Works Cited 16

Appendix 17

1。 Introduction源C于H优J尔W论R文M网WwW.youeRw.com 原文+QQ752-018766

With the popularity of the Internet and the development of globalization, English has become an essential skill and become one of the compulsory courses in China。 Over time, the traditional teaching methods which over-emphasize instructing language points such as words, phrases and grammars has led to subsequent problems of “Chinglish” and dumb English。 Those outcomes have been criticized widely and become an earnest concern。

The Communicative Approach as a relatively new teaching approach was brought into China by the end of the 1970s。 This method has been applied quickly in well-developed urban schools which have large assembly of talented men。 Emphasizing students’ quality education, urban schools often use modern educational equipment and pursue dynamic classrooms。 This teaching mode has achieved great achievements and been praised by many educationists。

Nevertheless, with the limitation of teaching levels and educational equipment, English teaching in rural areas still remains the traditional teaching methods and lags behind relatively。 In rural middle schools, teachers rule the classroom roost and try to cram students, while students only acquire knowledge passively and show little enthusiasm for learning English, which made class atmosphere dull and boring。 Learning language by rote overlooks the practicability and instrumentality of English language。 Just like Pinker says in The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (1994), without participating in communicative activities, children cannot acquire a language simply by watching or listening to television。 (Zhang 153) Language learning cannot be achieved without language situations。

By applying the Communicative Approach in Class 6, Grade 7 in Gaogou Middle School for one semester, the author researches the suitability and difficulties in applying CLT when students have already been accustomed to the traditional methods。 Testifying the feasibility of completing teaching tasks, developing students’ interest and other aspects, the thesis aims to explore the suitability and applicability of CLT in English teaching of rural middle schools。 

2。 Literature Review

2。1 Definitions of the related concepts

2。1。1 Communicative competence

Referring to CLT, it is inevitable to mention “communicative competence”, a term 

coined by Hymes to react to a communicative view of language with Chomsky’s theory of competence。 (Zhang 166) Hymes proposes the use of language in social context, and is concerned with the integration of language, communication, and culture。 (Celce-Murcia 16)

Just as Richard and Rodgers assert that the primary function of language is for interaction and communications, developing students’ communicative competence is of great significance。 As the most fundamental skill, speaking is viewed as the most demanding of the four skills。 (Bailey & Savage 7) Great communicative competence provokes learners’ interest in learning English。 Equipped with favorable communicative skills, students would be provided with a feeling of confidence and accomplishment, which is vital for sustaining their enthusiasm。 Besides, using language would give students great joy。 Allowing students to use the language they have learned will be the best source of motivation。 (Dobson 15)

2。1。2 The traditional teaching methods论文网

Traditional teaching methods such as the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method and the Audio-lingual Method have been perceived inadequacies or impracticalities for decades。 For English Language Teaching in China, the Grammar-Translation Method had been used for a long time。 Over-emphasizing language “structure” while neglecting “meaning and function”, those teaching methods hinder English teaching greatly。 British linguist Brumfit describes the process of traditional teaching methods as “present, drill and practice”。 (Brumfit & Johnson 183) Without connecting to real situations, students often feel hard to understand language points and remember them by rote。 What’s more, in those methods, teachers dominate the classroom and students acquire knowledge passively。 Consequently, teaching efficiency is barely satisfactory in the teacher-centered classroom。