Chapter Four Conclusion 19

References 20

A Study on the Application of

Picture Books in Primary School English Teaching

Chapter One Introduction

1。1 Background 

Primary English teaching aims at stimulating students’ interest, developing their positive attitudes and building preliminary confidence in English learning。 Since it is the first time for the primary students to be exposed to English, it is very important to develop their keen interest in English learning。论文网

Reading, a significant form of input, is not only the basis for English learning as well as teaching, but also a crucial skill which needs to be taught and trained。 However, Chinese primary school students possess rare opportunities to get involved in an English environment。 In addition, English reading teaching in primary schools faces difficulties which require to be solved due to the differences between traditional teaching theories and actual teaching conditions。 Under this circumstance, the vital issues for primary schools’ teachers to be dealt are to arouse students’ learning interest in English and build their English reading habits and abilities。

Common problems existing among primary students and teachers are as follows。 To begin with, the chosen reading materials are dependent on teachers’ interest, habits, familiarity to the texts and convenience to practice from their perspectives rather than consider the learning characteristics and cognition of students。 Secondly, the reading training approach is dull which could affect students’ interest in English learning。 For instance, in primary school, teachers tend to focus more on explanations, practice and repetition。 They would decompose the reading materials into isolated language points which could be explained thoroughly but ignore the reading guidance, the interaction as well as communication with students。 Furthermore, students’ passive reading habits could also be considered as a kind of issue which is caused by the traditional English teaching methods。 The traditional English teaching instruction could not facilitate students’ engagement in self–study and even go against this teaching aim due to lack of science and effectiveness, which makes it unfavorable for students to develop good learning habits and improve study efficiency。 As a consequence, many more researches should be made to throw light on solving these problems in primary school English teaching。 There is great attention of scholars focused on the use of English Picture Books among these researches。 It is known that the Picture Books could be one of the best choices in order to boost English learning efficiency and form appropriate learning habits of primary school students。 Therefore, the application of English Picture Books provides an opportunity to deal with the issues above。

1。2 Definition of Picture Books

The compound word, Picture Book means the combination of text and art which leads to something happening beyond what each item contributes to separately。 (Lewis, 2001) Sipe argues that Picture Book rather than the book which contains numbers of pictures, it highlights the connection between words and pictures and emphasizes the unique function of a Picture Book。 (Sipe, 1998, p101) Furthermore, according to Arizpe and Styles, Picture Book refers to a book of which the stories focus on the interaction of written text and image created with an aesthetic intention。 (Arizpe & Styles, 2003) Sipe (1998) also claims that the containing readings demonstrate a kind of synergy when the text and art work together in the form of the Picture Book which has much more significance than the sum of each part。 Due to the evolvement of a Picture Book, readers could integrate their responses to each part of the readings into a completely whole experience on their own。 Scholars of children’s literature illustrate that a Picture Book makes it possible to have related context since the images and text combine together tightly with the aim of conveying temporal and spatial information。 (Lewis, 2001) In addition, Picture Books related to the literal and graphic reading materials express particular emotions and subjects。 With annotation of English, Picture Books, containing vivid stories and illustrations, possess the superiority of arousing children’s interest in English study, which tends to be suitable materials for English learners。