写作教学中的建构主义

摘要： 建构主义强调学习是主动建构的过程。知识是由学习者自己建构的，并非是被灌输的。本文论述了英语写作教学中的建构主义学习理论。

关键词：建构主义学习理论；英语写作

中图分类号：G4 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-914x（2014）08-01-01

Introduction

In the 21st century， the crucial reformation of education is the transform from teaching to cultivating students’ innovation ability and comprehensive quality， and establishing the idea that the students are the main body in teaching activities and teachers are the guide. Constructivism， as the latest theory in educational psychology， is referential for college English teaching in China.

Constructivism theory originated from famous Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s “genetic epistemology”. This theory reveals cognitive laws in the process of learning. On the basis of the theory of Piaget， many experts developed constructivism from many different angles. At the end of the 1950s and early 1960， American famous psychologist J.S.Bruner put forward the “learner-centered” theory， then he encouraged “ discovery（1970）”， the knowledge isn’t instilled to students by teachers. It’s discovered and constructed by students through teacher’s guidance， instead.

1. The constructivist teaching approaches.

1.1 Main contents

Constructivist learning theory emphasizes “learner-centred”. It requires students who were the passive recipents of the external stimulation to be the active constructors of the knowledge. It also requires teachers who were initiators to be the helpers. That means teachers should use new models and approaches in teaching process.Therefore， constructivism theory is the basis of the “learner-centred” pedagogics.

Learning isn’t the simple transmission from the teachers to the students. Learners must build their own knowledge， it can’t be given to them， and that new knowledge builds on current knowledge. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore， learning must start with the issue around which students are actively trying to construct meaning.

The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning， not just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning. The only valuable way to measure learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process， ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning.

1.2 Learning environment

（1） Context The context in learning environment must help the learners construct the contents they’ve learnt.

（2） Interaction It should be throughout the learning process.

（3） Communication It is the essential means for each learner to promote the process of learning.

（4） construction of meaning It’s the final goal of teaching process. Helping students construct meaning is helping them understanding deeply the internal relationships of what they learned.

1.3 Several teaching models

（1） Contextual teaching The constructivism emphasizes that knowledge is reconstructed in different contexts. Learning is the process of constructing the knowledge actively. The teachers can set different contexts according to different teaching contents. Contextual teaching can not only stimulate the interest of learners， but also can make learners learn actively.

（2） Cooperative learning Cooperative learning is to make the students learn in team. In the teaching process， cooperation aims at accomplishing the meaning construction of what the learners have learnt and mobilizing every learners’ enthusiasm.

（3） interactive teaching Teachers design effective questions， then learners discuss in teams， and teachers give them some guidance. After they answer the questions， teachers give the effective feedback.

2. The teaching methods on English writing under the guidance of constructivism

2.1 Arousing the students’ interests

The teaching on English writing under the guidance of constructivism emphasizes meaningful construction， the process of writing， the group writing task and the interaction between teachers and students.

In the writing class， teachers should use novel introduction to attract the students’ attention and make the students receive the knowledge actively. Teachers should lead students to explore and use the various resources which is beneficial to themselves. In choosing study materials， teachers can guide students to collect extracurricular materials， read English novels， listen to English songs， through which they can be familiar with the usage of different words. Teachers can also create real scenes， then students act different roles. From the plays， students will have interests in writing.

2.2 The process of teaching

According to certain teaching contents and the features of the students’ experiential foundation， teachers should design the teaching environment. Teachers should design some challenging subject which can arouse the students’ enthusiasm. Students should cooperate with teachers. The tasks of teachers are organizing students’ discussion， interaction and learning and guiding the learning process. There are five steps in writing： the preparation， the first draft， feedback， modification and rewrite. The whole process must be student-centered. It’s important to pay more attention to the cooperation and interaction between students. The teachers， as organizer， coordinator， and informant， guide students to accomplish the whole process of writing and encourage students to do more cooperation. Teachers should require students to explore and express the contents of their writing actively. In the process of writing， students can grasp the essence and significance of writing. Therefore， the ability of writing can be improved.

Here we put more emphasis on the process of comments-feedback. The comments-feedback is the central part of the writing， and it is between the first draft and the revised draft. It is indispensable for critical cognition， and it is the necessary preparation for the students to perfect and construct cognition again. Traditionally， teachers correct these essays. But it consumes too much energy and time. And some teachers used to correct some grammar mistakes； they didn’t correct them from the point view of the whole construction or discourse. So now we adopt the method of peer-assessment among the students. When the students finish the first draft， they should assess the contents of other student’s essay， such as length and expression， according to the specific criterion and principles. Students are asked to find as many advantages as they can， and underline them with a wave line. It could be a new word or phrase， and also a sentence pattern. As for some improper or wrong expressions， students should underline them with a straight line or some other signs. In the end， students should comment on the advantages and disadvantages of the essay. This kind of assessment and feedback not only maintain the students' self image， boost their confidence， improve their writing skill， but also save teachers’ time， improve teaching efficiency.

3. Conclusion

The teaching of writing， which is based on the theory of constructivism， brings revolutionary significance in the teaching practice. Constructivists believe that knowing is a process and that learners must individually and actively discover and transform complex information to make it their own. It must be student-centered， and it emphasizes that the students are the active constructivists of the knowledge. In the process of teaching， teachers should create proper situation actively and stimulate their interests of writing. Teachers should attach importance to the cultivation of students’ autonomous learning and exploration spirit. Students could strengthen their cooperation and make full use of the collective wisdom to improve their writing skills.

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