How-to-teach-English读书报告.doc

How to teach English ()Recently I have bought several books from the Internet. One of them is a book named How to teach English written by Jeremy Harmer, who is an English methodologist of high prestige.I was attracted by its name when I saw it for the first time from the book list given by our teachers. The title, how to teach English, conveys the indication that the content of the book is quite practical and helpful. I even cherished the illusion that this book could acted as a shortcut for English teaching. Now I realize how ridiculous the idea was, as there is no easy way to success. When I went through the content of this book, I felt it was very different from other books I had read. Many books, they provide the theories, principles or many obscure and unpractical methods for us. In contrast, this book is a very practical book concentrating on examples of teaching and teaching practice rather than on detailed analysis of learning theory. This book mainly explores the teaching content and skills of English, which acts as second language or foreign language. The author seems to try his best to provide more visual and tangible teaching methods and skills. What is more, he adds exercises at the end of every chapter so that explanations combining with exercises can help readers build their own cognitive framework. I appreciate the unique layout of this book, as every chapter starts with several questions and ends with itemized conclusions and summaries. I prefer to show my understandings on the main point.The author also provides us two nouns, teacher talking time (TTT) and student talking time (STT). I always think that for a new model of teaching class, teacher talking time should be as little as possible and in the traditional class the teacher talking time is too much and not enough student talking time. I think the student talking time is very vital, especially with getting the students speak the language they are learning in class. Because when they speak, no matter they are right or not, they can get the help and correction from teachers. But now I know the teacher talk time may have beneficial qualities. Because when the teachers speak, they would be more accurate than the students. Then the students would have an opportunity to hear the language which is certainly above their own productive level, but which they can more or less understand. We can regard it as the practice of listening for students, but it requires the teachers with good pronunciation. The teachers should know how to use their tone correctly according the students understanding.TTT can have uses but should not predominate at the expense of STT. There is another point I appreciate is that this book provides us the concrete methods of teaching reading, listening and writing etc. This book is a complete manual of teaching English as a foreign or second language. Those who are interested in developing the teaching of language components may refer to this book. Some chapters deal with teaching the four language skills. They are, therefore, appropriate for those who want a practical, easy to understand reference of teaching listening, speaking, reading, and writing.That is not over yet; I maintain that chapter four is the most valuable part in this book and the content of the rest chapters is all based on the idea showing in chapter four. This chapter mainly illustrates the elements and methods of language teaching and also discusses not only the characteristics of language acquisition in social life but also how to create a effective classroom environment of language learning. ESA, three elements which will be present in all- or almost all- classes, is of great necessity to be present in a language classroom to help students learn effectively. They are the elements of engage, study and activate. We can understand these elements as input, learn and use. Meanwhile, I prefer to convey the concept that to say that the three elements need to be present does not mean they always have to take place in the same order. The author also describes three different lesson sequences which contain the three elements. In straight arrows lessons, the order is ESA, but in boomerang lessons, teachers may move straight from an Engage stage to an Activate stage. Study can then be based on how well students performed (E-A-S). Patchwork classes mix the three elements in various different sequences (e.g. E-A-A-S-A-S-E-A etc.). I hope I can be such kind of teacher who can vary the ESA sequences with my students to avoid monotony. The ESA model is very precise and an essential introduction to grammar teaching sequences for grammar, vocabulary, and the individual language skills ideas on the exploitation of textbooks.After reading this book, my understandings of English teaching are deepened a lot not only on the professional knowledge but also on my classroom teaching skills. Combining these examples given by the author with the reflection of my teaching experience, I realize that some of those problems I met have been resolved. Meanwhile, there is no shortcut to the teaching career, we must accumulate our experience during the teaching practice and study life long.