应用现状的调查研究 68页

ONTHEAPPLICATIONOFCONTEXTTHEORYTOGRAMMARTEACHINGINSENIORHIGHSCHOOL-ACASESTUDYOFXINXIANGNO.2MIDDLESCHOOLADissertationSubmittedtotheGraduateSchoolofHenanNormalUniversityinPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofMasterofEducationByDongJiaojiaoSupervisor:Prof.ChenYunxiangMay,2013 AcknowledgementsIwouldliketoextendmysinceregratitudetomanypeoplewhohelpedmedirectlyorindirectlyduringtheprocessofmythesiswriting.MyprimarydebtoffgratitudeisowedtomydearsupervisorProfessorChenYunxiangwhoconstantlyofferedencouragementandsparednoefforttodiscusswithmeaboutthestructureandtherevisionofthethesis.Secondly,IwouldliketoexpressmyappreciationtotheteachersandstudentsinNO.2SeniorHighSchoolwhoparticipatedinthisstudy.Finally,Iamalsoindebtedtomyroommateswhogavemesomesuggestionsduringtheprocessofmythesiswriting.Thankthemagain.Withouttheirendlessloveandsupport,Icannotaccomplishthisarduoustask.I 摘要自从外语教学开始以来，语法教学一直是一个备受争议的话题。现在，语法在整个外语教学中的地位和作用问题，已经不是语法该不该教的问题，而是教什么和怎么教的问题（束定芳2008:100）。随着语言学研究和语法教学的发展，研究者越来越确定语法是形式、意义、用法三方面的结合体，对语法的准确性、流利性、合适性应给与同等的重视。结果，语境理论在外语教学中的运用成为一个重要的研究课题，语境理论在语法教学中的应用也受到国内外研究者的关注。在我国，传统的语法教学主要采取语法翻译法。在语法翻译法中，老师用母语解释语法规则，在孤立的环境中讲授语法形式和规则，学生只需记忆语法规则和翻译句子。而语境教学法，注重从上下文、情景、文化语境方面来讲授语法，使学生在一定的情景中学习和理解语法规则。老师应尽力设计贴近学生生活的情景，激发学生学习的兴趣，从而提高了他们的综合语言运用能力。本文以语境理论为基础，采用了问卷（教师问卷和学生问卷）和课堂观察的方法。本研究有以下三个目标（1）调查语境理论在高中英语语法教学中应用的现状；（2）发现高中老师在利用语境教授语法时存在的主要问题；（3）导致这些问题出现的主要原因。基于这些研究目标，本研究提出了三个问题：1.语境理论在高中英语语法教学中应用的现状是怎样的？2.语境理论在高中英语语法教学应用中存在的主要问题是什么？3.当把语境理论用于英语语法教学时，导致这些主要问题的主要原因是什么？研究结果发现，虽然大部分老师意识到了语境理论在高中语法教学中的作用，但是由于各种原因，语境理论在高中语法中应用的现状并不是很满意。主要原因有（1）老师缺乏足够的语境知识和其他与语境相关的知识；（2）将语境理论用于英语语法教学时，老师缺乏合适的和足够的材料；（3）老师缺乏将语境理论用于语法教学的方法和技巧；（4）由于高考制度和我国现在的评估系统，使部分老师不能很好将语境理论用于语法教学。将语境理论用于教学不但可以使学生很好地掌握所学的语法知识，而且对学生的实际语言运用能力的提高有很大地帮助。III 本研究由五个章节组成。第一章为引言部分。主要包括研究背景、研究目标和论文结构。第二章是文献综述，主要对本研究的相关理论进行了回顾和梳理。介绍了语法教学经历的几个阶段，讨论了国内外研究者对语境理论的研究、分类以及语境和语法教学的关系。第三章是研究设计，包括了研究问题、研究对象、研究方法和研究过程几个方面。第四章是研究与讨论，是本研究的核心部分。分别对教师和学生问卷进行了数据分析，并结合课堂观察，对语境理论在语法教学的应用现状进行了讨论。第五章是对本研究的总结，包括研究的主要发现和对老师的一些教学建议。另外，还提出了本研究的局限性和对未来研究的建议和展望。关键词：语境理论，英语语法教学，现状，高中IV AbstractGrammarteachinghasalwaysbeenacontroversialissuesincetheadventofforeignlanguageteaching.Nowadays,theroleandfunctionofgrammarteachingisnotwhethertoteachgrammarbuthowtoteachit.Withthedevelopmentoflinguisticstudiesandlanguageteaching,itismorecertainthatthreeaspectsofgrammar,i.e.form,meaningandfunctionareunitedasawholeanditisimportantandpracticaltopayequalattentiontoaccuracy,fluencyandappropriateofgrammar.Asaresult,theresearchontheapplicationofcontexttheorytoforeignlanguageteachinghasgainedmoreandmoreattention,especiallytheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Inourcountry,thetraditionalgrammarteachingmainlyadoptstheGrammarTranslationMethodinwhichtheteachersusenativelanguagetoexplainthegrammarrules.Theyfocusontheformsandstructuresoutofcontextandthestudentsonlyneedtomemorizethegrammarrulesandtranslatethesentences.Whiletheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingfocusesontheco-textcontext,situationalcontextandculturalcontext,whichmakesthestudentslearnandunderstandthegrammarrulesinspecificsituations.Whentheteacherstrytoprovidethestudentswiththereallifesituations,theynotonlyattractthestudents’interestbutalsoimprovetheircompetenceinusinglanguage.Basedonthecontexttheory,thisresearchwascarriedoutbyusingthequestionnairesandclassroomobservation.Thisresearchaims(1)toinvestigatethepresentsituationoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteachinginSeniorHighSchool,(2)tofindoutthemajorproblemsoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteachinginSeniorHighSchool,and(3)toworkoutthemaincausesfortheproblems.Basedupontheseresearchobjectives,thisstudycentersitsresearchuponthreeresearchquestions:1.WhatisthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool?2.WhatarethemajorproblemsintheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool?3.WhatarethemaincausesforthemajorproblemsintheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool?Theresearchresultsshowthatthoughthemajorityoftheteachershaverealizedtheimportanceoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteaching,theapplicationofitinSeniorHighSchoolisV unsatisfactory.Somecauseshavebeendiscussedtoaccountforthisphenomenon.(1)Theylacksufficientcontextknowledgeandotherrelevantcontextknowledgeneededingrammarteaching.(2)Theydonothaveenoughandappropriatematerialswhentheyapplythecontexttheorytotheirgrammarteaching.(3)Theyareshortofeffectivemethodsandtechniqueswhenusingthecontexttheoryingrammarteaching(4)Thecollegeentranceexaminationandthepresentappraisalsystempreventsometeachersfromapplyingthecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.TheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteachinginSeniorHighSchoolisofmuchhelpforthestudentstohaveabetterunderstandingofthegrammarrulesaswellastoimprovetheircommunicativecompetence.Thethesisismadeupoffivechapters.ChapterOneisabriefintroductionofthebackground,theobjectivesoftheresearchandtheorganizationofthethesis.ChapterTwopresentstheliteraturereviewwhichdealswithahistoricalreviewofthegrammarteachinganddiscussesthestudyofthecontexttheoryathomeandaboard,itsclassificationofthecontextaswellasitsrelationshipwiththegrammarteaching.ChapterThreeshowstheresearchdesignwhichcontainstheresearchquestions,subjectswhoparticipatedintheresearch,theresearchmethodsandtheprocedure.ChapterFouristhecorepartofthisstudy,whichdealswiththedataanalysisaswellasthediscussionsoftheresults.ChapterFiveistheconclusionofthisresearch,whichconsistsofthemajorfindingsoftheresearchandsomepedagogicalimplicationsfortheteachers.Inaddition,thispartpointsoutthelimitationsofthisresearchandsuggestionsforfurtherstudiesattheendofthischapter.KEYWORDS:contexttheory,teachingofEnglishgrammar,thepresentsituation,SeniorHighSchoolVI ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................................................I摘要....................................................................................................................................................................IIIABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................................................VCONTENTS.......................................................................................................................................................VIILISTSOFTABLES............................................................................................................................................IXCHAPTERONEINTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................11.1.BACKGROUNDOFTHERESEARCH.................................................................................................................11.2.OBJECTIVESOFTHERESEARCH.....................................................................................................................21.3.ORGANIZATIONOFTHERESEARCH...............................................................................................................2CHAPTERTWOLITERATUREREVIEW......................................................................................................52.1AHISTORICALOVERVIEWOFGRAMMARTEACHING......................................................................................52.1.1GrammarTranslationMethod.................................................................................................................52.1.2TheDirectMethod.................................................................................................................................52.1.3TheAudio-LingualMethod...................................................................................................................62.1.4CommunicativeLanguageTeaching......................................................................................................72.2REVIEWOFDIFFERENTCONCEPTSOFCONTEXT............................................................................................72.2.1TheStudiesofContextTheoryoftheOverseasScholars......................................................................82.2.2TheStudiesofContextTheoryofChinesescholars.............................................................................112.3THECLASSIFICATIONOFCONTEXT..............................................................................................................122.3.1LinguisticContext...............................................................................................................................132.3.2Non-linguisticContext.........................................................................................................................132.4GRAMMARANDCONTEXT...........................................................................................................................142.4.1GrammarandDiscourseFactors..........................................................................................................142.4.2GrammarandSocialFactors................................................................................................................162.4.3GrammarandCulturalFactors............................................................................................................17CHAPTERTHREERESEARCHDESIGN.....................................................................................................19VII 3.1RESEARCHQUESTIONS................................................................................................................................193.2SUBJECTS.....................................................................................................................................................193.3INSTRUMENTS..............................................................................................................................................193.3.1.Questionnaires....................................................................................................................................203.3.2.ClassroomObservation.......................................................................................................................203.4PROCEDURE.................................................................................................................................................21CHAPTERFOURRESULTSANDDISCUSSION.........................................................................................234.1.RESULTSANDDISCUSSIONOFQUESTIONNAIRES........................................................................................234.1.1.ResultsandDiscussionoftheTeachers’Questionnaire......................................................................234.1.2.ResultsandDiscussionoftheStudents’Questionnaire......................................................................324.2.RESULTSANDDISCUSSIONOFCLASSROOMOBSERVATION..........................................................................39CHAPTERFIVECONCLUDINGREMARKS...............................................................................................435.1.MAJORFINDINGSOFTHERESEARCH..........................................................................................................435.2.PEDAGOGICALIMPLICATIONS.....................................................................................................................445.3THELIMITATIONSOFTHERESEARCHANDTHEPROSPECTS..........................................................................48BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................................................49APPENDIXI.......................................................................................................................................................51APPENDIXII......................................................................................................................................................55独创性声明..................................................................................................................................................57关于论文使用授权的说明...................................................................................................................................57VIII ListsofTablesTABLE4-1..............................................................................................................................................................23TABLE4-2..............................................................................................................................................................24TABLE4-3..............................................................................................................................................................25TABLE4-4..............................................................................................................................................................26TABLE4-5..............................................................................................................................................................26TABLE4-6..............................................................................................................................................................27TABLE4-7..............................................................................................................................................................27TABLE4-8..............................................................................................................................................................27TABLE4-9..............................................................................................................................................................28TABLE4-10............................................................................................................................................................29TABLE4-11............................................................................................................................................................30TABLE4-12............................................................................................................................................................31TABLE4-13............................................................................................................................................................31TABLE4-14............................................................................................................................................................31TABLE4-15............................................................................................................................................................33TABLE4-16............................................................................................................................................................32TABLE4-17............................................................................................................................................................32TABLE4-18............................................................................................................................................................33TABLE4-19............................................................................................................................................................34TABLE4-20............................................................................................................................................................35TABLE4-21............................................................................................................................................................35TABLE4-22............................................................................................................................................................36TABLE4-23............................................................................................................................................................36IX ChapterOneIntroduction1.1.BackgroundoftheResearchNowadays,oneofthemajorissuesraisedbysecondlanguageacquisitionresearchersisnotwhethertoteachgrammar,buthowtoteachgrammarinsecondlanguageinstruction.Accordingtotheauthor’sobservation,thoughmostmodernlanguagetextbooks,especiallyattheelementarylevel,includingatleastsomegrammarexercisesdesignedtoallowstudentstousegrammarindifferentsituations.MostteachersstillgiveprioritytotheGrammarTranslationMethodinwhichtheteachersusenativelanguagetoexplainthegrammarandtheylayemphasisongrammaticalrules,dowrittenexercisesandtranslatethetext.Theirfocusisontheformsandstructuresinisolation,sothestudentslacktheabilitytospeakEnglishfluently.Fromthiswecanseemanyinstructorsandstudentsthinkthegrammarlearningisoftenassociatedwiththedrymemorizationofrulesandtheequallydryprospectofapplyingtheserulesinfill-in-the-blank,patternpractice,substitution,transformation,andtranslationexercises.Thoughwiththehelpofthismethod,thestudentscanhaveagoodperformanceinexamination;theirspokenlanguageandcommunicativecompetenceareinalowleverwhichmaybethedisadvantagesofthisteachingtheory.Butmanyteachershavethetendencyofadoptingthismethod.Asthisstereotypicalviewofgrammarstudy,manyscholarsconsideritispartiallytrue.Larsen-Freeman(1991)holdsthatgrammarhasthreeconnecteddimensions:formorstructure,meaningorsemantics,anduseorpragmatics.Thatistosay,grammarhasnotonlysomethingtodowithform,butalsowithmeaning,functionanduse.Fromthisscholar’sview,weknowthegrammarlearningisrelatedwithmanyfactors.Topayattentiontothestructureonlyisnotenoughbecauseitistheliteralmeaningofthestructure.Theteachersshouldcultivatethestudents’abilitytochooseappropriatestructureswhenthesituationschange.Soinordertodevelopthethreeaspectsofthelanguage,theauthortriestodiscussanewgrammarteachingmethod-teachinggrammarincontexts.Teachinggrammarincontextsisputtingthelanguagepointsinconcreteandsufficientcontexts.Theteacherscanconsiderthelinguisticcontext,situationalcontextandculturalcontextwhileinstructing1 Englishgrammarpoints.Teachinggrammarincontextsconsistsofavarietyoftechniquesthatcanbeusedtoachievecertaingoals,ratherthanaformalmethodwithaseriesofprescribedstepsthatshouldbefollowed.Theteacherscanuseauthenticmaterials,poems,songstoattractthestudents’attention,andthediscourse-basedgrammarteachingcanalsogivespecificsituationsforthestudents,whichmakesthemhaveafullyunderstandingofthegrammarrules.Iftheteacherscancreatethereallifesituationsforthestudents,thestudentscanlearngrammarrulesinanefficientway.Socontextualizedgrammarteachingmethodsarehelpfulinimprovingstudents’interestinlearninggrammarandtheirgrammarcompetence.Fromthis,itcanbeconcludedthattheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingisbeneficialingrammarteaching.1.2.ObjectivesoftheResearchTheresearchtakesXinxiangNo.2MiddleSchoolasanexampleforresearch.Basedonthecontexttheory,theresearchhasthefollowingobjectives.(1)Basedontheanalysisoftheteachers’andstudents’questionnairesandtheclassroomobservation,thisstudyaimstoinvestigatethepresentsituationoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool.(2)ThisresearchattemptstofindthemajorproblemsoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchoolandthemaincauseswhichleadtotheseproblems.(3)Basedupontheanalysisofproblemsandcauses,thepresentstudyputsforwardsomesuggestionsfortheteacherstoimprovetheirteachinginEnglishgradually.Asaresult,theeffectiveteachingofEnglishgrammarthroughthecontexttheorycanhelpthestudentshaveabettermasteroftheknowledge.1.3.OrganizationoftheResearchThepresentresearchconsistsoffivechapters.ChapterOneisabriefintroductionofthebackground,theobjectivesoftheresearchandtheorganizationofthethesis.ThischaptergivesasimpleintroductionofthecontexttheoryandtheGrammarTranslationMethod.Theaimsofthisresearcharealsopresented.ChapterTwopresentstheliteraturereviewwhichdealswithahistoricalreviewofthegrammar2 teachinganddiscussesthestudyofthecontexttheoryathomeandaboard,itsclassificationofthecontextaswellasitsrelationshipwiththegrammarteaching.ChapterThreeshowstheresearchdesignwhichcontainstheresearchquestions,subjectswhoparticipatedintheresearch,theresearchmethodsandtheprocedure.Inordertoachievethethreeobjectives,thisresearchadoptsthemethodsofquestionnairesandclassroomobservation.ChapterFouristhecorepartofthisstudy,whichdealswiththedataanalysisaswellasthediscussionoftheresults.Byanalyzingthedataofthequestionnaires,thisstudyfindsoutthepresentsituationoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammar,themainproblemsexistingintheapplicationtogrammarteachingandthecauseswhichleadtotheseproblems.ChapterFiveistheconclusionofthethesis,whichconsistsofthemajorfindingsoftheresearchandsomepedagogicalimplicationsfortheteacherssoastoimprovetheirteachingabilitywhicharebeneficialtoboththeteachersandstudents.Inaddition,thispartpointsoutthelimitationsofthisresearchandsuggestionsforfurtherstudiesattheendofthischapter.3 4 ChapterTwoLiteratureReview2.1AHistoricalOverviewofGrammarTeachingthThefollowingisabriefreviewofdifferentmethodsofgrammarteachingduringthe20century.Ithasexperiencedthefollowingfourphaseswhichwillbedescribedonebyone.2.1.1GrammarTranslationMethodAsitshowedinhistory,inthewesternworld,“foreign”languagelearningwasthelearningofLatinthandGreekandtheteachingofLatinwaswhathasbeencalledtheClassicalMethod.Inthe19centurytheClassicalMethodwasreplacedbyGrammarTranslationMethod(H.Douglas.Brown2001:52).Itwasoncethemostpopularmethodofteachingforeignlanguage,eventodaysometeachersstillusethismethodinmanypartsoftheworld.Asitsnamesuggests,itfocusesongrammaticalrules,memorizationofvocabulary,translationoftexts,doingwrittenexercises.Whenteachersusethismethod,theyusenativelanguagetoexplainthegrammarrules.Solearningaforeignlanguagebythismethodrequiresmuchmemorizationofgrammaticalrulesandtranslation.SomemainfeaturesofGrammarTranslationMethodwereshowedbyCelce-Murcia(1988).Inhisopinion,heconsideredwhenusingthismethod,classesaretaughtinthemothertongue,theteachersrarelyusethetargetlanguage.Whenteachingthenewvocabularies,theyputthewordsinisolationsituations.Whenteachingthecomplexgrammarrules,theyonlygivelongexplanationsofthem.Inthismethod,theypaylittleattentiontothestudents’pronunciation,sotheiroralEnglishispoor.Astothepractice,theythoughtthattheonlydrillswereexercisesintranslatingdisconnectedsentencesfromthetargetlanguageintothemothertongue.Thesearethemaincharacterssummarizedbythem.WecanseeGrammarTranslationMethodisveryusefulforstudentspassingexams,butitisnothelpfulwhentheyuseEnglishineverydaylife.2.1.2TheDirectMethodThedirectmethodenjoyedconsiderablepopularitythroughtheendofthenineteenthcenturyandwell5 intothisone(H.Douglas.Brown2001:56).Thedirectmethod,namely,thesecondlanguageleaningshouldbemorelikefirstlanguagelearning—lotsoforalinteraction,spontaneoususeofthelanguage,notranslationbetweenfirstandsecondlanguage,andlittleornoanalysisofgrammaticalrules.RichardandRodgers(1986)citedtherulesofthismethod.Intheiropinions,thedirectmethodmustobeythefollowingaspects.Firstly,theteachersshouldusetheforeignlanguageforteachingintheclass.Secondly,theyshouldgiveprioritytotheoralEnglishwhichisthemainmeansoflearning.Thirdly,whenteachingthegrammarrules,theteachersshowthegrammarrulesbasedonthesentencesleveldirectly,thengivethestudentschancestopractice.Sowecanseethelearningisinlinewithimitationandexercises.Lastly,theteacherscanusegestures,actions,objectsandpicturestoteachvocabularies.Astotheconcretevocabularywastaughtthroughdemonstration,objects,andpictures;abstractvocabularywastaughtbyassociationofideas.Thestudents’speechEnglishmaybeimprovedinthismethod.Buttheyonlypayattentiontothefluencyofthelanguagewhiletheaccuracyofthelanguagemaybeignored.2.1.3TheAudio-LingualMethodTheAudio-LingualMethoddidnottakeholdintheUnitedStatesthewayitdidinEurope.U.S.educationalinstitutionhadbecomefirmlyconvincedthatareadingapproachtoforeignlanguageswasmoreusefulthananoralapproach,sotheAudio-LingualMethodappeared.TheAudio-LingualMethodwastightlyinviewofthelinguisticandpsychologicaltheory(H.Douglas.Brown2001:56).ThecharacteristicsoftheALMmaybesummedupinthefollowinglists(Celce-Murcia1979):(1)Theteachersusethetargetlanguagewhenteaching.(2)Theyaccordprioritytothespeechandlistening,sotheyputforwardhighdemandingonthepronunciation.Tapesandlanguagelabsarehelpfulatthistime.(3)Thestudentslearntheknowledgepointsbyreplication,soteacherstendtomakethestudentsmodelthesentencepattersandmemorizethem.(4)Thelanguagepointsaretaughtthroughcontrastiveanalysisandonepointwastaughtonce.(5)Theteacherssometimesorrarelyteachthegrammarrules.(6)Theycorrectthestudents’mistakesimmediatelyinorderthattheycancultivatetheirgoodhabits.6 What’smore,theycanimprovetheircommunicativeskillsgradually.H.Douglas.Brown(2001)pointedthatforanumberofreasonstheALMenjoyedmanyyearsofpopularity,andeventothisday.Materialswerecarefullyprepared,testedout,anddisseminatedtoeducationalinstitutions.Butthepopularitywasnottolastforever.2.1.4CommunicativeLanguageTeachingInthe1980s,CLTwasintroducedtochina,whichemphasizesonmeaningandlanguageuseratherthanlanguageform.CLTappearedwiththeeconomicandculturaldevelopmentsoftheworld,withtheFunctional-notionalApproachasitsembryonicform(ShengDeren2003:417).Incommunication,weshouldtakeintoaccountnotonlythegrammaticalstructures,butalsothesocial,cultureandpragmaticcharactersofthelanguage.Thismethodadvocatescreatingreallifeactivitiesforthestudentssoastoenhancetheircommunicativecompetence.“Doingthingsthroughlanguage”arejustthelatestpropositionaboutCLT(ShengDeren2003：414).AccordingtoDavidNunan(Nunan1991:279),theCLThasthefollowingcharacters:(1)Anemphasisonlearningtocommunicatethroughinteractioninthetargetlanguage.(2)Theintroductionofauthentictextsintotheleaningsituation.(3)Theprovisionofopportunitiesforlearnerstofocus,notonlyonlanguagebutalsoonthelearningprocessitself.(4)Anenhancementofthelearners’ownpersonalexperiencesasimportantcontributingelementstoclassroomlearning.(5)Anattempttolinkclassroomlanguagelearningwithlanguageactivationoutsidetheclassroom.Communicativelanguageteachinghasthegoalofbringinglanguagelearnersintoclosercontactwiththetargetlanguageandofpromotingfluencyoveraccuracy(Stern1983).Becauseoftheteachers’misunderstandingofthismethod,itleadsthatthestudentsdonotknowexactlyaboutthegrammarrulesandtheymakemanymistakeswhentheyspeak.2.2ReviewofDifferentConceptsofContextThekeytounderstandinglanguageincontextistostartnotwithlanguage,butwithcontext(Hymes1972:xix).Contextisnotavaguenotionsincecontextsarethemselvesgeneratedorevenactively7 constructedandthisgenerationprocess-called‘contextualization’canbelinguisticallytraced(ClaireKramsch1993:75).Thedevelopmentofthecontexthasgonethroughalongway.Manyscholarshavetriedtheirbesttostudythetheoryfromtheirownperspectives.Thefollowingwillpresentdifferentconceptsofcontextfromtheforeigncountriesandourcountrywhichwillhaveasignificantinfluenceonthestudyoftheteaching.2.2.1TheStudiesofContextTheoryoftheOverseasScholars(1)Malinowski’sTheoryofContextMalinowskiputforwardtheconcept‘contextofsituation’in1923.Hewasapolish-bornEnglishanthropologistwhoinitiatedtheconceptofcontext.AsMalinowskioncesaid:“Exactlyasintherealityofspokenorwrittenlanguages,awordwithoutlinguisticcontextisamerefigmentandstandsfornothingbyitself,sointherealityofaspokenlivingtongue,theutterancehasnomeaningexceptinthecontextsofsituation.”(ClaireKramsch1923:307).Fromthis,wecanseetheutterancemeaninghasacloseconnectionwiththesituationalcontext.Accordingtohim,themeaningofanutterancedoesnotcomefromtheideasofthewordscomprisingitbutfromitsrelationtothesituationalcontextinwhichtheutteranceoccurs(HuZhuanglin2007:302).whenthesituationisdifferent,weshouldapplythenewunderstandingstoit.Hebelievedthatutterancesandsituationareassociatedwitheachotherinextricablyandputthewordsinthecontextofsituationisindispensableforthelearnerstolearnandunderstand.Besidesthis,healsodividedcontextofsituationintothreekinds:firstly,“thenarrativesituation”;Secondly,“thesituationswherespeechinterrelatedwithbodilyexercise”;Lastly,“situationsinwhichusespeechtofillaspeechvacuum-PHATICCOMMUNION”(HuZhuanglin2007:302).Thisishisfurtherstudyofthisconceptwhichgivesthespecificclassificationofthecontext.Malinowski’sobservationcanbeseenasoneofthenecessarypillarsofanytheoryofpragmatics.Indeed,languageuseisalwayssituatedagainstacomplexbackgroundwithwhichitisrelatedinavarietyofways(ClaireKramsch1993:75).(2)Firth’sTheoryofContextFirth,inspiredbytheworkoftheanthropologistMalinowski,heproposedhisowntheoryaboutthecontexttheory.8 Firthstudiedthecontexttheoryinamoreconcreteway.HeheldtheviewthatpeopleshouldthinkabouttheSITUATIONALCONTEXTandtheLINGUSTICCONTEXTofatextbothwheninterpretingtheconceptofthecontext.Sohistheorycontainsnotonlythe“linguisticcontext”butalsothe“situationalcontext”.Theyaretheinternalrelationsofthetextitselfandtheinternalrelationofthesituationalcontext.Inthefirstaspect,hepointedtwoelements.Theyarethe“syntagmaticrelationsbetweentheelementsinthestructure”and“theparadigmaticrelationsbetweenunitsinthesystem."Inthesecondaspect,itcontainstherelationbetweentextandnon-linguisticelementsandtheanalyticalrelationsamongwords,partsofwords,phrasesandthespecialelementsofthecontextofsituationrespectively.Thisishisgreatcontributiontothecontexttheorywhichgivesadetaildescriptionoftheconcept(HuZhuanglin2007:305).Firth(1957)alsointerpretedthelinguisticandsituationalcontextsinhispaperinlinguistics.Hepointedthatthecharactersofthespeaker,thehearer,therelatedtopicandtheinfluenceoftheeventshouldalsobeconsideredwhenanalyzingthetext.Astothecharactersoftheparticipation,youshouldconsidertheirpersonalities,theverbalactionandthenon-verbalactionofthepeople(HuZhuanglin2007:305).Fromtheabove,wecanseeFirththoughtlanguagewereassociatedwiththesociallifeandtheinternalstructureofthetext.Thecontextofsituationcontainstheculturalbackgroundofthespeech,theparticipantsandsoon.ByCONTEXTOFSITUATION,Firthmeantaseriesofcontextsofsituation,eachsmalleronebeingembeddedintoalarge,totheextentthatallthecontextsofsituationplayessentialpartsinthewholeofthecontextofculture(HuZhuanglin2007:303).Sohisconceptof‘contextofsituation’claimsthatthemeaningofverbalactionisboundupwiththeculturalandsituationalcontextwhereithappens.Whatverbalactionexpressisexactlythefunctioneffectofthesituationandtheparticipants’verbalactionarecloselyassociatedwithanddependentontheirsocialactions(ShengDeren2003:420).(3)Halliday’sTheoryofContextManysocio-linguistshavetriedtheirbesttostudythemodelswhichdescribedtherelationshipbetweensocialvariablesandlinguisticfeatures.Hallidayisoneofthesesocio-linguistswhoworksoutthewell-knownmodel-registertheory.AccordingtoHalliday,“languagevariesasitsfunctionvaries;itdiffersindifferentsituations.”(DaiWeidong2002:119).Hedefinedthataregisteristhetypeoflanguagewhichisselectedasappropriateto9 thetypeofsituations(DaiWeidong2002:119).Thus,wecanseethelanguagehasacloselyconnectionwithcontext.Hallidayalsoputforwardthattherearethreefactorswhichdeterminetheregister:filedofdiscourse,tenorofdiscourseandmodeofdiscourse.Filedofdiscourseinterpretersasto“whatisgoingon:totheareaofoperationofthelanguageactivity.”(DaiWeidong2002:120).Sothefieldofdiscoursecanbeunderstoodasthetopicwhichcanbetechnicalornon-technical.FromthepointofHalliday(DaiWeidong2002),thefieldoftheregister,toagreatextent,determinesthevocabularywhichyouchoose.Tenorofdiscoursedefinesas“theroleofrelationshipinthesituation”(DaiWeidong2002:120).Thisshowsusthattheparticipatorsandtherelationshipbetweenthemandtheirstatusinthespeech.So,inpart,theseelementsdetermineformalityofthelanguage(DaiWeidong2002:120).Inturn,thesefactorsalsodeterminethechoiceofthewords.Modeofdiscoursemainlyunderstandsastothewaypeoplecommunicate(DaiWeidong2002:120).Sothemodeofdiscoursetellsusthatthecommunicationhappensinwhatways.Itcanbespeakingorwriting.What’smore,youshouldconsidertherhetoricusedinthecommunication.Thethreefactorsdeterminetheregistercollectivelyandtheyinfluenceeachother(DaiWeidong2002:19).SoHalliday’sregistertheoryisassociatedwiththeappropriatechoiceofthelanguageaccordingtodifferenttypesofcontexts.Itaccountsforthedifferencebetweenthelanguageusedinonecontextandthelanguageusedinanother.(4)Hymes’sTheoryofContextHymes(1974),whowasinfluencedbyMalinowskiandFirth,developinghisowntheorytodescribecontextofthespeechevent.Hesummarizedthecomponentsofthecontextaccordingtothecharactersintheword“SPEAKING”.AccordingtoHymes,Settingreferstothetimeandplace-thatis,thephysicalset-upoftheclass.Placeincludes:thespaceoccupiedbyteacherandstudents;themovementsofparticipantswithinthatspace;theseatingarrangement;thetemperature,backgroundnoise,place,size,andqualityoftheblackboard,etc.Timeincludes:thetimedevotedtoeachactivity,itstimingwithinthewholelesson,itsrelativelength,itsspace,thepresenceorabsenceofconcurrentactivities.Participantsincludecombinationsofspeakersandlistenersinvariousrolesthatareeithergivento10 themortakenonduringthelesson.Endsreferstothepurposesoftheactivitiesandwhatparticipantsseektoaccomplish.Thesecanbeshort-termlearninggoalssuchasthelinguistic,cognitive,oraffectiveoutcomesofaparticularactivity,ortheycanbelong-termgoalssuchasmotivationsorattitudesorspecificprofessionaloutcomes.Actsequencerefersbothtotheformandthecontentofutterance,bothtowhatissaidandwhatismeantbythewayitissaid.Keyreferstothetone,manner,orspiritinwhichaparticularmessageisconveyed:seriousorironical,matter-offactorplayful.Thekeycanbeconveyedverballyandnon-verballyandthetwomaysometimescontradictoneanther.Instrumentalitiesreferstothechoiceofchannel(forexample,oralorwritten),andofcode(mothertongue,foreignlanguage,oramixofcodesorcode-switching).Normsofinteractionandinterpretationreferstothewayparticipantsinthelessoninteractandinterpretwhatissaidorwhattheyarereading.Genrereferstothetypeoforalorwrittenactivitiesstudentsandteachersareengagedin:casualconversation,drill,lecture,discussion,role-play;grammaticalexercise,writtensummary,report,essay,writtendialogue.ThisSPEAKINGmodelwasdevelopedfromthefieldofsocial-linguisticandespeciallyhighlightsthe‘person’participatinginaspeechevent.2.2.2TheStudiesofContextTheoryofChinesescholarsTheresearchonthecontexttheoryinourcountrystartedrelativelylate,however,theyalsomademuchprogressinthisfield.Intheearly1930s,ChenWangdao(XizhenGuangzheng1992)wasthepersoninChinawhofirstdefinedthecontext.Heconsideredtheevent,theparticipants,theplace,thetimeandthereasonwereallcontainedinthecontexttheory.ProfessorHuZhuanglin(2002)inhispaperApluralisticApproachtothestudyofcontextalsodefinedcontext.Inhisopinion,contextcontributedpositivelyandgreatlytotheinterpretationofdiscoursemeaningandhasbeenaconcernofsemantics,pragmatics,ethnologists,anthropologists,philosophers,andcognitivescientists.Healsopresented“thedualcontextualfeatures”whichclassifiedcontextinto“linguistic11 context”and“non-linguisticcontext”.Herethelinguisticcontextcanbeunderstoodastheco-textwhichistheinnerstructureofthetext;thenon-linguisticcontextincludesboththe“situationalcontext”andthe“culturalcontext”.ProfessorHu’scontributiontothecontextisgreat.ProfessorHeZhaoxiongalsoprobedintothecontexttheory.Inhisview,hedividedcontextinto“inner-linguisticknowledge”and“extra-linguisticknowledge”.Inhisview(1989),theinner-linguisticcanbeunderstoodaspeople’sabilitytocommunicateandinterpretthespeechhappenedbetweenthem.Extra-linguisticknowledgereferstotheparticipatorsinthespeech,theplaceandtheallnon-linguisticelementscontaininthespeech.BesidesProfessorHeZhaoxiong,ProfessorHeZiranalsostudiedthecontext.Accordingtohim,contextincludedthe“linguisticcontext”,“socialcontext”and“cognitivecontext.”Herelinguisticcontextreferstothewords,phrasesorthesentencesappearbeforeoraftertheutterance.Thesocialcontextcanbedefinedasthespecificsituationsinwhichthespeechhappens.Toagreatextent,itdependsonhowthespeakerandthehearersinterpretertheutterance.Theymayconsidertheculturalsetting,thesocialstatusortherelationshipbetweenthetwopeople(Heziran1997).Inthispart,differentdefinitionsofthecontextbyChineseresearchershavebeenshowed.Theirstudiesofcontextareintermsoftheirrelatedfields,closelyconnectedwiththeirideas,sotheyallarebasedonthescientificviews.Theymadegreatcontributionsinstudyingthisconceptwhichpavedwaysforthefollowingresearchers.Afterdiscussingthenotionofthecontext,thefollowingwillpresenttheclassificationofthecontext.2.3TheClassificationofContextBecauseofthedifferentstudyingperspectives,theresearchersdividethecontextintodiversekinds.Inthispaper,theauthoradoptstheclassificationofcontextofProfessorHuZhuanglin.Hedividescontextinto“linguisticcontext”and“non-linguisticcontext”.Linguisticcontextreferstoco-textwhichistheinternalstructureofthetext,suchasthecharacters,thesentencesormaybethewholetext.The“situationalcontext”and“culturalcontext”consistofthenon-linguisticcontext.Thespecificdescriptionsofthemwillbeshowedbelow.12 2.3.1LinguisticContextThelinguisticcontext,sometimesknownasco-text,isconcernedwiththeprobabilityofaword’sco-occurrenceorcollocationwithanotherword,whichformspartsofthe“meaning”oftheword,andalsowiththepartofthetext,precedesandfollowsaparticularutterance(DaiWeidong2002:70).Inthisthesis,thelinguisticcontextcanbedefinedasthewords,sentences,orthewholepassagearoundthegrammaticalpoints.Sothechoiceofthematerialsmaybepredominantatthistime.Theteachersshouldusesomeskillstomaketheclassmeaningfulandinteresting.2.3.2Non-linguisticContext(1)SituationalContextMetaphorically,languageisregardedasamirrorofsociety,throughwhichwecanunderstandsocialactivitiesofacertainsocietybetter.Functionally,societyprovideslanguagewithasuitablecontextofuse,inwhichwecanenjoyaspectsoflanguagevividlyandtruthfully(HuZhuanglin2007:170).Thelinguiststhinkthatmeaningshouldbestudiedintermsofsituation,use,contextwhichhavesomethingtodowiththelanguagebehavior.ArepresentativeofthisapproachwasJ.R.Firth.Heheldtheviewthat‘weshouldknowawordbythecompanyitkeeps,’andthat‘byregardingwordsasacts,events,habits,welimitourinquiretowhatisobjectiveinthegrouplifeofourfellows.’(DaiWeidong2002:70).Soeveryutteranceoccursinaparticularspatiotemporalsituation,themaincomponentofwhichinclude,apartfromtheplaceandtimeoftheutterance,thespeakerandthehearer,theactionstheyareperformingatthetime,thevariousobjectsandeventsexistentinthesituation.Theutterancemeaningofthesentencesvarieswhenithappenedindifferentsituations.Forexample,“mybagisheavy”(DaiWeidong2002:87).Firstly,itcanbeunderstoodasthespeaker’sstraightforwardstatement,whichtellsthehearerthatthebagisheavy.Secondly,itcanbeintendedbythespeakerasanindirect,politerequest,whichimpliesthatthespeakeraskthehearertohelphimtocarrythebag.Thirdly,itcanbealsoseenasthatthespeakerisdecliningsomeone’srequestforhelp.Sotheunderstandingofthesentencemeaningdependsonthecontextsinwhichitisutteredandthepurposeforwhichthespeakeruttersit.Sowhattextbookstellthestudentstolearnarerulesanditemsofgrammarorvocabulariesthatare13 rightorwrong.Butwhatlearnersreallyhavetolearnishowtoputthisknowledgetouseinvaryingsituationalcontextsforvaryingproposes(ClaireKramsch1993:200).(2)CulturalContextProfessorDaioncedefinedthecultureas“thetotalwayoflifeofapeople,includingthepatternsofbelieves，customs,objects,institutions,techniques,andlanguagethatcharacterizethelifeofthehumancommunity.”Culturepermeatesvirtuallyeveryaspectofhumanlifeandinfluencespredominantlypeople’sbehavior,includinglinguisticbehavior(DaiWeidong2002:127).Ithaslongbeenrecognizedthatlanguageisanessentialandimportantpartofagivencultureandthattheimpactofcultureuponagivenlanguageissomethingintrinsicandindispensable(HuZhuanglin2007:159).Thus,languageisanindispensablecarrierofculture.Culturefindsabetterrepresentationthroughlanguageuse(HuZhuanglin2007:159).Malinowskionceclaimedthat“initsprimitiveuses,languagefunctionsaslinkinconcretedhumanactivity….itisamodeofactionandnotaninstrumentofreflection”(ClaireKramsch1923:312).Needlesstosay,theworkbyMalinowskipavedthewayforaculture,rather,acontextualstudyoflanguageuseinBritain(HuZhuanglin2007:160).Itcanbeseenthatintheearlytime,peoplehaverealizedtheimportanceofcultureandlanguageandcultureareboundtogether.Thereforestudentsnotonlyneedlearnthelanguagebutalsotheculture.Maybetheteacherwhoteachesalanguageisteachingitsculture(ShengDeren2003:24).2.4GrammarandContext2.4.1GrammarandDiscourseFactorsTheessentialpointofdiscourse–basedviewoflanguagetakesintoaccountthefactthatlinguisticpatternsexistacrossstretchesoftext.Thesepatternsoflanguageextendbeyondthewords,clausesandsentences,whichhavebeenthetraditionalconcernofmuchlanguageteaching(McCarthyandCarter1994:1).Thediscourse-basedviewoflanguagefocusesoncompletespokenandwrittentextsandonthesocialandculturalcontextsinwhichsuchlanguageoperates(HuZhuanglin2007:273).Discoursecanbeauthenticmaterials,stories,poems,potteries,songs,dialogueandsoon.AccordingtoTomlinson(1984),authenticmaterialsare“materialssuchasnewspaperarticles,14 brochures,traintickets,lettersadvertisements,recordingofthenews,airportannouncements,etc.whichareoriginallyusedinrealsituations.Suchmaterialsareusedintheclassroomtoexposethelearnerstolanguageinrealuse.”Authenticmaterialsgivestudentsatasteofreallanguageinuseandprovidethemwithvalidlinguisticdatafortheirunconsciousacquisitionprocesstoworkon.Itisonlytheauthenticmaterialsthatcanbringstudentsintotherealcontexts.Authentictextsmakestudentsdirectlyaccesstothecultureandhelpthemusethenewlanguageauthenticallythemselves,tocommunicateinmeaningfulsituationsratherthandemonstrateknowledgeofgrammarpointsorlexicalitems.Dialogueisalsoagoodwaytolearngrammar.Becauseitgivesthestudentsagivencontext,inwhichthestudentscanknowwhenandhowtousethegrammarrules.Forexample,A:Doyouwanttogoshoppingthisafternoon?B:Ido,butIcan’tbecauseI’mgoingforawalkwithBarbara.A:Butdidn’tyoutakeawalkwithBarbarayesterday.B:Idid.A:I’venevermetBarbara.Doyouthinkshemightliketogoshopping?B:Idon’tthinkso.Shedoesn’tdomuchshopping.A:That’sstrange.Whynot?B:Barbara’smydog！Dogsdon’tgoshoppingveryoften.Dothey?(WilgaM.Rivers2000:36)Iftheteachersusethisdialoguetoteachtheverb“do”,“does”,“did”,thestudentscanexactlyknowwhenandhowtousetheseverbs.Fromthisdialogue,theycanfindtherulesbythemselves.Theymayfindthatdoanddoesareusedinpresenttense,didisusedinpasttense,andiftheyobservethedialoguecarefully,theycanalsofindwhenthesubjectisfirst-person,theyusedo,andtheysubjectisthethird-person,theyusedoes.SoIthinkthismethodgivesthestudentsthespecificcontextinwhichtheycanunderstandtherulesbetter.Sowhentheteachersteachthegrammarruleswiththismethod,studentscannotonlymasterallkindsofgrammaticalrulesandknowledge,butalsoareabletoapplythemflexiblyaccordingtospecificcontexts.15 2.4.2GrammarandSocialFactorsSociolinguisticsisthesub-fieldoflinguisticsthatstudiestherelationbetweenlanguageandsociety,betweentheusesoflanguageandthesocialstructuresinwhichtheusersoflanguagelives(DaiWeidong2002:111).Asweallknow,nowadays,thepurposeofteachinggrammaristoteachstudentshowtouselanguageformstocommunicateinspecificsituations.Soteachersnotonlyneedtoteachlinguisticstructuresbutalsocreatesituationswhichincludegrammaticalknowledgeforthestudents.Itisgoodforthestudentstounderstandthegrammaticalrulesandreinforcethem.Ashortcuecanbeagoodwaytolearngrammar.Itsetsanimaginarycontextcanoftenbeusedtoelicitacompleteresponsefromstudents.Shortcuesareparticularlyhelpfulfortestingverbsandverbtenses.Forexample,Cuestoelicitthepast-progressivetense.ImaginethatIsawyouyesterdayinthefollowingplaces.Whatwereyouprobablydoing?1.inthecafé2.attheocean3.inthewoods4.atthemountainsCuestoelicitthefuturetenseImaginethatyouaregoingtothefollowingplacesnextweek.Whatwillyouprobablydo?1.tothehospital2.toMcDonald’s3.tothecountries4.tothewhitehouse(WilgaM.Rivers2000:66)Whenteachingthesegrammarpoints,iftheteachersgivespecificsituationalcontextsforthestudents,theycanknowhowtousethepasttenseandthefuturetenseindifferentsituations.Sentencecompletionscanbeturnedintosomeofthemostplayfulofgrammarexercise.Forexample,16 contrary-to-factsentencesofthetype“IfIwererich,Iwouldbuyanewcar”.Studentsenjoyimagingunusualandamazingsituationsthatnotonlyfulfilltheobjectiveoftheteachinggrammarbutalsoprovideentertainmentfortheclass.Forexample,Completethefollowingsentencesusingthepresent-conditionaltense.1.IfIwereacloud…2.IfIwereacrazydentist…3.IfIwereanairplaneticket…4.IfIwereanidea…5.IfIwereamonkey…(WilgaM.Rivers2000:67)Thisisagoodwaytoteachsubjunctiveclause.Thestudentscanhaveafullyunderstandingoftheconceptofthesubjunctiveclauseaswellasacquiretherulesvividlyandsuccessfully.2.4.3GrammarandCulturalFactorsAsweknow,languageisapartofcultureanditplaysaveryimportantroleinunderstandingeachother.Insomeway,languageinfluencesandreflectsculture(ShengDeren2003).Asweallknow,EnglishandChinesearetwoquitedifferentlanguages.Theybelongtodifferentfamilies,i.e.EnglishbelongstotheIn-doEuropeanlanguagefamily,whileChinesebelongstoSino-Tibetanfamily(ShengDeren2000:13).Translationistosearchforthecommonnessinthinkingpatternsanddifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages.Duringthecomparisonandcontrastofthetwodifferentlanguages,youwillfindtheconflictsanddifferencesbetweendifferentculturesandalsofindasortofharmoniousbeautywhichwillevenburstoutinspiringsparkles(ShengDeren2000:13).Forexample,ProfessorTomfromEnglandwillgiveusalectureinRoom112ofBuildingNo.1at9amonWednesday,Jun.8,2011.来自英国的汤姆教授将于2011年6月8日星期三上午九点在1号楼112室为我们做报告。Thetwosentencesshowusthedifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages,andthedifferentthinkingpattersbetweenthepeople.Fromtheabove,wecanseeEnglishpeopleareinclinedtoputtheorderexpand17 fromsmalltobigandfromtheconcretetotheabstract,however,Chinesepeoplehavetheoppositethinkingpattern.So,ifthestudentsknowthedifferencesbetweenthem,theywillmakefewmistakes.WemustusethethoughtpattersofEnglishpeoplewhenwelearnEnglish.Culturehasastronginfluenceonthewaypeoplethought,furthermore,whichwillinfluencethelanguage.Ifwehaveabetterunderstandingofthecultureofthetargetsociety,wewilllearnthelanguageinanaturalandeasywayandfewermistakeswillbemadeatthattime.Fromtheabovediscussion,wecanseeteachinggrammarincontextsisawaythattheteachersshowthegrammarinacomprehensiveview.Itcanabsorbthestudents’interestandattention.Thisapproachcanprovidelearnerstheopportunitiestocloselyobservethegrammaticalformsandstructuresinrealandvividcontexts.Whenusingthelinguisticcontextingrammarteaching,theteacherscanbaseonthediscourselevelwhichcanprovidethestudentsaspecificandrealsituation.Whenthepassagewhichcontainsalotofgrammarpointspresentstothestudents,theycanunderstandtheknowledgefromawholepointratherthanlearnthegrammarpointsfromsentencestructuresalone.Intermofthediscourselevel,thestudentscanalsosummarizethegrammarrulesbythemselves.Theirmemorizationabouttheserulesisdeeperbecausetheyworkouttherulesontheirown.Furthermore,theycancreatetheirownpassageswhichcontainthegrammarrules.Whentheteacherschoosethematerialswhichcaterforthestudents’interest,theresultwillbebetter.Astothesituationalcontext,iftheteacherscreatetheactivitieswhichthestudentsareinterestedinordesignthetopicswhichthestudentsarefamiliarwith.Theywillpaymoreattentiontoit.Throughcompletingthetask,theyacquiretheknowledgeinanaturalway,furthermore,theircompetenceincommunicationimproves.Andwhentheculturalknowledgeisintroduced,fewmistakeswillbemadebythestudents.18 ChapterThreeResearchDesignFromtheprevioustwochapters,itisself-evidencethatcontextandEnglishgrammarteachingarecloselylinked.Ingrammarteachingandlearning,thelanguagepointsshouldnotbelearnedalone,wecansettheminspecificcontexts.Ifthegrammaticalformsareputintomeaningfulcontexts,thestudentscanunderstandthembetter.Sotheteachersshouldpaymoreattentiontotheapplicationofthecontexttheorytotheteachingofgrammar.Theyshouldencouragestudentstouselanguageincontextsratherthanrestrictthestudentstomemorizethegrammarforms.3.1ResearchQuestionsTheresearchquestionsofthisthesisareasfollows:1.WhatisthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool?2.WhatarethemajorproblemsintheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool?3.WhatarethemaincausesforthemajorproblemsintheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool?3.2SubjectsThesubjectsofthisresearcharesomeEnglishteachersandstudentsinXinxiangNo.2SeniorHighSchool.Thestudentsarefromthreedifferentgrades(randomlychooseoneclassfromonegrade)andfourteenEnglishteachersarechosenrandomlytobeastheresearchsubjects.GradeonechoseClass3,gradetwochoseClass3,gradethreechoseClass2.Sotherewere173studentsparticipatedintheresearch.3.3InstrumentsThisresearchadoptstwoinstrumentsfordatacollection.Theyareclassroomobservationandquestionnaires.19 3.3.1.QuestionnairesTherearetwokindsofquestionnaires.Oneisfortheteachers(seeAppendixI)andtheotherisforthestudents(seeAppendixII).Inordertosavetimeandavoidmisunderstanding,thequestionnairesaredesignedinChinese.Astothequestionspresentedinthequestionnaire,someofthemadoptthequestionsinWangHongmin’sthesis,andsomeofthemputforwardbytheauthorherself.Suchasquestion5,7,9and10whicharedesignedbytheauthor.Thereare17questionsinteachers’questionnairewith12closedquestions,2semi-openquestionsand3openquestions.Itmainlyconsistsoffourparts:(1)Theteachers’attitudestowardgrammarteaching;(2)Theteachers’understandingofcontexttheoryandthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching;(3)Themainproblemsintheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandthecausesforthem;(4)Theteachers’suggestionsfortheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Therearealso13questionsinstudents’questionnairewith9closedquestions,2semi-openquestionsand2openquestions.Itmainlyconsistsoffourparts:(1)Thestudents’attitudestowardgrammarlearning;(2)Theinvestigationonthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching;(3)Themajorproblemsintheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandthemaincausesforthem;(4)Thestudents’suggestionsfortheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarlearning.3.3.2.ClassroomObservationInordertoacquirethefirst-handinformation,itisnecessarytohaveclassroomobservation.FromSeptembertoNovember,theauthorregularlycameintotherealclasswithanotebooktorecordtheprocessesoftheteaching.Theclassroomobservationfocusesonthefollowingaspects:(1)Whatteachingmethodsdotheteachersoftenusewhentheyteachgrammar?(2)Whetherthegrammarteachingisincontext?TheclassroomobservationistoinvestigatethepresentconditionoftheapplicationofContextTheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammarinSeniorHighSchool.20 3.4ProcedureTheauthorpracticedforfourmonthsinXinxiangNo.2SeniorHighSchool.Ittooktheauthorthreemonthsfortheclassroomobservation,andinOctober,theauthordistributedthestudents’questionnairestoClass3inGrade1,Class3inGrade2andClass2inGrade3,andtheauthorgavethestudentsoneweektofinishthequestionnairesandtoldthemthattheanswershadnothingtodowiththeirgrades.Sotheycouldanswerthequestionswithnohesitation.175questionnaireswerehandedoutonly135questionnairesgotback.Theteachers’questionnairesweredistributedto14teachers.Only11ofthemgotback.Accordingtothedatacollectedfromthestudentsandtheteachers,thefollowingchapterwillgivetheresults.21 22 ChapterFourResultsandDiscussionChapterforisthemainpartofthethesiswhichanalyzestheteachers’questionnaire,thestudents’questionnaireandtheclassroomobservation.4.1.ResultsandDiscussionofQuestionnairesItcontainstheteachers’questionnaireandthestudents’questionnaireinthissection.Differentkindsofquestionsaredesignedtoinvestigatethepresentsituationoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteaching,themajorproblemsexistinginthegrammarteachingandthemaincausesforthem.4.1.1.ResultsandDiscussionoftheTeachers’QuestionnaireInteachersquestionnaire,therearefourkindsofquestions:(1)Theteachers’attitudestowardgrammarteaching;(2)Theteachers’understandingofcontexttheoryandthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching;(3)Themainproblemsintheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandthecausesforthem;(4)Theteachers’suggestionsfortheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Theywillbeanalyzedonebyone.(1)Theteachers’attitudestowardgrammarteaching.Therearetwoquestionsaredesignedtoanswerthisdimension.Teachers’attitudestowardgrammarteachingareimportantbecauseitdecideswhethertheteachersgivehighprioritytotheEnglishgrammarteachingornot.Table4-1QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouthinkitisnecessarytoA.Yes,Ithinkso.81.82%teachEnglishgrammar?B.Possible.18.18%C.Idon’tthinkso.0%D.Ihavenoidea.0%23 Fromthetable4-1,wecanseethat81.82%oftheteachersthinkitisnecessarytoteachgrammar,with18.18%ofthemarenotsureaboutit.Sofromtheabovefigures,wecanseethatthemajorityoftheteachersholdtheviewthatgrammarplaysanimportantroleinEnglishstudyandgrammarteachingisnecessaryandevencrucialinthelongrun.However,sincetheadventoftheCommunicativeLanguageTeachingwhichgivesprioritytothelanguagefluencynottheaccuracyofthem,someteachershavethedoubtwhethertoteachgrammarornot.Becauseofsometeachers’misunderstandingofthismethodwhichleadstosomenegativeeffectsontheirteaching.NoonecantellyougrammarisnolongerneededinCLTframeworkbutitneedsappropriatetechniques.Table4-2QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyourthinkgrammarisimportantA.Yes,Ithinkso.90.91%forstudents’successfulB.Possible.9.09%communication?C.Idon’tthinkso.0.00%D.Ihavenoidea.0.00%Asisshownintable4-2,90.91%oftheteachersthinkgrammarisimportantforstudents’successfulcommunication,while9.09%ofthemthinkitmayormaynotimportantforcommunication.Thefigurestellusthatmostteachershaverealizedthatgrammaticalcompetenceoccupiesaprominentpositionasamajorcomponentofcommunicativecompetence.Theyknowteachingshouldbetheintegrationoftheform,meaningandfunctioninteachingpractice.Forthosewhoarenotsureabouttheimportanceofgrammarwhichinfluencespartofstudents’successfulcommunication,theymaynotattachgreatimportancetogrammarorignoregrammarteaching.Thisphenomenonshouldbechangedatonce.(2)Theteachers’understandingofcontexttheoryandthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Table4-3investigateswhethertheteachersthinkthecontextplaysanimportantroleingrammarteaching.Thefollowingisanopenquestionwhichshowstheteachers’understandingofthecontexttheory.Table4-4andTable4-5analyzetheconditionoftheapplicationofthelinguisticcontexttoEnglish24 grammarteaching.Thepresentsituationofthenon-linguisticcontexttogrammarteachingcanbeseenintables6,7and8.Table4-3QuestionAnswersPercentageA.Yes,Ithinkso.72.73%DoyouthinkcontextisB.Possible.18.19%importantingrammarteaching?C.Idon’tthinkso.9.08%D.Ihavenoidea.0.00%FromtheTable4-3,wecanseethat72.73%ofthemthinkcontextplaysanimportantroleingrammarteaching,18.19%ofthemarenotsureaboutthat,and9.08%ofthemholdtheviewthattheydonotthinkcontextisimportantingrammarteaching.Sowecanseethatmostteachersareawareoftheimportanceofcontext.Question1:Fromyourview,whatiscontext?Thisisanopenquestionfortheteachers.Aftercollectingtheanswers,90.91%oftheteachers’understandingofcontexttheoryisjustco-textcontextandsituationalcontext,only9.09%oftheteachersputforwardco-textandsituationalcontextandculturalcontext.Buttheystillholdthetraditionalviewthatexplainsthewordsandgrammarrulesinlimitedcontextswhichmaynotleadtothemisunderstanding.Theteachersareconfinedthelanguageteachingtothesentencelevel.Astothesituationalcontext,theythinktheyshouldcreatereal-lifecontextsforthestudentswhentheyteachthegrammarrules.Butwhethertheputthisintopracticewillpresentinthefollowingtables.Themajorityoftheteachersdonotmentiontheculturalcontext.Lastbutnotleast,whenwelearnalanguage,wemustlearntheirculture.Sotheteachersshouldpaymoreattentiontoculturalcontext.Fromtheaboveanalysis,wecanseethattheteachershavenotacompleteunderstandingofcontexttheory;theyarestillnotclearaboutthat.25 Table4-4QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouoftenuseco-textinA.often54.55%grammarteaching?B.sometimes27.27%C.never18.18%D.notclearly0.00%AsisshowninTable4-4,weknow54.55%oftheteachersoftenuseco-textcontextingrammarteaching,27.27%ofthemsometimesapplyittogrammarteachingand18.18%ofthemneverapplyittogrammarteaching.Sofromtheanalysis,wecanseeover80%oftheteachersusethismethodingrammarteachingwhichreflectsthatmostteachersareconsciousofthesignificanceoftheapplicationofco-texttotheteachingoftheEnglishgrammar.Butwhethertheyapplyappropriatetechniquesingrammarteachingwhenusingco-texttheory,itwillbepresentedinthetable4-6.Table4-5QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouoftenusedialogues,A.often9.09%orpoems,songstoteachB.sometimes27.27%grammar?C.never63.64%D.notclearly0.00%Itcanbeseenfromthetable4-5,only9.09%oftheteachersoftenusedialogues,poemsorsongstoteachgrammar,with27.27%ofthemsometimesapplythesetechniquesintogrammarteaching,and63.64%ofthemneverthinkoftheseskills.Soitcanbeconcludedthattheteachersareshortofvarioussortsofeffectivetechniqueswhenapplyingthiscontexttogrammarteaching.26 Table4-6QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouoftenusesituationalA.often18.18%knowledgeingrammarB.sometimes18.18%teaching?C.never63.64%D.notclearly0.00%AfteranalyzingthefiguresinTable4-6,wefindthat18.18%oftheteachersapplysituationalcontexttogrammarteaching,18.18%ofthemsometimesapplyittogrammarteaching,63.64%ofthemneveruseofit.Thatistosay,over60%oftheteachersnevercreatesituationalcontextsforthestudents.Sothoughtheteachersknowthesituationalcontext,mostofthemrarelyapplyittothegrammarteaching.Actuallysituationalcontextexertsanessentialpartintheirgrammarteaching.Whenthetasksaredesignedinmeaningfulsituations,thestudentscanunderstandthegrammarruleseasily.Butwhethertheteacherscreatethesituationsrelatedtothestudents’reallifeornot,thefollowingtable4-8cangivetheanswer.Table4-7QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouoftencreatereallifeA.often9.09%contextsingrammarteaching?B.sometimes18.18%C.never72.73%D.notclearly0.00%FromTable4-7,wefindthat9.09%oftheteachersoftencreatereallifecontextsforthestudents,18.18%ofthemsometimesuseit,and72.73%ofthemneveruseit.Solessthan30%0ftheteacherscreatereallifecontextsforthestudents.Ifgrammaticalformsandsentencepattersareintroducedandpracticedinreal-lifeactivitieswhichcangivethestudentsmorechancestolearnEnglishgrammarinspecificcontextsandtheywillknowhowtochooseappropriatesentenceswhenthesituationschange.27 Themodernlinguisticsrequiresthattheteachersshouldcultivatethestudents’fluencyoftheutteranceandtheaccuracyofthem.Creatingreallifecontextsforthestudentscanachievethisgoal.Sotheteachersshouldpatattentiontothesituationalcontext.Table4-8QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouoftenintroducetheculturalA.often18.18%differencesbetweenChineseandEnglishB.sometimes27.27%whenteachinggrammar?C.never45.45%D.notclearly9.10%AsisshowninTable4-8,18.18%oftheteachersintroducetheculturalknowledgeoftheforeigncountryforthestudentsandthedistinctionsbetweenthem.With27.27%ofthemsometimesintroducetheculturaldifferences,45.45%and9.10%ofthemneverintroduceandnotclearly.Wecanseeover50%oftheteachersdonotintroduceculturaldifferencesingrammarteaching.Huoncesaidthat“Ithaslongbeenrecognizedthatlanguageisanessentialandimportantpartofagivencultureandthattheimpactofcultureuponagivenlanguageissomethingintrinsicandindispensable.”(HuZhuanglin2007:159).Sotheteachersshouldintroduceculturaldifferencesingrammarteaching.(3)Themainproblemsintheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandthecausesforthem.Therearesixquestionsinthisdimension.Thefirstfivequestionsareclosedquestionsandthelastoneisanopenquestion.28 Table4-9QuestionAnswersPercentageYoufindittime-consumingA.Yes,Ithinkso.0.00%touseauthenticmaterials.B.Possible.72.73%C.Idon’tthinkso.27.27%D.Ihavenoidea.0.00%FromTable4-9,wecansee72.73%oftheteachersthinkitmaybetime-consumingtouseauthenticmaterialsingrammarteaching,27.27%ofthemdonotthinkittakestoomuchtimewhenusingitingrammarteaching.Fromthepreviousresults,weknowtheteachersdonotoftenuseauthenticmaterialsingrammarteaching.Thismaybeoneofthereasons.Itwilltaketheteacherssometimetocollectmaterials,classifythemandthenstudythem;finallytheyhavetopresentthemtostudentswhichmayoccupyalargeoftheclasstime.Sothisworkwilltakeuptheirmuchtimeandenergy.Table4-10QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouthinkthecollegeentranceexaminationA.0.00%andthepresentappraisalsystemwillhaveanB.27.27%influenceontheapplicationofcontexttheoryintoC.54.54%grammarteaching?D.18.18%A.Theyhaveaverybiginfluenceonit.B.Theyhaveabiginfluenceonit.C.Theyhavealittleinfluenceonit.D.Theyhavenoinfluenceonit.ItcanbeseenfromtheTable4-10,27.27%oftheteachersthinkthecollegeentranceexaminationandthepresentappraisalsystemwillhaveabiginfluenceontheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammar29 teaching,with54.54%considertheyhavealittleinfluenceonit,with18.18%ofthenthinktheyhavenoinfluenceonit.Sowecanseemostteachersthinkthecollegeentranceexaminationandthepresentappraisalsystemwillmoreorlessinfluencetheteacher’sdecisiononwhetherapplyingcontexttheoryingrammarteaching.ItisknownthatinChina,inordertoimprovethestudents’gradeincollegeentranceexamination,theteachersletthestudentsdoalotofexercises.Sotheypaylittleattentiontotheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Theyconsiderthatthereisaconflictbetweentheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandtheachievementofhighgradesinexaminations.Actually,thisideaisinaccurate.Table4-11QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouthinkthedesignofA.Yes,Ithinkso.36.36%thetextbook’sgrammaticalB.Possible.54.55%contentsconsiderscontextualC.Idon’tthinkso.9.09%factors?D.Ihavenoidea.0.00%AsweseeinTable4-11,only36.36%oftheteachersthinkthatthetextbookcontainscontexttheory,54.55%ofthemthinktherearenotsufficientactivitieswhichembodytheconceptofthecontextand9.09%ofthemthinkthetextbookdoesnottakeintoconsiderationofthecontextaspect.Becauseoftheteachers’differentunderstandingofthecontext,theiranswersarevarious.Intheteachers’view,therearenotenoughmaterialswhichconsiderthecontextfactorsinthestudents’book.(ThestudentsinSeniorHighSchoolofXinxiangusetheEnglishbookpublishedbythePeopleEducationPress).30 Table4-12QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouthinkateacher’sknowledgeA.Yes,Ithinkso.90.91%canbeofanyinfluenceonyourB.Possible.9.09%applicationofcontexttheorytoC.Idon’tthinkso.0.00%grammarteaching?D.Ihavenoidea.0.00%Table4-13QuestionAnswersPercentageWhatkindofknowledgedoAwiderangeofknowledge90.91%youthinkateachershouldAgoodmasterofEnglish81.82%havewhileteachingKnowledgerelatedtoEnglishteaching72.73%grammarincontext?Knowledgeofpedagogy81.82%Others0.00%FromTable4-12,weknow90.91%oftheteachersthinkteachers’knowledgeexertsanimportantinfluenceontheapplicationofcontexttogrammarteaching.FromTable4-13,itcanbeconcludedthatmostteachersthinktheyshouldenrichtheirknowledgetoimprovetheirteachingability.Asweallknow,itisfullofcompetitionintoday’sworld,sotheteachersshouldpreparethemallthetimetocopewiththesociety.90.91%ofthemthinktheyneedawiderangeofknowledge,81.82%ofthemthinktheyshouldhaveagoodmasterofEnglish,72.73%ofthemthinktheknowledgerelatedtoEnglishteachingisimportant,81.82%ofthemthinktheyshouldhavethepedagogyknowledge.Inaword,thesocietyisplacinghigherandhigherdemandsontheteachingstaffs;differentkindsofknowledgeareneededintheirEnglishgrammarteaching.Inordertomeettherequirementofthesocietyandthechangingsituations,teachersshouldimprovetheirprofessionallevelconstantlyandupdatetheirknowledgefrequently.Question2:whatproblemsdoyoumeetwhenyouapplycontexttheoryintogrammarteaching？Aftercollectingtheteachers’answers,theauthorfindstheteachersputforwardtwomainproblemsin31 theirgrammarteaching.Oneisthetimeandtheotheristhematerials.Theteachersthinkthelimitedtimedosenotallowtheteacherstooftenapplythecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Astothematerials,theteachersconsiderthatthecollectionofthematerialsneedsmuchtimeandwhetherthematerialsaresuitablefortheteachingisalsoaquestion.Sofromtheaboveanalysis,itcansummarizethemainproblemstheteachersmeetwhenapplythecontexttheorytogrammarteachingasfollows:thelimitedtime,thecontextknowledgeandotherrelevantknowledge,theeffectiveteachingskillsandthematerialswhichpreventthemfromapplyingcontexttheorytotheteachingofEnglishgrammar.(4)Theteachers’suggestionsfortheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Theteachers’suggestionsfortheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteachingareimportant.Whentheauthoritiesgiveconsiderationtotheirsuggestions,theEnglishteachingwillimprovedgradually.Question3:whatsuggestionswouldyouliketomakeconcerningtheapplicationofcontexttheoryintogrammarteaching?Afteranalyzingtheteachers’answers,itcanbeconcludedasthefollowingaspects:(1)Theteachersexpecttheywillbegivenmorematerialswhichcontaincontextualfactorsinthetextbook;(2)Theyshouldcreatecontextsaccordingtothestudents’interest;(3)Theyshouldbegivenmoretrainingchancesinordertoimprovethemselvesinteaching.Sotheteachersshouldbetrainedperiodicallyinordertohavetheopportunitiestoaccessthelatesttheoriesaboutteaching.Thesearethesuggestionstheteachersputforward.Theauthoritiesshouldgiveprioritytotheirsuggestionswhichwillhaveagoodeffectontheteaching.4.1.2.ResultsandDiscussionoftheStudents’QuestionnaireFourkindsofquestionsaredesignedinstudents’questionnaire.Itcanbesummarizedasfollows:(1)Thestudents’attitudestowardgrammarlearning;(2)Theinvestigationonthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching;(3)Themajorproblemsintheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandthemaincausesforthem;(4)Thestudents’suggestionsfortheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarlearning.(1)Thestudents’attitudestowardgrammarlearningThestudents’attitudestowardEnglishgrammarlearningdecidewhethertheypayattentiontogrammarlearning.Soitisimportantandpracticaltoinvestigatetheirattitudestowardgrammarlearning.32 Table4-14QuestionAnswersPercentageDoyouthinkitisnecessaryA.Yes,Ithinkso.80.74%tolearngrammar?B.Possible.11.11%C.Idon’tthinkso.7.41%D.Ihavenoidea.o.74%Fromthetable4-14,wecanseenthat80.74%ofschoolstudentsthinkitisnecessarytolearngrammar,11.11%ofthemarenotsureaboutthat,7.41%ofthemholdtheoppositeopinionsand0.74%ofthemhavenoideaaboutthis.Itcanbeconcludedthatthemajorityofthestudentshaverealizedthatthegrammarlearningareimportantintheirlanguagestudy.However,somestudentsstilldonotthinkorhavenotrealizedtheimportanceofgrammarlearning,sotheteachersshouldgivemoreattentiontothesestudents,ortheymayloseinterestsinit.Whatismore,theymaygiveuplearningEnglishatthelast.Table4-15QuestionsAnswersPercentageEnglishgrammarlearningA.Yes,Ithinkso.77.78%playsanimportantroleinB.Possible.18.52%yourEnglishstudy.C.Idon’tthinkso.3.70%D.Ihavenoidea.0.00%Aswecanseefromtable4-15,77.78%ofthehighschoolstudentsthinkEnglishgrammarplaysanimportantroleinEnglishstudy,18.52%ofthemarenotsureaboutthat,andonly3.70%ofthemholdthestrongoppositeopinion.Fromtheabovetwotables,wecanseethatmoststudentshaveknownthattheroleofgrammarinlanguagelearningisfundamentalandcannotbeneglected.Grammarisanessentialpartoflanguageanditformstheframeworkoflanguage.33 Table4-16QuestionsAnswersPercentageA20.00%Whenlearninggrammar,B26.67%youconcernsC49.63%D3.70%A.howtounderstandthelanguageinordertoimprovethecommunicativecompetenceB.thegrammarrulesinordertopasstheexamsC.AandBD.othersAsisshowninTable4-16,wecanseethat20.00%ofthempaymoreattentiontoimprovetheircommunicativecompetencewhilelearninggrammar;26.67%ofthemlearngrammarruleswiththepurposeofpassingtheexaminations,and49.63%ofthestudentsconcernbothofthem.Thatistosay,theyconsideritisbothimportanttoimprovetheircommunicativecompetenceandpasstheexams;and3.70%ofthestudentschoosethelastone-others.Someofthemgivetheanswers,whilesomedonot.TheyconcerntheoralEnglishinordertogoabroadisoneofthestudentsthought.ComparedAandB,wecanseethatstudentsgivemoreconcernsaboutpassingtheexamsthanimprovingtheircommunicativecompetence.Itmayinfluencedbytheenvironmentofoureducationwhichpaysmorepressureonthestudents.(2)Theinvestigationonthepresentconditionoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Thequestionsinthissectionaredesignedtoinvestigatethesituationsoftheteachers’applicationofco-text,situationalcontextandtheculturalcontexttogrammarteachingfromthestudents’view.34 Table4-17QuestionsAnswersPercentageA.often48.15%DoesyourteacheroftenuseB.sometimes46.52%co-textingrammarteaching?C.never0.74%D.notclearly4.59%Itcanbeseenfromthetable4-17,48.15%ofthestudentsthinkthattheirteachersapplyco-texttogrammarteaching,with46.52%ofthemthinktheirteacherssometimesuseit,0.74%ofthemconsidertheyneveruseit,and4.59%ofthemarenotclearlyaboutit.Thus,wecanseethemajorityoftheteachersuseco-textingrammarteaching.Table4-18QuestionsAnswersPercentageA.often0.82%DoesyourteacheroftenuseB.sometimes1.33%dialogues,orpoems,songstoC.never97.85%teachgrammar?D.notclearly0.00%Itcanbeseenfromthechartthat97.85%ofthestudentsthinktheteachersdonotapplycompletetext,poems,songsingrammarteaching,with0.82%ofthemthinkoftenand1.33%ofthemthinksometimes.Accordingtotheauthor’sclassroomobservation,theteachersonlyusethematerialsinthetextbooktoteachgrammar,theysometimesteachgrammarrulesbasedonthesentencelevel,sometimestheyteachgrammarruleswhentheyinterpretthetext.Sotheresultsofthetwotablesarenotcontrary.35 Table4-19QuestionsAnswersPercentageA.often16.29%DoesyourteacheroftenuseB.sometimes16.30%situationalknowledgeinC.never37.04%grammarteaching?D.notclearly30.37%AsisshowninTable4-19,16.29%ofthestudentsthinktheirteachersoftencreatesituationsingrammarteaching,with16.30%ofthemthinksometimes,37.04%and30.37%ofthemthinkneveruseandnotclearlyaboutit.Sothoughtheteachersknowthesituationalcontext,onlyover30%ofthemapplyittogrammarteaching.Theapplicationofthesituationalcontexttogrammarteachingisworsethanthatofthelinguisticcontext.Table4-20QuestionsAnswersPercentageDoesyourteacheroftenA.often4.44%createreallifecontextsinB.sometimes7.41%grammarteaching?C.never49.63%D.notclearly38.52%Fromthetable,wecanseethat4.44%ofthemthinktheirteachersoftencreatereallifesituationsforthem,with7.41%ofthemthinksometimes,49.63%ofthemthinkneverand38.52%ofthemhavevagueideas.Soitcanbeconcludedthatmostteachersknowthesituationalcontext,whiletheycreatethecontextsrelatedtothestudents’reallifeisnotsatisfactory.Ifgrammarispresentedthroughthepresentationoftopicsrelatedtostudents’reallife,thestudentswilllearnbetter.Sotheteachersshouldputlanguagepointsintotherealsituationswhicharebeneficialforthestudents’learning.36 Table4-21QuestionsAnswersPercentageDoesyourteacheroftenintroducetheA.often25.93%culturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandB.sometimes8.15%Englishwhenteachinggrammar?C.never42.22%Table4-21showsthatonly25.93%ofthestudentsthinktheirteachersoftenshowthecultureofforeigncountryandthedifferencesbetweenthem;8.15%ofthemthinktheysometimesintroduceculturaldifferencesand42.22%and23.70%ofthemdonotornotsureaboutthat.Thedatesindicatethattheapplicationofculturalcontexttogrammarteachingisnotsatisfactory.Thereare34.08%oftheteachersoftenorsometimesusetheculturalcontexttheoryingrammarteaching,whiletheothersneglecttheintroductionofthedifferencesbetweenthemwhichmayleadthatthestudentsoftenspeakorwriteChinglish.Fromtheaboveresultsandanalysis,wecanseethatthepresentsituationofapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingisnotsatisfactory.Asthefiguresshows,themajorityoftheteachersapplyco-textandsituationalcontextsintogrammarteaching,whiletheapplicationofsituationalcontextintogrammarteachingisnotbetterthanthatoftheco-text.Thoughtheteachersoftenapplyco-texttheoryintogrammarteaching,therearestillsomeproblems.Theteachersonlyusethematerialsfromthetextbook;theycanexplainthegrammarrulesthroughtheuseoftheintegrateddiscourse,suchasstories,poems,etc.words,phrases,orsentencesinsteadofinterpretingthegrammarinisolationsituations.AccordingtoTheNewEnglishCurriculumStandardforSeniorHighSchool(experimental2003)laidbyMinistryofeducationwhichemphasizesthatthestudentsshouldknowhowtouselanguagestructuresindifferentcontexts.Sotheteachersshouldusecontexttheoryingrammarteaching,especiallycreatereallifesituationsforthestudents.Thebestwayforlearnerstoimprovetheirknowledgeofgrammaristopracticetheminreal-lifetasks.Astheculturaldifferences,someteachersstillignoretheimportanceoftheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Sotheteachersshouldemphasizethesefactors.(3)Themajorproblemsintheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingandthemain37 causesforthem.Fromtable4-22andtable4-23,wecanseewhatproblemstheteachersmeetwhentheyapplythecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Table4-22QuestionsAnswersPercentageYouthinkthattheteacherappliesA.2.96%contexttheorytogrammarteachingB.80.74%isC.16.30%A.time-consumingandhavingnothingtodowiththegrammarB.verygoodwhichactuallyimproveourcommunicativecompetenceC.othersFromthetableabove,wecanseethat80.74%ofthemthinktheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingimprovetheircommunicativecompetence,with2.96%ofthemthinkusethecontexttheorytogrammarteachingistime-consuming,andhavingnoconnectionwiththegrammar.Sowecanseethestudentsthinkhighlyoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Theypreferthismethod,inotherhand,theyexpecttheirteachersexplainthegrammarrulesthroughthismethodandmostofthemdonotthinkitistime-consumingwhentheteachersapplythistheorytogrammarteaching.Table4-23QuestionsAnswersPercentageDoyouthinkthedesignoftheA.Yes,Ithinkso.45.19%textbook’sgrammaticalcontentsB.Possible.34.18%considerscontextualfactors?C.Idon’tthinkso.6.67%D.Ihavenoidea.13.33%AsshowninTable4-23,becauseofthevariousunderstandingofthecontexttheory,wecanseeonly45.19%ofthestudentsholdtheviewthattheteachingmaterialscontainthecontextualelement;34.18%of38 themregardsthecontexttheoryisinadequateand6.67%ofthemthinkthestudents’bookrarelycontainsthecontextknowledge.Therest13.33%shownoideaforthisaspect.Itcanalsobeconcludedthatthecurrenttextbookdonotcontainsufficientcontextualknowledgewhichcannotgivetheteachersenoughmaterials.(4)Thestudents’suggestionsfortheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarlearning.Fromthefollowingtwoopenquestions,wecanseethestudents’suggestionsfortheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Question1:Doyouthinkwhatkindsofcontextsdomorehelpinyourgrammarlearning?Question2:whatsuggestionswouldyouliketomakeconcerningtheapplicationofcontexttheoryintogrammarteaching?Afteranalyzingtheresults,itcanbedividedintothefollowingaspects:(1)Thestudentsexpecttheteacherscreatethesituationswhicharecloselyrelatedtotheirlifewhenteachinggrammar;(2)Thestudentshopethattheteacherscouldusesomematerialswhichareinteresting;(3)Thestudentsalsohopethattheteacherscouldteachgrammarthroughdialogue,songswhichcanarousetheirinterests.Fromtheabove,wecanalsoseesomeproblemsexistinthegrammarteaching.Fromthepreviousresults,weknowthattheteachersapplytheco-textcontextandsituationalcontexttogrammarteaching,butfromthestudents’answers,wecanseethattheylacktheskillswhentheyapplycontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Tothestudents,thegrammarlearningisboring.Allinall,teachinggrammarincontextsishelpfulthande-contextualized.Theadvantagesoftheuseofithavebeenpresentedinthepreviouschapter.Soitputsforwardmorerequirementsfortheteacherswhoshouldimprovethemselvesgradually.Theyshouldbroadentheirhorizonandenrichthemselvesallthetimeinordertohaveabetterperformanceinteaching.4.2.ResultsandDiscussionofClassroomObservationIttooktheauthorfourmonthstohavetheclassroomobservation.Theauthorcametotheclassperiodicallytomakenoteoftheteachingprocedures.Theteacherwasaprofessionalteacherwhowasfamiliarwiththestudents,thetextbook,andtheconditionsofthecollegeentranceexamination.TheteachersinNo.2middleschoolwereenthusiasticwhonotonlylettheauthorhavelessonsintheirclassbut39 alsogavesomehandsintheauthor’sthesis.Intheclassroomobservation,theauthorhadthechancetoobserveseveralteachersclasswhotaughtdifferentgrades.Accordingtotheauthor’sobservation,themainmethodtheteachersusedtopresentthegrammaticalruleswasGrammarTranslationMethodwhichtheteachersexplainedthegrammarclearlytostudents.Theteachersintheclassjustneededapieceofchalkandthetextbook,onlyoneteacherusedthemulti-mediaintheirteaching.Thestudentswiththeirpensandnotebookswrotedownwhattheteacherssaidorwroteontheblackboard.Sotheteachersdominatedthewholeclass,whatthestudentsshoulddowastotakenotesandtranslatesomesentencesintoEnglish.Thismethodmadetheclassateacher-centeredclass,anditwasboringforthestudentstojustreceiveformalgrammarrules.Thus,thestudentslearnedtheknowledgepassively.Whencametothetextwhichcontainedthegrammaticalrules,theteacheranalyzedthesentencestructuresforthestudents.Sothiswaswhattheteachers’understandingofco-texttheory.Theypaidmuchattentiontothegrammarstructures,whiletheyneglectedtodevelopmentthestudents’communicativeability.Fromthequestionnaires,weknowtheteachersthinkthegrammarisimportantforstudents’successfulcommunication,buttheteachersdonotputthisintopractice.Theclassdominatedbythismodelwasdreary.Ifthissituationisnotchanged,moststudentswilllosetheinterestinlearningEnglish.Theyjustknowhowtopasstheexaminationtoenterthecollege.Therefore,accordingtotheauthor’sobservation,thoughtheteachershaverealizedtheimportanceofthecontext,theapplicationofcontexttogrammarteachingisnotsatisfactory.Intheiropinion,theconceptofthelinguisticcontextwasjustthesentenceswhichcontainedthegrammarpoints.Sometimestheyexplainedthegrammarrulesinthepassagewhichwerelongandoutdated.Astothesituationalcontext,theyonlycreatedreallifecontextswhenthestudentsmetdifficulties.Takeoneclassforexample,thatwasaclasstheteachertaughtthepresentcontinuoustensetoexpressthefuturetense.Firstly,theteacherletthestudentsreviewthepresentcontinuoustensetheyhadlearnedwhichrepresentsthingsarehappeningnow.Secondly,shetoldthestudentsthepresentcontinuoustensecouldalsoexpressfuturetense,butitwaslimitedtosomemotionverbssuchasgo,come,andstartandsoon.Thirdly,shewrotesomesentencesontheblackboardandletthestudentsreadthesentencesby40 themselves.Thesentencesshowedbytheteacherswouldbecitedbelow.1.WearegoingtoBeijingnextSunday.2.Areyougoingtothecinema?3.HeisleavingforLondonintwohours.4.Whatareyouhavingfordinner?Theteachersaskedthestudentstoreadthesentencesandtoldthemtopayattentiontotheverbsinthesentences.Finally,sheaskedthestudentstotranslatesomesentencesintoEnglish.Thiswasaclasswhichtheteachertaughtthepresentcontinuoustensetoexpressthefuture.Theteacheralsogavetheauthorthechancetoobserveotherteachers’class.TheauthorfoundthatmostteachersgaveprioritytotraditionalGrammarTranslationMethodswhichtheythoughtwasthemostappropriatemethodtoteachgrammareventhoughthenewcurriculumstandardshasadvocateddevelopingstudents’communicativelanguageability.TheysaidstudentsinSeniorHighSchoolshadaclearobjective-gotahighmarkincollegeentranceexamination.Therefore,theyshouldteachstudentshowtodowrittenexerciseswhichhadcloseconnectionwiththeexamination.Asclasstimewaslimited,theythoughtdoingactivitieswastedalotoftime.Sowecanseewhattheco-texttheoryintheteachers’viewisthatthesentencestructuresandthetextsinthetextbook.Astothesituationalcontext,theteachersoftencreatedsituationswhenthestudentshadsomedifficultiesinunderstandinggrammaticalrules.Suchas,whenonemanteachertaughtDirectSpeechandIndirectSpeech,heletthreestudentscometotheplatformtomakearole-playforthestudentsinordertomakethestudentscanunderstandwhatwasDirectSpeechandIndirectSpeech.Thus,theteacherscreatethereallifesituationsforthestudentswhenneeded.Theydidnotoftenapplyittogrammarteaching.Fromtheabovewecanseetheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingisnotsatisfactory.Learninggrammarmeanshavingtheabilitytousethegrammaticalstructuresaccurately,meaningfullyandappropriately.Inordertorealizethisgoal,theteachersneedapplythecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.41 42 ChapterFiveConcludingRemarks5.1.MajorFindingsoftheResearchBasedupontheanalysisofthequestionnairesandclassroomobservation,theresearchhasgotthefollowingmajorfindings.Firstly,mostteachersandstudentsrealizetheimportanceofthegrammarteaching.BothteachersandstudentsthinkitisnecessarytoteachgrammarinEnglishlearning.Theteachersalsothinkgrammarplaysanimportantroleinsuccessfulcommunication,buttheydonotputthisintopractice.Astothestudents,itisthepressurefromtheexaminationsthatmoststudentshavetodomoreexercisesthanimprovetheircommunicationcompetence.Secondly,theteachersacknowledgethatthecontexttheoryisimportantingrammarteaching,buttheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingisnotsatisfactory.Astotheconceptionsofcontext,90%oftheteachersonlyknowtheco-textcontextandsituationalcontextwhichreflectsthattheteacherslackenoughcontextualknowledge.Accordingtothesurvey,theapplicationoflinguisticcontextandthesituationalcontextisbetterthantheculturalcontext.Comparedthelinguisticcontextandthesituationalcontext,theapplicationofthelinguisticcontexttogrammarteachingisbetterthantheapplicationofsituationalcontexttogrammarteaching.(1)Astotheco-text,inmostteachers’opinion,itreferstothesentencestructures.Theyoftenusethesentenceswhichcontaingrammaticalrulesinthetextorothersfromthetextbook.Thisistosay,thoughtheteachersknowtheco-textcontext,buttheylackmaterialsandsomeskillswhentheyapplytheco-texttogrammarteaching.Theauthorputsforwardthattheycanusesongs,poemsingrammarteaching.Poetryisoneoftherichestvehiclesforlearninggrammarrules.Poetryandsongasformsoflanguageuseareuniversalamonghumanbeings.Andthethemestheydealwitharecommontoallcultures:love,death,nature,children,andreligiousbeliefs-thelistisalongone.Alllanguagelearnersareawareoftheideaofpoetryandofitsthematiccontent.Totheextent,poetryisfamiliar.Andtheapplicationoftheseskillstogrammarteachingcanmaketheclassinterestingandarousethestudents’interesttolearn.(2)Astothesituationalcontext,theapplicationofittogrammarteachingis43 worsethanthelinguisticcontext.Mostteachersdonotoftencreatereallifecontextsforthestudents.Theyoftencreaterealcontextsforthestudentswhentheyhavedifficultiesinunderstandingthegrammar.(3)TheteachersrarelyintroducetheculturaldifferencebetweenChineseandEnglish,sotheapplicationofculturalcontexttogrammarteachingisunsatisfactory,whichmaybethereasonwhythestudentsoftenwriteChinglish.Thirdly,themainproblemsthattheteachersmeetwhentheyapplycontexttheorytogrammarteachingcanbesummarizedasfollows:(1)Theylacksufficientcontextknowledgeandotherrelevantcontextknowledgeneededingrammarteaching.(2)Theydonothaveenoughandappropriatematerialswhentheyapplythecontexttheorytotheirgrammarteaching.(3)Theyareshortofeffectivemethodsandtechniqueswhenusingthecontexttheoryingrammarteaching(4)Thelimitedtimepreventssometeachersfromoftenapplyingthecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Fourthly,themaincauseswhichleadtotheexistingproblemscanbeconcludedas:(1)Thecollegeentranceexaminationandthepresentappraisalsystempreventtheteachersfromgivingconsiderationstothecontexttheoryintheirgrammarteaching.Itisthepressurefromthecollegeentranceexaminationthattheteachersletthestudentsdomoreexercisesinsteadofusingsomeskillstomaketheclassinteresting.(2)Thetextbooksdonotprovideenoughcontextmaterialsfortheteachers.(3)TheteachersthinktheylackdifferentkindsofknowledgewhichareneededforgrammarteachingsuchasagoodmasterofEnglish,thelatestknowledgerelatedtoEnglishteaching,knowledgeofpedagogyandawiderangeofknowledgeandsoon.(4)Theteachersthinktheyshouldgivemoretrainingchancestoaccessthelatestteachingtheory.5.2.PedagogicalImplicationsCelce-Murcia(1991)holdsthatgrammarisatoolorresourcetocomprehendlanguageandtospeakandwrite…andgrammarteachingshouldberelatedtomeaning,societyanddiscourse.Sotheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachingisnecessary.Thefollowingaresomepedagogicalimplicationsfortheteachersintheirapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.(1)ToimproveprofessionalknowledgeandskillsTeachersshouldbewillingtoacceptnewteachingtheorynotinsistonthetraditionalone.Theschoolcanprovidetheteachersmorechancestoexchangeteachingexperiencewitheachotherintheformof44 lectures,modelclasses,etc.theycanalsoprovideavarietyoftrainingprogramssuchaspre-servicetraining,in-servicetrainingfortheteachers.ThelatestmagazinesandbooksrelatedtotheEnglishteachingshouldbeintroducedtotheteachersinorderthattheycanknowthenewteachingtheoriesandmethodsinteaching.Inshort,theteachersshouldlearnallkindsofknowledgerelatedtoteaching.Astotheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching,whileusinglinguisticcontexttoteachthegrammar,theteachercanuselead-inactivitiesandsongsandpoemstoarousestudents’interestandattention.Whatismore,thegrammaticalstructuresappearinthesongsandpoemscangivestudents’deepimpression.Manylanguageinstructorswhohaveafondnessforliteraturecanconductvariousliteraryactivitiesassociatedwithpoetry,songs,plays,soapoperas,orshortstories.Story-basedgrammarinstructionisalsoregardedascontext-basedgrammarinstructionasgrammarispresentedincontext.Thismethodscanarousethestudents’motivationandtheirinterest,whatismore,itcultivatesthestudents’abilityofanalyzingthelanguagepointsinawholeperspective.Whenusingnon-linguisticcontexttoteachgrammar,theteachersshouldcreatespecificsituationsforthestudents,especiallythesituationsrelatedtotheirdailylife.Theculturalknowledgeneedstobeintroducedintheclassinorderthatthestudentscancomprehendtheirthoughtpattersandtheirhabits.Heretheauthorwantstoshowateachingplanabouthowtoteachthepresentcontinuetensetoexpressthefutureplanaccordingtothecontexttheoryfromtheauthor’spoint.Step1.Showthestudentsaconversationwhichusesthepresentcontinuetensetoexpressthefuturetense.TellthestudentsthisisthetalkbetweenCarlosandTetsuowhoaretalkingaboutaschoolbreak.A:Whatareyoudoingduringtheschoolbreak?B:I’mgoingtoNewWork.Whataboutyou?AreyoustayinginDallas,orareyougoingaway?A:I’mgoingtoLosAngelesforaweek.Iwanttogotothebeach.B:Whenareyouleaving?A:Tomorrow.B:I’mreallyhappywehaveavacation.Ineedarest.A:Iknow.Ineedarest,too.I’mthirsty.Let’sgetsomethingtodrink.B:Goodidea.Howmuchisasoda?A:Fiftycents.Doyouhavechangesforadollar?45 B:Yes,Ithinkso.(H.Douglas.Brown2001:361)Theaboveisamaterialwhichisbasedonthediscourselevel.Theaimofshowingthestudentsaconversationwhichusesthepresentcontinuetensetoexpressthefuturetenseistocreatespecificcontextforthestudents.Fromtheconversation,thestudentsknowthisisaconversationbetweentwopeopleandthematterdoesn’thappeninthedialogue,buttheywillpuzzlethatwhytheconversationusethepresentcontinuetense.Step2.Askthestudentstounderlinethesentenceswhichcontainthepresentcontinuetense.Whatareyoudoingduringtheschoolbreak?I’mgoingtoNewWork.I’mgoingtoLosAngelesforaweek.Whenareyouleaving?Atthistime,youcanaskthestudentswhatrulestheydofind.Sothistaskgivesthestudentschancetoobservethesentencesandfindtherulesalone.Accordingtotheiranswer,youcanremedytheiranswersandtellthemthatthepresentcontinuetensecanexpressthefuturetense.Soyoucanalsotellthestudentswhenitexpressesthepresentcontinuetenseorthefuturetensedependsonthecontexts.Step3.Askthestudentssomequestionsaccordingtothedialogue.AretheybothstayinginDallas?Wherearetheygoing?Whenisheleaving?Aretheybothdoingtodrinksola?Thisobjectiveofthisstepistoletthestudentspracticethegrammarrulebyansweringthesequestionstheyhavejustlearned.Theycanunderstandthecontentofthedialoguecompletelyandpracticethegrammarstructurestheyhavejustlearned.Step4.Createasituationforthestudentstopracticethegrammarrules.Writeaplanaboutthiscomingweekendwithin200words.Youmaycontainthefollowingcontent.Whatareyougoingtodo?Whereareyougoing?Whenareyougoing?46 Whoareyougoingwith?Theaimofthisstepistocreatetherealcontextforthestudentswhichensurethestudentscanpracticethegrammarrulesinspecificandrealsituation.Sothestudentscanhaveafullyunderstandingofthegrammarrulesaswellasgivethechancetoimprovetheircompetence.Itusestwokindsofcontextinthelesson-thesituationalcontextandthelinguisticcontext.Thestudentscanmastertheknowledgeandfostertheirlearningmotivationmeanwhile.Whenteachingthegrammarrulesincontext,thestudentscanknowhowtousethestructuresindifferentsituations.Allinall,teachinggrammarincontextsalsoputforwardmorestandardsfortheteacherswhoneedexertone’sbesttopreparethelesson.(2)TotrytousetextbookflexiblyAsweknow,notextbookisperfect,soitisnecessaryfortheteacherstousetextbooksflexibly.Iftherearesomecontentswhicharenotproperforteaching,theteacherscanuseothermaterialstoteach.Fromthispoint,wecanseetheteachersmayhavedifficultiesincollectingmaterials,classifyingthemandstudyingthem.Soitsuggeststhattheteachersshouldimprovethemselvesallthetime.Theycanreadsomenovels,poems,newspaperstoenrichtheirknowledgeasusualwhichensurethattheyhavematerialsathandwhenneeded.Itistheteachers’responsibilitiestousethetextbookcreativelyaswellasotherlanguagematerialssuitabletodifferentsituations.Asthetextbookdoesnotcontainenoughcontextfactors,theteacherscanputforwardthisquestiontotheauthoritiesinordertoimprovethequalityofthetextbook.(3)Topayattentiontothestudents’requirementsFromthequestionnaire,werealizethatthestudentsexpecttheirteacherscancreatereallifesituationsforthemandusethedialogues,poemsandsongtoarousetheirinterest.Inshort,theyhopetheteacherscanmaketheclassinteresting.Sotheteachersshouldgiveconsiderationstothestudents’requirementssoastoimprovethegrammarteaching.(4)Topayattentiontotheculturalcontext.Fromthepreviousresults,weknowtheteacherspaylittleattentiontoculturalcontextwhichmaycausemanymistakesinstudents’learningbecausetherearebigdifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish47 cultures.Asweknow,theteacherwhoteachesalanguageisteachingitsculture.Sotheteachersshouldgivesomeconsiderationstoculturalfactorsingrammarteaching.5.3TheLimitationsoftheResearchandtheProspectsTherearemanylimitationsinthestudy.Firstly,thedesignofthequestionnairescanbemodifiedinorderthattheresultwillbebetter.Secondly,theauthoronlyobservesseveralteachers’classtoinvestigatethepresentsituationoftheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteaching.Ifmoreteachersareobserved,theconclusionmaybemoreprecise.Thirdly,thesubjectsinthestudyarelimitedtothosewhostudyinXinxiangNo.2MiddleSchool,buttheapplicationofcontexttheorytogrammarteachinginotherschoolsareunknown.Furthersuggestionsmaybederivedfromthisresearch.Therearealsosomesuggestionsforthelanguageteacherswhoareinterestedinsuchkindsofinvestigations.TheresearchcanalsobeconductedontheapplicationofcontexttheorytovocabularyteachinginSeniorHighSchoolandtheapplicationofcontexttheorytoreadingteachinginSeniorHighSchool.Furthermore,theresearchcanintheformofexperimenttoinvestigatetheeffectoftheapplicationofthecontexttheorytogrammarteaching.48 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Press.陈运香，2005，过去、现在和将来，教育理论与实践第6期。戴炜栋，2002，新编简明英语语言学教程，上海：上海外语教育出版社。何自然，1997，语用学与英语学学习，上海：上海外语教育出版社。何兆熊，1989，语用学概要，上海：上海外语教育出版社。裴文，2000，现代英语语境学，合肥：安徽大学出版社。胡壮麟，2002，语境研究的多元化，外语教育与研究第3期。盛德仁，2003，双语教学模式探究，北京：外语教育与研究出版。西槙光正，1992，语境研究论文集，北京：北京语言学院出版社。50 AppendixI尊敬的老师：您好！感谢您在百忙中抽时间来完成这份调查问卷。本问卷旨在了解目前语境理论在高中语法教学中的应用现状和存在的问题，以便进一步改进和完善英语语法教学。本调查仅用于教学研究，您不用填写姓名，答案没有正误之分，对您提供的信息予以保密。感谢您对我研究的支持。答案方式：本问卷共有17道题，14道选择题，3道问答题。请您根据实际情况选择最接近的选项，并在该字母上打钩，如果选择“其他”，请写出您的看法。个人基本资料：性别：您所在学校：您所教年级：班里学生人数：一、选择题1.你认为语法教学有必要吗？A.必要B.一般C.不必要D.不清楚2.你认为语法是否对学生进行成功的交际有影响。A.有影响B.不太影响C.不影响D.不清楚3.你认为语境在语法教学中重要吗？A.重要B.一般C.不重要D.不知道4.您是否经常利用上下文来教语法项目？A.经常B.有时C.不用D.不清楚5.您是否经常将对话、诗歌、歌曲用于语法教学？A.经常B.有时C.不用D.不清楚6您在教语法时，您是否为学生创设情境？51 A.经常B.有时C.不涉及D.不清楚7.您在教语法时，是否为学生创设真实生活中的语境？A.经常B.有时C.不涉及D.不清楚8.您是否经常结合文化背景知识来教授语法项目？A.经常B.有时C.不经常D.不清楚9.您发现在真实的材料中教授语法很浪费时间。A.同意B.比较同意C.不同意D.不知10.您认为高考以及现在的考核制度是否会影响您将语境理论用于语法教学？A.非常大B.较大C.一般D.不大11.您认为现行教材的语法教学内容设计是否考虑了语境因素？A.考虑B.很少C.没考虑D.不清楚12.您认为老师的知识储备是否影响语法教学？A.影响B.不太影响C.不影响D.不清楚13.您认为运用语境进行语法教学应具备怎样的知识储备？(不定项选择)A.广泛的知识B.精通英语方面的知识C.英语教学方面的知识D.了解教育学方面的知识E.其他并说明内容14.您认为自己在利用语境进行语法教学方面有哪些不足之处？A.缺乏足够的语境知识B.不知道如何创设语境C.缺乏利用语境教语法的知识D.教材中缺乏足够的语境因素E.其他二、问答题15.请谈谈您对语境理论的理解。16.您认为将语境理论用在语法教学中时有什么问题。52 17.您对将语境理论用于语法教学有何建议。53 54 AppendixII亲爱的同学们：你们好！感谢你们在百忙中抽时间来完成这份调查问卷。本问卷旨在了解目前语境理论在高中语法教学中的应用现状和存在的问题，以便帮助大家更好的学习。本调查仅用于教学研究，不用填写姓名，答案没有正误之分，对你们提供的信息予以保密。感谢你们对我研究的支持。答案方式：本问卷共有13道题，11道选择题，2道问答题。请您根据实际情况选择最接近的选项，并在该字母上打钩，如果选择“其他”，请写出你们的看法。个人基本资料：性别：年龄：你所在学校：你所在年级：班里学生人数：1.你认为语法学习有必要吗？A.必要B.一般C.不必要D.不影响2英语语法学习对我们学好英语很重要。A.不同意B.同意C.非常同意3.学习语法时，A.我关注的是如何理解英语语言，以便提高交际能力。B.我关注的是语法规则，以便应付考试。C.A和BD.其他4.你希望语法教学中输入各种形式的语境吗？A.希望B.可以接受C.不希望D.不知道55 5.老师是否经常利用上下文来教语法项目？A.经常B.有时C.不用D.不清楚6.你老师经常将对话、诗歌、歌曲用于语法教学吗？A.经常B.有时C.不用D.不清楚7.老师在教语法时，是否经常为你们创设情境？A.经常B.有时C.不涉及D.不清楚8.老师在教语法时，是否经常为你们创设真实生活中的语境？A.经常B.有时C.不涉及D.不清楚9.老师是否经常结合文化背景知识来教授语法项目？A.经常B.有时C.不经常D.不清楚10.你认为老师将语境用于语法教学，A.很浪费时间，和语法关系不大。B.很好，切实能提高我们的英语愚弄能力。C.其他11.你认为现行教材的语法教学内容设计是否考虑了语境因素？A.考虑B.很少C.没考虑D.不清楚12.对于语境教学的教学模式，你觉得什么类型的语境对你学习语法更有帮助？13.对于语境教学的教学模式，你有什么建议。56