The Essential English Teaching and the Speculative Ability Cultivation in Englis

Abstract. The essential english is an important compulsory course for the English majors and also one of the important language practice course， even the key courses to help students learn to adapt to their professional learning. And its teaching is the basic for students to study language well. But， at present， the basis of professional English teaching in English language skills training focus on imitative memory and ignore the cultivation of students’ ability of speculation， innovation and problems analyzing， eventually leading to English major students’ serious shortage in thinking and knowledge structure， cultural background information and so on. And， considering the social demand of talents， the employers need now is no longer talents with only English skills， but talents with broad knowledge and good speculation， so English professional teaching should attach importance to the cultivation of speculative ability. In this thesis， Essential English and speculative ability are briefly introduced. And based on this， the cultivation of speculative ability in Essential english teaching of English majors is emphasized.

Key words： essential English， professional English， speculative ability， principle， methods

1 Overview on Essential English

1.1 The Definition of Essential English

As a compulsory comprehensive skills course for the English majors， Essential English are setting four terms， generally for six credits. Its name “Essential English” experienced the following period in our country. Before1980， “English intensive reading” in our country college English major course mainly adopt the grammar translation method and audio-lingual method for the teaching. The grammar translation method pays attention to words memorizing and grammar rules analyzing， but ignore the social interactional function of language. The audio-lingual method is based on the behaviorism theory， only emphasizing mechanical practice of language skills. Late in 1980， “English intensive reading” change into “Essential English” aiming to reflect thoughts and ideas of the whole language approach. After 2000， “comprehensive English” renamed into “Essential English”， and began to anew the understanding of students’ subjectivity， and pay attention to cultivate students’ comprehensive ability of language communication.

Concerning its definition， Essential English can be divided into the broad points and narrow points. The broad one is a course group， referring to the sum of kinds of basic courses of the lower grade English majors， generally including the Essential English （also called the comprehensive English or intensive reading）， English listening comprehension， English conversation， English reading， English writing and English grammar. The narrow one refers to Essential English （also called comprehensive English or intensive reading）. Listening， speaking， reading， writing and grammar， as independent courses in course group， have the different teaching methods. However， fundamental English teaching pays attention to the cultivation of the students’ comprehensive ability. Although in the different phases the teaching goal is also different， overall speaking， basic English teaching focus on the comprehensive training and cultivation of ability of listening， oral English， reading， writing and translating， with a certain universal teaching method.

1.2 The Relationship between Fundamental English and Professional English

Fundamental English teaching is the foundation of students’ language learning， and professional English teaching aims to the practical application of the basic English mastered by students. In the teaching， there are many similarities and differences between Basic English and professional English. In this paper， we only explain their similarities in details while understanding the similarities is positive to improve the efficiency of the fundamental English teaching.

First， the two have similarities in the aspect of basic knowledge learning. Whether basic or professional English learning are concerned， both of them must study the fundamental knowledge， such as pronunciation， grammar and vocabulary. Whether for teaching or learning， pronunciation is the first pass. Without great foundation of pronunciation， learners will face difficulties in reading for incapable of reading or misreading， influencing their word memorizing and word accumulation. And the shortage of word accumulation must bring great difficulties for reading. In addition， the incapability of accurately mastering pronunciation and connecting words’ sound and meaning also bring all kinds of difficulties to listening. Therefore， Essential English teachers should firstly seize this pass.

Second， the two have similarities in the aspect of application ability. In the application ability training， the Basic English and professional English also have something in common. English learning is a process to acquire skills instead of a process to regard English as the knowledge to learn. So， in teaching process， we should pay much attention to students’ language skills training， and the law of language learning， correctly dealing with the relationship between language skills， namely listening， speaking， reading and writing， and ensuring coordinated development of language’s basic abilities.

Finally， the two have similarities in the aspect of language and culture. Both Basic English and professional English are close to culture. Different nations have different cultural background （not emphasize the differences among culture）. In the future work or other foreign activities， students will contact and face the different culture， which requiring teachers to focus on the teaching of cultural differences and the cultivation of the students’ sensitivity in cross-cultural communication.

All in all， Basic English learning is the foundation of professional English， while learning the Basic English let learning professional English become possible. At the same time， the teacher also should master fundamental English teaching from three aspects， namely basic knowledge， application ability and language culture， and lay the good foundation for students’ professional English study.

2 The Current Situation of Essential English Teaching in English Major

Considering the present circumstances， the current situation of university’s Essential English teaching is not optimistic， with many English teachers’ only focusing on the improvement of the students’ language ability， and regarding the pass of TEM4 and TEM8 as teaching goal. Students just try to memorize words and grammar， without improving speculative ability， so the development their language communicative competence suffered serious obstacle. Especially in speech or the oral communication， because of lacking logical thinking， students are disorganized in the language organization， and sometimes even feel have nothing to say. In speech and debate， students often， without bright view and outstanding theme， are not good at the arguing and discussing and rattling while facing a little difficulty without considering the appropriateness. In writing， many students don’t know how to start. Even if wrote the article， the view is not clear and the center is not outstanding. And they are lack of ability of analysis， thinking， judgment and inference. All of these are the detail reflection of students’ lack of speculative ability in fundamental teaching in the English major.

The reasons can be concluded as follows：

The first aspect is from students. Most students only pay attention to English textbooks and study in major area， unwilling to spend time and energy understanding and studying history， politics， philosophy， society， and the other aspects of knowledge， even seldom reading the newspapers and magazines， and confine them in a small major field. When they are asked to have a discussion on “environment problem”， the students’ ideas only limit to something like water pollution and air pollution without any more topics. Limited vocabulary and narrow range of knowledge makes the students’ thinking hard to active， and the innovation ability and the speculative ability is out of the question.

The second aspect is from the teachers. Teachers， during teaching English， often ignore the cultivation of students’ analysis， problem solving， thinking， imagination and innovation ability. And some teachers only repeat what the books say， with little debate， speeches and other activities in their class， without creating good environment for students’ speculative ability training in classroom.

The second aspect is from the teaching approach. Most English teachers only pay attention to mindless imitation and practice， and ignore the cultivation of creativity established on the basis of imitation. In their class， the simple dialogue， such as retelling and replacing， are often taken， and the activities in training students’ speculative ability and creation ability， like speech， discussions and debate， are seldom seen.

The fourth aspect is from the universities. Universities do not implement the issue on cultivating students’ speculative ability， but totally let it drift， making teachers fail to treat the problem.

3 Overview on Speculative Ability

3.1 The Connotation of Speculative Ability

The term “critical thinking skills” is widely in the west. Among them， “ critical” is from two roots in Greek： kriticos （appreciative judgment） and kriterion （standard）， and its meaning is “using appropriate evaluation standard， conscious thinking， and finally make rational judgment”（Paul & Elder， 2006）. In our country， many scholars explain it as “critical thinking ability”. Among them， Wen Qiufang suggested to translate it as “high-level thinking ability”. But now， more scholars tend to translate it as “speculative ability”， because they think this explanation is more accurate than “high-level thinking ability” and can highlight the training goal of higher education.

On the definition of critical thinking skills， different scholars have different views. The director of the center Paul and Elder have given the definition of critical thinking： "In order to determine the true value of a thing， to use appropriate evaluation criteria， conscious thinking， and ultimately making a reasoned judgment"， which consists of three dimensions： analysis， evaluation， and improvement. Modern Chinese Dictionary （2002） interpreted the word of speculative as： "the use of logical deduction and pure theory， pure concept of thinking； think and discrimination.” Qiufang Wen has pointed out that the capacity for critical thought is just an important part of the thinking ability， it does not contain all the thinking ability， such as the image of the thinking ability does not belong to the scope of the capacity for critical thought. Capacity for critical thought students should have the logic thinking ability， abstract thinking， effective reasoning ability， argument evaluation capacity. The capacity for critical thought is rich in content， and includes not only the spirit of independent thinking and creative spirit， but also contains the comparison， analysis， synthesis， reasoning， testing， evaluation of the core skills of general thinking ability.

From ancient times， one of the important manifestations of learning ability is a critical thinking skill. Learning and thinking are indispensable， and closely linked to each other. Confucius once said： “Learning without thinking is labor lost； thinking without learning is perilous.” Great Master Dainian Zhang also suggested that one of the scholarships is to think and learn unity. Learning is the basis of thinking； thinking is learned on the basis of further independent thinking.

The English majors syllabus clearly states： "It should make an effort in the teaching of professional courses train students to analysis and synthesis， abstraction and generalization， multi-angle analysis of the problem and a variety of thinking skills and identify problems. In the teaching， it is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between language skills training， thinking ability and innovative ability； none of them can be neglected. It can be seen that in the training of the students 'professional skills， it should also develop students' critical thinking skills， the cultivation of critical thinking skills students learning English is essential.

3.2 Characteristics of Critical Thinking Skills

Ruggiero thinks that person with a capacity for critical thought exhibits the following characteristics.

Refuse to be Manipulated. It is easy to be controlled when people want to get the respect of others， such as the advertising just use the human weakness， while the one who has the capacity for critical thought can reject this manipulation.

Do not Deceive Ourselves. People who has a capacity of critical thought is clear in many cases that "knowledge" is only the classification of the facts or assumptions， or personal understanding， so they are very cautious in their words and do not say too absolute.

Overcome the Weaknesses. People with critical thinking skills have the ability to find a pull off to the problem when feel confused， or have data access or a consultant， which is highly motivating.

Ask Questions. People with a capacity for critical thought would question the authority and have the ability to ask questions.

Come up with a Variety of Ideas. People with a capacity for critical thought people would take the time to come up with a variety of ideas.

Conclude Based on Evidence. People with a capacity for critical thought usually put the conclusions based on evidence.

Independent. People with a capacity for critical thought are independent in academia.

4 The Principle of Students' Critical Capacities in the Teaching of Basic Major English

4.1 To Create a Democratic Environment of Speculative

To form a kind of "wisdom" speculative culture of teaching is very beneficial to develop and nurture students' critical thinking skills. In such a culture of teaching， teachers are no longer the authority of tradition， but the equal partners involved in student learning， which is to help students learn and grow auxiliary propelled. At the same time， teaching teachers should create self-discovery， self-thinking and self-exploration opportunities for the students， encouraging students to ask questions， explore， assumptions， and actively carry out exploration and validation.

4.2 The Creation of a Critical Learning Environment

One of the important features of the speculative is the doubts about the authority， but not blindly believes in the authority of the obstacles to critical thinking skills training. To develop students' critical thinking skills， it is necessary to eliminate the fear of the student to the teachers， so that teachers and students would establish an equal relationship， at the same time， it should also encourage students to question the teachers， dare to go beyond the teachers. In class， teachers should encourage students to be different， to create the learning environment which is conducive to the students to discover and ask questions.

4.3 Pay Attention to the Students' Participation

Student participation is an important way to develop critical thinking skills， so the impart knowledge of teachers and the phenomenon of monologue should not appear in the speculative teaching. Speculative teaching should be founded on a democratic basis， so that students would have a full voice， and should try to create opportunities for students to actively participate in the speculative and the construction of knowledge， such as various forms of exchange as the core： the debate， dialogue， questioning， discussion and so on. In this process， the entire teaching activities began to shift from a simple process of give and accept to the process of soul collision between students and teachers.

4.4 To Grasp the Objectivity of Reasoning

Speculation is not based on speculation and judgment， but on the basis of rational thought. In result， in the speculative teaching， teachers should pay attention to demonstrations and training of students about the reasoning at the logic level， and guide students from the logic level knowledge to question and criticism. This kind of challenge needs to get rid of the interference of the value， and put objectivity as a starting point to maintain certain independence.

4.5 Cultivate Students' Classification Capability of Information

In the traditional English Basic English teaching， teachers often require students remember the rules and methods of information classification； however， the capacity for critical thought is based on the classification strategy to guide and help students. In this way， students can have a good understanding of the concept， and can achieve the perfect combination of theory and practice. Therefore， teachers should focus on the cultivation of the students’ classification capabilities of information.

4.6 Encourage Students to Identify Problems

To require students to find， propose and clarify the issue is the most important skill of speculation. In fact， teachers can guide students to identify the problems in real life， in order to better solve the problem. In this way， each student will identify several ways to solve the problem， and thus the capacity for critical thought would be exercised.

5 To Cultivate Students' Critical Thinking Skills in the Basic Major English Teaching

There are many ways to cultivate and enhance students' critical thinking skills， here to introduce the following methods.

5.1 Interest Guidance

Interest has a huge role in promoting the development of students' learning and thinking skills， we can say that interest is the best teacher. Therefore， in the teaching process， teachers should make an effort for students to create activities conducive to inspire and lead the students in order to stimulate students 'interest， to arouse students' curiosity， to guide students for active learning and thinking. For example， teachers can create some of the scenes， such as press interviews， shopping， etc.， so that students have learned to pull off this real-life. Meanwhile， in the teaching process， teachers should create a new English-speaking environment and try to guide students in a particular context， to encourage students to develop their own imagination， to improve students 'self-imagination， and to cultivate students' creative thinking ability.

5.2 Expand Students' Knowledge

Thinking is based on knowledge of the background. It has already mentioned above that the narrow range of knowledge is one of the reasons that hinder students 'critical thinking skills training， so teachers should focus on the expansion of students' knowledge. It is important to train the students’ awareness， teachers should encourage students to take extracurricular reading which enables students to increase their knowledge and broaden their knowledge.

5.3 Use Flexible Teaching Methods

With the continuous development of modern educational technology， you need to start from the reform of teaching methods to stimulate students 'interest and develop students' thinking.

firstly， teaching can take the student activities as a center， to use lecture， discussion， debate according to the hot topics in the society， to develop students' critical thinking skills. Take the student activities as a center is to give full play to the initiative， to encourage students to say and more practice. The purpose of learning English speech is not to train speaker， but to cultivate students 'ability to express complex ideas clearly， and then develop the students' logical thinking ability. Discussion and debate is also a good way to active the thinking of students， because that the fierce debate can burst to live novel reflect on activation.

Secondly， use the open approach to develop students' critical thinking skills. Students can based on the movie clips or the information provided in the picture， out of thin air their own imagination to fabricate vivid and the story has a certain logic； or hear the title， activate the minds of all kinds of background knowledge and experience， and then expand imagine， compiled in line with the title and logical story. Through these exercises， it can exercise the students’ thinking ability.

6 Conclusion

In order to improve the students' professional ability， to cultivate the innovative talents and meet the needs of contemporary society， it must be paid attention to the cultivation of students' critical thinking skills in teaching. However， the basic English teaching did not give enough attention， so it is necessary to analyze the obstacles of critical thinking skills training， as well as to develop ways and means of cultivation. The transfer of skills is imperative to cultivate the capacity for critical thought of Basic English teaching class.

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