A Comparative Analysis of Foreign Language Teaching Modes

Abstract. This paper presents a brief analysis and comparison of three foreign language teaching modes ─narrative approach， situational method and immersion program. The three teaching modes all mainly aim at improving students' foreign language proficiency. This paper also puts forward some suggestions on their applicability and the principles of application， and recommends that the appropriate teaching mode should be chosen flexibly based on students’ characteristics （such as cognitive ability， second language / foreign language level） and the available conditions （such as teacher's level and language environment）， rather than invariably using only one mode. The purpose is to seek more effective ways to help students promote their current practical application ability of foreign language so as to meet increased domestic demand for talents with foreign language proficiency.

Keywords： Narrative Approach； Situational Method； Immersion Program； Foreign Language Proficiency

1. Introduction

Currently， the global economic internationalization， integration is becoming increasingly apparent， and trends increasing political， economic and cultural exchanges and exchanges between countries and requirements of language proficiency and practical application are more urgent. With international influence of China， one of the world's largest economies， is gradually increasing， and demanding on both the high level of professional competence and language proficiency skilled personnel is especially high and urgency. From a practical point of view， the most practical Chinese language learning in English-based， however， due to distant kinship Chinese and English， the former Sino-Tibetan language family， which is Indo-European， in the form of correlation than the language weak， combined， have a lack of foreign language or regional environmental advantages neighboring countries due to historical reasons formation （such as India， Vietnam， the Philippines and Hong Kong， China）， and therefore greatly increases the difficulty of foreign language acquisition， particularly want to achieve a high level of application capacity is more difficult. In addition， the ability of professionals after years of examination of the impact of education on the environment and the 'influence' under the English proficiency often differs significantly from the level of demand. Therefore， in the field of foreign language teaching， the crucial problem to be solved is how to efficiently train professionals in all areas of both high foreign language proficiency in various industries， and efficient training inevitably involves finding， selecting and implementing a more optimized， more efficient Second Language / Foreign Language Teaching mode.

The biggest obstacle is the lack of foreign language learning environment， and the driving force and emotional factors， such as lack of mental investment. We can believe that the use as close to the real context （situation） and have the potential to stimulate or mobilize student motivation， interest in teaching mode， emotion should be listed as a method of first choice. In a variety of foreign language teaching methods or modes， I believe foreign language learning methods that is related to the real needs of the learners involved real situation as much as possible （such as survival， communicative， emotional and interest-oriented， etc.）， or close create a more natural learning environment should be more effective to improve the practical application of their language ability， which is an important sign of the level of foreign language learning.

This paper analyzes and compares the three kinds of foreign language teaching： the scenario method， Narrative， and the immersion method （method relies on content）， which have used our decades of teaching， but also more attention in recent years due to pedagogy. We think these methods focus on improving the efficiency of language learning and proficiency. We make comparative analysis of the characteristics， compare them， and put forward views on the applicability and use of some strategies； to explore a certain extent can promote students' language proficiency of current practical solutions to make some effort.

2. Features of the three teaching mode

Scenario method， namely situational approach， means to set some vivid environment in the teaching process to make students immersive， helping mobilize students non-intelligence factors， in order to help students better understand what they learn language knowledge content. In China's reform and opening decades， it is “Follow Me"， "Family Album USA" and "New Concept" and so on that better able to fully reflect such classic tutorial teaching methods. The Global IELTS rapidly developed in recent years in the country and the Wall Street English and other foreign language training institutes are involved in a comprehensive teaching model， but making full use of the computer Internet and multimedia technologies to reflect the 'scenario' approach is its significant mode.

Narrative， that is the narrative approach， is proposed as domestic scholars in recent years， foreign language teaching methods. The approach advocated in foreign language teaching and learning materials （such as chapters， knowledge of the language， etc.） create a true story or a so-called 'possible worlds' narrative means of implementation as possible， intended to enable students to mind as much as possible into learning situations， adequate and coordination play language， emotion， imagination， and other mental abilities to create， acquire language in daily life or the art of cognitive activities. Its general population is older second language / foreign language learners， and it makes use of higher cognitive abilities of learners to promote foreign language learning as far as possible.

Context is indispensable in foreign language learning. "A prerequisite of effective language learning is that the learners must become the participants in the real life context （Stern 1999）." However， "those critical conditions due to the acquisition of the mother tongue in foreign language learning environment， in fact， are difficult to copy. These conditions include： full exposure to the target language environment； clearly motivated the use of communicative language learning； had ample opportunity to use the language learning； emotional support （Harmer 1999）." Narrative is trying to compensate for these differences； the essence lies close as possible to create a learning environment to mobilize native intrinsic factors such as student motivation and emotion. The key of narrative pedagogy is to enable students to become creators of context and participants rather than bystanders.

Immersion Program is also known as Content-based Instruction， CBI. It refers to a non-native language learner as a language of instruction in the teaching mode directly. Students primarily by subject matter rather than a regular （traditional） language teaching to learn second language / foreign language students during the school has always been a second language environment. This teaching method was founded in Canada， is the traditional second language teaching innovation. In the past 30 years， "'immersion education' is included in many countries more than 10 languages to implement immersion teaching， often getting remarkable achievements and widely recognized by all countries. China is also part of the city began to groups of young children （mainly kindergarten， preschool） a dozen years ago to implement the teaching of English immersion， and made significant progress." A domestic observation experiment showed that， immersion method can significantly improve students' reading ability and integrated application level of test group has improved so much. But the popularity of the country， on the method， the result of some aspects of conditions such as teachers， language and environment issues are difficult to resolve， particularly unfavorable foreign language teaching is still 'exam guide' environment， "At present this teaching model， in China college English teaching environment older population， still is still in the exploratory stage".

"CBI has four salient features： a core subject of knowledge； use of authentic language materials； learning new information； course of study meeting the needs of different groups of students. From the nature， CBI is a communicative language teaching." The fundamental purpose is to enable students to acquire academic knowledge while gaining the ability to use English through natural， authentic， meaningful activities.

From Canadian French immersion teaching model and the results are outstanding， such as higher education， the law curriculum content and teaching students in the future work necessary to get a close relationship， and these are mostly no second language curriculum examination pressure， and a complimentary language credits to be encouraged， many schools also receive government financial subsidies， social and family also actively cooperate and even create there 'Association of Parents of immersion learning'， these efforts made to implement teaching model language for students stimulate interest in learning motivation and mobilization of all should be very effective.

Overall， these three models have emphasized language learning material in terms of content in vivid detail as possible， but different on the content of authenticity. In "situational method"， teaching approach or tutorial set vivid image environment （scenario） textbook content， to immerse students to learn the language； while narrative pedagogy tries to 'scenario as realistic as possible' （language scene， 'real World' or 'possible worlds'） to the students to create； in the 'immersion' mode， whose tutorial content is the real subjects or courses， taking foreign / second language only as a carrier， the students focused on learning content， and language acquisition can only be regarded as a 'by-product of learning' in a more natural and more fully locale.

3. Comparative analysis of the applicability and limitations of the three modes of teaching

'Scenario method' is the language of knowledge and a certain combination of specific and vivid environment， the importance of foreign language learning has been recognized as a national language tutorial decades mostly used， especially the more recent development of multimedia technology enrich and strengthen the content and the practical effect of the scenario method. But the drawback of this method is still in the 'passive' visual and auditory. Students lack the overall sense of participation. If we only use this mode， even more sensory stimulation techniques， such as multimedia， can not improve students' high efficiency language proficiency. Because the students have some of the intrinsic factor in language learning， especially as motivation， interest， association， imagination， emotion and other language acquisition mental factors， associated with a greater degree， the lack of adequate and effective mobilization.

Here should be mentioned over the past few years the popularity of the classic domestic tutorial 'New Concept English'， although belonging to the scenario method of teaching， but its beginning and intermediate tutorial section mostly by the very interesting and vivid， unique 'story' as the language material， most of the text of each section with a very creative design， by showing its intention in a very objective story to draw attention to the purpose of learning the language. Unfortunately， due to the inadequacies of the course is the lack of active participation of students， the lack of visual materials and other media conditions， 'student' just by passively 'listen' story （narrative exactly contrary to the core concept of law teaching tutorial）， and 'listen to 'explain to learn English language knowledge， the effect is very limited. Equally， it is a similar situation， also found in popular over who 'follow me' all over the United States' main indulge allow students to repeat the language features （such as vocabulary， sentence structure， conventional phrases， etc.） to learn English， although its the course much richer audio-visual material， but literary narrative course content is weaker and dull， students passively 'see' the story is still a relatively passive bystanders. Well， apparently， the narrative method of teaching advocated by "creating worlds' scenarios is ‘possible ' to mobilize students to actively participate， and do not ignore the multi-faceted use of the senses as possible， if you really can effectively carry out the study， in learning effect is bound to be better.

And since the narrative pedagogy is critical to "advocate that teachers should go as far as possible to create a situation by the students themselves， in order to help students develop their imagination and creativity"， then I believe that this should be the focus of the analysis. Obviously， this method considers that learners as possible to create their own 'the same as real life context'， namely 'the context of the participants'， and this context it is called 'possible worlds'. But the problem is that the student's imagination and creativity play a form of 'context' （Context） is able to belong to 'the same as real life'， but the context of the participants should not only refer to 'its creators’， 'participation' should have threw himself into （including a strong enough motivation， as much attention and emotion， and other mental activity factor） meaning in them. The attention and emotional and other mental activities （such as Lenovo and imagination， logical organization of material capabilities， etc.） into （participation） as much as possible， there should be certain preconditions， generally believed that the survival needs and must be from interested only possible driving force to mobilize a large extent these mental activities. So you can believe that the method become the key of a problem that actively explore critical survival needs and mobilize students interests.

Narrative pedagogy is a second language teaching method with the color of the literary arts as the core， and literature "brings knowledge and makes students gain through immersive experience， and ... It requires us to use imagination and emotion to react to real life experiences. It exposes scenario among us， so that we become participants in behavior. It allows us to contact with the characters， so that we care about their outcome." In view of this， even if story scenarios created by the students can not yet reached 'level of satisfaction or ideal'， we can still use it flexible in many cases， to help students enhance Second Language / Foreign practical application.

"People， by their very nature， tend to approximate the results of the most urgent and the most he should first consider its needs， and then consider his happiness." The fundamental purpose of communication is that people need to survive， while the so-called communication in the classroom does not belong to the actual needs of communication， it is not real communication. So， can we rely on more urgent survival needs and interests as an indirect driving force， such as the field of knowledge and future work-related subjects as language content or material？ Because， for specialist knowledge， the near future working is related to current knowledge， and professional degrees and professional knowledge may last a lifetime， which shall be true survival needs， and then it should be able to stimulate interest in the professional content corresponding to a large extent， which should also another second language / foreign language teaching law that the key immersion pedagogy （content relying Act）. For example： 'Business English'， because it is a professional course， takes 'Business School' as actual professional content， and SL / FL is the form， whose professional content is not very esoteric， grasped by usual English teachers easier， in the real context （actual occasions） the opportunity to practice a lot， so it is very suitable for the case 'immersion teaching' implementation. The teaching of English immersion course content in young stages of the country itself must master the academic requirements， whose effect is very prominent. Under the conditions of the specific circumstances of China， part of colleges adopt or learn the essence or reference of immersion teaching model， which may be practical and effective strategies.

4. Conclusions

It is noteworthy that the domestic implementation of certain foreign language teaching methods is also changing in environmental conditions. In foreign language learning as a social environment impact-oriented education， for the inefficient currency of Chinese students and poor practical application， the Ministry of Education will implement policies to reduce the proportion of English scores in the college or Cancel entrance examination in English， which will be to some extent alleviate the pressure on the examination of foreign language learning， and conducive to creating a more relaxed atmosphere of the mind， in particular， to facilitate the implementation of immersion model. We know that the acquisition process of mother tongue （in particular， the development of listening and speaking ability） must be a natural and easy process， and then the second language / foreign language learning should also create such an environment. Several methods discussed in this article also aim to create the real environment （or contexts） close to nature as far as possible. Even though its effects are only to some extent or partially achieved in some areas， they fully mobilize the efforts by coordinating elements of mental aspects to effectively improve students' language proficiency.

However， to achieve the highest possible efficiency of foreign language teaching - learning effect， perhaps there is no short cut. You need based on student characteristics （such as cognitive ability， second language / foreign language proficiency） and possess the conditions （such as teachers， language， environment， etc.） to the flexibility to choose the appropriate teaching mode； and， perhaps once and for all can not be inflexibly use only one mode. For example， in China， for groups of young children， it can partially （such as the current number of bilingual schools and some domestic programs） use immersion （relying on the contents of） foreign language teaching method； For older groups， we can solve the teacher quality （such as with the teacher） to create a school language environment and other conditions， or in some suitable subjects professional implementation of immersion teaching model； In order to mobilize the students as active participation， I believe that in order to deal with the large narrative means the amount of information 'event or story' characters， time and space， process characteristics such as strong coherence， help strengthen students' foreign language applications real logic the ability to associate and organize material， fluency and expression， so the opportunity in content appropriate， should be timely to the narrative as much as possible to implement the teaching mode； Finally， in the computer network and multimedia technology developed today， under any circumstances， should strive to give full play to the implementation of the performance profile. In addition， other modes should also be timely and appropriate adopted， such as memory methods of words， sentences and idioms to overcome shyness ills.

References

[1] Harmer， J. How to Teach English [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 1999.

[2] Krashen， S. The Input Hypothesis： Issues and Implications [M]. London： Longman. 1985.

[3] Leaver， B & S. Stryker. Content-based instruction for foreign language classrooms [J]. Foreign Language Annals. 1989（3）：269-275

[4] Stern， H. H. Fundamental Concept of Language Teaching [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 1999.

[5] Xiaoying Chen. Canadian Immersion Pedagogy and Its Influence and Role in the Reform of Foreign Language Teaching [J]. English Studies： 2012 （1）： 70

[6] Lande Li. Recognize Biblical Literature [M]. Nanchang： Jiangxi People's Publishing House .2007

[7] Michel Foucault. Words and Objects [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Joint Publishing： 2001.

[8] Haiyan Qiang. Canada Second Language Immersion Teaching Development Overview [J] .2004 Comparative Education： 2004 （7）： 1， 6

[9] Meng Wang. CBI and CET in University Teaching [J]. Shandong Foreign Language Teaching .2006 （2）：29-32

[10] Muqing Xiong and Da Deng. Narrative Approach Outline [J]. Foreign Languages 2010 （6）：104-105

[11] Pinghua Yuan and Liming Yu. University Foreign Language Teaching Based on the Content [J]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research： 2008 （1）： 63