Embodied Philosophy in English Teaching of Speaking

【Abstract】The paper mainly uses the embodied philosophy theory combined with spoken English teaching to analyze the effect of teaching in order to make students get a high level to express themselves in English.

【Key words】Embodied Philosophy； Spoken English teaching

1. Introduction

Lakoff &Johnson published “Philosophy in the Flesh-The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought” in 1999. In this book， the Embodied Philosophy was proposed， which was opposed to the traditional points in the western philosophy. Cognitive linguistics believes that experience is the connection of the old experience with new cognition. Speaking is the most basic communicative form in our daily life. As an important competence of English， it should not just be acquired from reading and listening to the teachers. So experiencing foreign language teaching is important for acquisition of listening and speaking.

2. Theoretical Framework of the study

The Embodied Philosophy theory was proposed by Lakoff and Johnson. Its main claim is that a more practical and empirical path should be pursued instead of postulating logical rules and objective definitions on the basis of theoretical considerations and introspection. Based on the experiential view， it can be concluded three basic principles， which are explained in the following parts.

The mind is inherently embodied. It clams that our minds， categories， and concepts are not decided by outer environment or the objective reality but formed by our inter feeling systems. Based on the point， linguists believe that if we do not rely on the cognition and category knowledge， we can not approach the reality.

Thought is mostly unconscious. It means that out thoughts in our minds don’t have direct consciousness. It concerned with many complex process even if when we understand some very simple words. So language acquisition is also under the unconscious condition.

Abstract concepts are largely metaphorical. Metaphor is the most important way for us to understand experience， which is everywhere in our life including language， thoughts and philosophy and so on.

3. Embodied Philosophy in English Teaching of Speaking

Spoken language is defined as a kind of output capabilities. The Father of Application linguistic in British thought that， to learn English， you need to open your mouth to read and to say. Linguist Thomas said， language refers not only ability of whether one can make grammatical sentence， but also the ability of whether one can apply it properly.

According to the Embodied Philosophy theory， experimental teaching approach is essential for speaking teaching in the class. Based on the experiential view， experimental teaching approach has many kinds of forms， the most common of which include case imitation， role playing， discussion and games， and so on.

Firstly， as for the case imitation， experiential case teaching method can arrange some experience tasks to the students based on the requirements of specific teaching objectives. These task forms can be very flexible. We can call for students to make some comments and express their own views for some specific social events. We can also require students to complete a specific task and involve in this activity.

Secondly， teachers should be well-prepared for the theme which should be chosen to cover the knowledge， and at the same time express the imagination and creativity of the students. Meanwhile， teachers should record the situation of the students in the activity. After it， teachers should communicate with them， and summarize it based on their performances.

Thirdly， group discussion is also an effective way including brain storming or debate competition. Before the class， teachers choose a proper topic and let the students debate them in the class. During the competition and the discussion， teachers have to pay attention to record carefully and solve the problems which the students propose.

Fourthly， expanding game is also a very good teaching method. Nowadays， some teachers in some pioneering work educations and enterprising administration often adopt some classical game models， such as post messenger， Red and Black stripes and so on.

Experimental teaching approach of English generally has three stages： scenario design， situational experience， practical use. All of these prove that knowledge comes from experience alone and practice tries truth.

4. Summary

This paper makes deep investigation， research and analysis on the improvement strategies of English Speaking Teaching. Generally speaking， spoken English teaching is stepping into a new level in China.

References：

[1]Nunan，D.Second Language Teaching and Learning[M].Foreign Language Teaching Research Press，2001：87- 89.

[2]王寅.语言的体验性从体验哲学和认知语言体验观[J].外语教学与研究，2005（1）：37- 42.

作者简介：徐圆（1989.7-），女，吉林省吉林市人，英语专业研究生，初级职称，研究方向：英语教学法。