朱成老师关于“How To Teach Writing”(如何进行英语作文教学)的讲座对我颇有启发。讲座围绕三个关键词展开:(1)问题与思考=What;(2)解读与反思=Why;(3)策略与建议=How。在第一部分中,朱老师简要归纳了当前基础教育阶段学生英语作文存在的四大问题:①审题不清,偏题现象严重;②素材平平,独特事例缺乏;③基础欠实,错误千奇百怪;④逻辑混乱,缺乏内在关联。这四大问题恰恰也是我在教学实践中遇到的困惑。接着,朱老师带领大家回顾了近10年上海市英语中考作文题目,并以表格的形式呈现了历年中考英语作文分值、所占英语学科总分比重、评分标准以及平均分等详细信息,并对相关统计数据进行了高屋建瓴的解读。
讲座的策略与建议部分也使我获益颇深。朱老师强调,学生们要想在英语写作时妙笔生辉,就必须做到:(1)积累丰富词汇,力求使作文更生动。如:表达I am happy之意时,学生若能改成 I am filled with happiness,则会使文章更加生动;(2)夯实句式基础,力求使表达更地道。在指导学生英语写作时,教师应提醒学生,不能总是使用简单句,而要穿插使用并列句、复合句、分词短语、不定式等复杂结构,增加文章句式的多样性;(3)妙用连接词,力求使行文更连贯。朱老师请大家比较了以下两篇短文:① Trees are very important to us. They can not only take in carbon dioxide but also make our city beautiful. Planting trees can even change the climate. ② As we all know, trees are of vital importance to us. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen, which is essential to the health of human beings, but also they can make our city more beautiful. Furthermore, the climate can even be changed by planting trees. 显然第一篇单调乏味,而第二篇则行文流畅,这是因为作者妙用了连接词和变化的句式;(4)巧用常见的名言和习语,力求增加文章的表现力。如:No pains, no gains. Second thoughts are best.等等; (5)妙用词组,使首末句更出彩。如:文章开篇可以用as far as we know (据我们所知)、as everybody knows (众所周知)、at present (目前)、first of all (首先)等短语,而文章结尾则可以运用after all (毕竟)、at last/finally (最后)、in a word/in short (总而言之)等表达;(6)借助自我评价表,培养学生自主修改、完善作文的能力。