Teaching Plan for Unit 8 Learning a Foreign Language
首峰中学英语组 雷海红
Teaching content: Reading: Learning English: Twice as Hard?
Teaching aims:
1. Enable the Ss to talk about the different methods of learning a foreign like learning a foreign language is different from learning one’s mother tongue.
2. Enable the Ss to talk about the characteristics of the successful language learners.
Teaching important points:
1. Analyse the organization of the text.
2. The understanding of the reading text about the problems and factors related to learning a foreign language.
Teaching difficult points:
1. the writing feature of the text.
2. Grasp the main idea of the passage and analyse the organization of the text.
3. Get the students to understand the characteristics of the excellent and successful learners.
Teaching procedures:
Step I: Revision.
Ask the students to read the vocabulary learnt in last period.
Step II: Lead-in.
Get the students to describe the pictures of Warming-up: How do they learn?( individual work)
Step III Pre-reading.(Free-talk)
1. What languages can you speak? How long have you been learning English?
2. What difficulty do you have in learning a foreign language?
3. How did we learn our mother tongue?
4. How is learning a foreign language different from learning our mother tongue?
5. What are the characteristics of successful language learners?
6. How can we develop our confidence in learning a language?
Step IV Skimming.
Task 1.Skim the text and try to find the main idea of each paragraph.
Supposed answer:
Para.1 The environmental factor of learning mother tongue.
Para.2 Different opinions of language experts.
Para.3 The difference between learning mother and learning a foreign language.
Para.4 The characteristics of successful language learners.
Para.5 Different learning ways of successful language learners.
Para.6 The importance of the purpose of learning.
Task 2. Tell the following statements true or false.
1. Although experts don’t agree each other, they all share a common opinion: life is a very successful language school.(T)
2. Experts agree that we actually learn a foreign language much faster than we laearn our mother tongue.(T)
3. Successful language learners usually step away from the academic challenges.(F)
4. The less anxious and more relaxed the learner, the worst their language acquisition.(F)
Step V. Scanning.
Task 3. Choose the best answers:
1. The first sentence in para.1 means .
A. When learning a language , we also should memorize more.
B. When learning a language , we also should develop our study skills.
C. When learning a language , we also should spend more time.
D. When learning a language , we also should be confident.
2. Most children have mastered their mother tongue .
A. at the age of five.
B. by the age of eight.
C. before they are five.
D. since they were five
3. The sentence “ life is a very successful language school” means .
A. We are equipped with a special ability to learn language.
B. The key to learn the language well is to communicate with the people around us.
C. Parents can give children language lessons.
D. People can learn the language by themselves.
4. Successful language learners do share the following characteristics except
A. the ability to memorize the words
B. an interesting understanding their own thinking
C. willingness to take chances
D. confidence in their ability
5. What the purpose of writing this article?
A. Learning a foreign language is twice as hard as learning our mother tongue.
B. Learning a foreign language is more important than learning our mother tongue.
C. Learning a foreign language is twice as easy if we develop our study skills
D. In fact, the number of people learning a foreign language has increased with years.
Step VI Post-reading.
Task 4 Decide which language each of the sentence below describes.
A. We learn quite fast.(F)
B. We are not taught but learn anyway.(M)
C. Some people think that we are born with an ability to learn this.(M)
D. We can learn faster if we develop study skills.(F)
E. Most people have mastered this by the age of five.(M)
F. We learn this in a special place where we can get help.(F)
G. It takes longer to learn this.(M)
H. We learn this by communicating with others.(M)
教学反思
本单元（Unit 8）以 Learning a foreign language “外语学习”为话题，课文主要谈论的是学习外语的一般规律和成功的外语学习者的特征。通过本单元教学，学生阅读课文了解外语学习的基本规律，同时学生已在高三年级，更容易联系自己的英语作为外语的学习历程，反思自我的学习得失，更有利于形成正确的和适合每个人自己的学习策略和学习习惯。通过课文的深入学习，还进一步学习英语的丰富词汇表达和深入浅出的表达方式，英语的说明或介绍文章的特点和写法。本单元学习也是学生形成良好的（语言）学习策略探究学习的很好的案例，体现学习策略对提高学习效率的价值。
Warming up通过一个小调查让学生了解学习英语的最重要的策略，并按照重要性加以排列。并通过问题引导学生思考其他更多的学习活动。此“热身”活动可引导学生回顾自己从初学英语到高三的整个学习过程，通过问题从中总结有效的经验和有益的学习活动。同时通过课堂讨论，同学可分享各自的经验，得到更多的有助于英语学习的学习策略，即锻炼英文表达能力，也为其后的Reading的学习活动做好铺垫。
Pre-reading 是Reading的热身活动。“读前活动”引导学生根据阅读文章的主题思考学习一门外语所涉及的内容：英语学习中的困难、学习母语的过程、学习外语和母语的不同、优秀学习者的特征、有效的学习技能对学习者的帮助、如何建立自信以及如何更好更快的学习等。思考和回答这些问题并完成内容提纲：英语学习中的困难、英语汉语的区别、优秀学习者的特征、有效的学习技能和建立自信的途径。这一活动有利于调动学生的思考和讨论的积极性，并通过反思学习过程和同学讨论来预测课文内容，加深对外语学习问题的认识。
Reading 是一篇关于“学习外语”的说明文，分为几个部分，第一部分内容主要为学习一种语言涉及的主要学习内容、语言的习得过程和如何辨识学习中的错误；第二部分则谈到学习外语过程中要注意的主要因素，如外语与母语是不同的、语境影响等；第三部分论及学习外语成功者的共同特征，主要有兴趣、制定计划与评价、自信、大胆冒险、敢于尝试新事物、以及学习目的和动机。这是一篇较好的分析学习外语所涉及的内容和成功外语学习策略的文章，对于学生的英语学习有很好的指导意义。应引导学生结合自己的学习经历、学习观念和使用的学习策略，再辅以适合的相同话题的拓展资源，进一步指导学生英语学习，为他们的未来的深入学习和持续发展奠定基础。
Post-reading 的练习主要是对文章的具体细节信息的理解和测试，还包括了训练学生利用与主题相关的关键词谈论其间的联系和复述课文的能力，总结与主题关联的关键信息能力和查找总结主题句的练习，对学生的阅读理解提出了较高要求，并有利于指导学生提高写作能力。
Pre-reading, Reading和Post-reading 作为一个完整的阅读的过程，训练必要的阅读技能，学习处理重要语言点，同时还谈到了语言（外语）学习的问题与策略。因此，在教学过程中，我将教材进行了重组，结合Warming up部分设计为一堂“阅读课”。