1。 Introduction 

Nowadays, National English Curriculum in the elementary education has set a new demand on teachers’ educational ideas and ways of teaching。 With the renewal of educational ideas, the focus on middle school English teaching has been changed from teachers to students。 However, in the study on English teaching, it is common to hold the idea that English teaching wastes a great amount of time and energy but gets poor teaching results。 

Therefore, the problem every teacher needs to pay attention to is how to optimize English teaching and improve learning efficiency。 National English Curriculum asks teachers to change the traditional teaching method which thinks highly of knowledge but underrates affection。 Thus, it is important for teachers to develop students’ positivity in learning process to make good use of affective teaching and to build a harmonious relationship between teachers and students。

Applying affective factors to English teaching means that teachers transfer their affection on students to meet students’ learning needs。 Traditional English teaching unilaterally emphasizes the importance of knowledge and ignores that of affective factors。 It costs more time on words and text analysis rather than spoken English in class。 Although many teachers are aware of the importance that students should take part in class, but in fact they still adopt the traditional teaching method which is teacher-centered and aims to make students master knowledge that texts present。 

However, traditional education unilaterally emphasizes knowledge and intelligence, but severely ignores affective factors which are related to learning activities and creative potential, making students passive with blind obedience and making cognition separate from affection。论文网

In English teaching, teachers just teach students knowledge which is the only bound between teachers and students。 The abnormal relationship between teachers and students causes that there is a lack of emotional interaction between teachers and students, thus students have poor awareness of participating in English class and they show no interest in English learning。 Therefore, it is important for teachers to apply affective factors to middle school English teaching。 In doing this, a harmonious and warm classroom atmosphere will be built。

2。 Literature Review

A lot of educators made studies on affective education。 Educators’ studies show that affective factors have an important effect on foreign language learning。

2。1 Studies on affective factors abroad

In the foreign countries, it has been a long history that many educators and scholars pay more attention to the affective education。 Socrates compared teachers to the mid-wife of knowledge。 According to Quineilianus, it showed the idea of happy learning when he discussed the relationship between teachers and students (Quineilianus 5-6)。 He believed that teachers should treat students with a gentle paternal attitude, in a strict but not cold, kind but not indulgent way。 After a long time, students would be willing to listen to teachers under the influence of this affection。 Comenius was favor of a teaching idea that both teachers and students were happy in the process of learning (Comenius 152)。 An American educator put forward the first principle of happiness in teaching, which to some extent reflected the affective influence on English teaching (Spencer 48-52)。 A famous American new teaching thinker found that it was curiosity and self-competence rather than award or competition that had a greater motivation effect on students’ learning behaviors (Bruner 53-55)。 Therefore, he put forward the principle of motivation and emphasized the inner dynamic function。

Since 1960s, humanistic psychologists who have paid attention to affective factors in middle school teaching come up with the concept of intellectual and affective learning。  Rodgers, an American humanistic educator, emphasized the importance of inpidual affection in learning (Rogers 37)。 Sue Home Linsky firmly believed that affection played an important role in the development of students’ intelligence and all-round development (Sue 86)。 In his works, affection has been mentioned from different aspects for many times。 Also, he tried to explore whether the idea of happy learning could be presented in teaching practice。