(This article was read and published at the 4th Sino-American Education Seminar held in Beijing in July, 2000; Published in September, 20001in "Essays on National Basic Education"-P420. (Editor, Education Experimental Center, National Academy of Educational Sciences. China Education Science Press)
Author's name at the time of publication: Li Tongyi, No.3 Middle School, Chaoyang City, Shantou, Guangdong Province)
main body
As a mother tongue, Chinese is an important part of language teaching in China.
In recent years, top-down thinking is particularly active in the field of Chinese (as mother tongue) teaching, and many experts and teachers attach great importance to the effect of Chinese teaching. The content of reflection has involved teaching guiding ideology, textbook setting and teaching methods, and has reached a quite mature understanding.
The problem can be traced back to 1978. Mr. Lv Shuxiang said: "Ten-year compulsory education (more than 2,700 class hours) was spent on study, but most people failed. Isn't that weird? 2700 class hours, close to 30% of all class hours in primary and secondary schools. However, every year, tens of millions of young workers all over the country are making up lessons. After entering the university, many people can't take notes and write experimental reports and cases. As for hard pen calligraphy, it is well known. " Mr. Lv Shuxiang's remarks have become the fuse of reflection in the field of Chinese teaching, and are also regarded as an informal "summary" of Chinese teaching in primary and secondary schools in the past 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, mainly in the decade of the Cultural Revolution.
On March 20th, 1992, Wen Wei Po organized an influential discussion on how to improve Chinese teaching. Teacher Chen Zhongliang once again raised a "striking question", that is, "our students spend the most time on Chinese learning, but their ability to use language is not strong". The reasons are as follows: ① Chinese teaching is used to paying attention to the analysis of content and text, which weakens the most basic language training. (2) One-sided pursuit of enrollment rate around a test paper. (3) Teaching formalism is prevalent and the effect is not good.
Many teachers followed. Some teachers pointed out that the current open classes (observation, experience exchange, practice, centralized teaching, etc.). ) They are all a mere formality, and there are several disadvantages: ① Emphasis on practice, while heavy listening and light training. (2) Deliberately seeking profits does not benefit much. (3) Pay attention to lectures and ignore evaluation.
Some teachers pointed out: "The biggest drawback of Chinese classes in primary and secondary schools now is that teachers talk too much"; "Work hard on instrumentality and practicality"; Chinese teaching should meet the needs of modern life; Some teachers emphasize improving reading teaching and providing fast reading to meet the needs of the information world. Some teachers found that the composition questions in the college entrance examination were unreasonable. "The test papers are getting longer and longer, the number of words is increasing, and the content coverage is expanding." Take 199 1 college entrance examination as an example, with eight pages and 6000 words. The contents include Chinese pronunciation, body identification, punctuation, related words, text appreciation, sentence modification, meaning cohesion, eliminating ambiguous sentences, changing long sentences into short sentences, Chinese character strokes, modern Chinese reading, classical Chinese reading and two short articles.
1992 The third issue of Sinology published an article by Mr. Guo Zongming entitled "On the Overall Failure of Chinese Teaching in the Past 40 Years". This paper discusses the misunderstandings in teaching guiding ideology, textbook setting and teaching methods.
1. Guiding ideology
(1), which pays too much attention to the research on how to teach students well and ignores the potential of children and adolescents to learn Chinese; Only pay attention to some specific problems of how to teach, ignoring the special laws of human mastering Chinese.
(2) Pay too much attention to the research of teaching methods and ignore the improvement of the quality and level of teaching leaders (teachers).
2. The textbook setting lacks authority, stipulation and stability.
The "five-block" teaching method (author's introduction, background of the times, paragraph general idea, theme and writing characteristics) that has prevailed since the 1950s and 1970s only pays attention to the analysis and research of the background, content and language phenomena expressed by teachers and students, while ignoring the students' digestion and absorption of the text itself.
Teacher Guo described the shortcomings of "five firmness" particularly accurately: "Our Chinese teaching is not to guide and require students to master a certain amount of language materials at a specific stage, but to analyze the problems raised by language materials on a large scale at almost different stages." The purpose of our teaching is obviously to cultivate students' reading and writing ability, but the actual practice is to analyze language phenomena with students. For example, students are not required to write a certain number of Chinese characters, but are required to analyze the method of creating Chinese characters (that is actually the matter of the writer); Students are not required to master and use a certain number of words correctly, but to analyze the combination method of words and phrases, even the original intention of morphemes in words (that is actually a matter for grammarians); It is not to guide students to practice writing fiercely, but to beat around the bush on some pure theoretical issues such as "the difference between metaphor and analogy, and the difference between metonymy and metonymy" (that is actually a matter for rhetoricians).
Teacher China is very sensitive to these problems in the teaching process and dares to discuss them from a macro perspective. However, without the baptism of modern linguistics and applied linguistics, they still use the category of old literature more when considering problems, especially when expressing problems, and their language style is more impressive, intuitive and illogical. This problem is reflected in Chinese teaching professional magazines at all levels. There are quite a few clauses and principles that conflict with each other. In fact, it is a dispute over "ambiguity" in words. Due to the failure to introduce new theoretical systems, new categories and terms, a large number of articles cannot rise to the standard language and recognized theoretical level because of their narrow personal experience, leading to the tragic loss of wisdom and experience. Ye Lao once called on "Chinese teachers and Chinese workers to work together to study Chinese teaching and improve it as soon as possible." It is true that you have good intentions, but unfortunately there are not many bosom friends. In fact, after our observation, comparison and analysis, the existing problems in Chinese teaching in China are first reflected in "classroom politics", that is, the relationship between teachers and students, and the "teacher-centered" theory has not been cleaned up for decades. The school is nominally set up for students, but due to the neglect of the fundamental interests of students, the quality of teachers has not been put on the agenda, and teachers are not qualified before taking up their posts. Students' feedback on teachers' work is meaningless. The classroom is full of teachers with mental retardation, and their work will not be strictly examined by any official or non-governmental organization. They can only follow the script and have nothing to say. For example, the word "child" for children is marked with an ambitious "Li", and here is the "Li" of Wan Li, not far from China where Dr. Bethune came. Even if they want to care about students' language use ability, they have to stand on the podium and chatter because they can't read and write well. How do they cultivate students' four skills? Secondly, it is reflected in teaching methods, blindly instilling guidance and complicated philosophy. Finally, when it comes to teaching research and evaluation, many people almost always subconsciously bypass the problem and avoid the biggest problem of Chinese teaching in China: the quality of teachers is low, and school education is still the value orientation of "teacher-centered". Many studies have endlessly analyzed the composition of tea, the texture of the cup, and even the temperature of the room and the time of making tea. But few people admit that making tea mainly involves two aspects: water temperature and tea. These important facts were covered up.
"Five blocks" is a problem, which attaches importance to the teaching of language forms and ignores the cultivation of four skills and practical ability. Not by teaching, not by speaking and practicing, "infinite input inhibits learners' observation, reasoning and creativity." "It destroys the richness of the acquisition environment, but it hinders students' learning. The "five blocks" are highly stylized, ignoring the multiple meanings and forms of textbook interpretation and processing, and ignoring students' personality and starting point.
The discussion of Chinese teachers is to "find the roots" and find the inheritance of classical Chinese teaching. Zhang Zhigong was the earliest pioneer who reflected on the tradition of classical education in China. His Preliminary Study on Traditional Chinese Characters was first published in 1962 and 10 (Shanghai Education Press). Teacher Zhang 1984 talked about how he began to study this problem systematically in a reminiscence article. At that time, I began to learn out of a basic negative prejudice. Later, he gradually discovered that classical education is a "treasure house". In the political situation of 1962, he put forward this view. It can be seen that this requires a little academic conscience, and some practices found in this "treasure house" are really worth learning:
1. Centralized literacy
In the first year of school, children concentrate on knowing 2000 Chinese characters a year. (Commonly used Chinese characters 5000-6000)
Chinese is non-phonography (there is no connection between form and sound). Classical Chinese education can solve the problem of Chinese characters for children aged 6-713, which is indeed a Chinese achievement with China characteristics. The key to this achievement is that "three thousand" (three-character classics, hundreds of family names and thousands of characters) matched Jackie Chan and has been used for thousands of years. Rich in knowledge, life and interest, it is easy to catchy and rhyme out, and there are not many repeated words in the three books, which is a miracle of ancient culture.
2. Read and write separately.
There is a writing class after literacy class. Moreover, there is a reasonable order to practice calligraphy, first draw red, then practice calligraphy, first block letters, then block letters, and then write small letters.
3. Sentence-making training has many advantages (such as: clouds turn to rain, snow turns to wind, night lights turn to clear sky): ① Unconsciously literate, transitional sentence-making. ② Preliminary poetry training. (3) Master a lot of knowledge and skills of leveling and rhyming. ④ Learn rhetoric knowledge in practice.
4. Composition training
Although stereotyped writing has a bad reputation today, many composition classes now also have several types of "narrative, argumentative and expository". You should write a topic sentence first. Ask questions, then enter the text, demonstrate, and finally draw a conclusion. The ancients called it "starting, inheriting, turning and combining", which stipulated a certain pattern for composition. Mr. Zhang believes that there are some shortcomings in traditional education in China: ① Ignoring spoken language, attaching importance to written language, totally divorced from practical application. ② The purpose of training is to select officials.
From a purely technical point of view, the quality of traditional education in China is far from that of modern people. Even Kong Yiji written by Lu Xun was a victim of the old system, although he was poor, stupid and incompetent. However, none of us will doubt that almost all the literati of that era could write a beautiful brush and easily complete any practical and theoretical style from eulogy to the Seven Wonders, from Spring Festival couplets to academic papers. As for his reading ability of ancient classics, history, philosophers and collections, there is no need to doubt.
Since Mr. Zhang Zhigong, the Outline of Chinese Education in China edited by Professor Zhang Longhua was officially published in August 199 1. This is the only general history of education in China so far, covering countless historical facts from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the 1980s, spanning more than 2,000 years. The issues discussed involve educational purposes, educational ideas, educational systems, teaching materials and teaching methods. Contrary to Mr. Zhang Zhigong's reservation in 1960s, Professor Zhang Longhua started from the point of "the necessity of inheriting and developing China's traditional education". According to Professor Gu, in recent years, some people even openly proposed to restore the traditional Chinese teaching methods. The argument is based on the actual effect of Chinese teaching: "After the May 4th Movement, it is worse than before the May 4th Movement, after the Anti-Japanese War, and after the Cultural Revolution, it is worse than before the Cultural Revolution". "As far as Chinese teaching is concerned, modern people can't beat the ancients." This sounds a bit extreme, but in modern Chinese teaching, blindly introducing the morphological grammar category of Latin and cutting Chinese into pieces have brought serious consequences to Chinese teaching, which really deserves our reflection. In fact, there are some principled things between classical Chinese and modern Chinese:
1. Language education is always an activity of knowing, writing, understanding and using mother tongue knowledge and training skills. A language morality is embodied in a set of symbol systems (phonetics and phonemes). Secondly, because people use this symbol system in four forms (listening, speaking, reading and writing), language can be understood as four skills. Finally, the purpose of using these skills determines that language is a tool for communication.
2. The misunderstanding of Chinese teaching is to abandon tradition and lose yourself. Mr. Zhang Zhigong suggested that we should attach importance to the study of Chinese with a new point of view-putting aside the Latin category, but the damage has been done. The coverage of college entrance examination in China is getting bigger and bigger, which shows that the Latin grammar system and norms have invaded Chinese to a very serious extent.
3. The disadvantage of Chinese teaching is that it pays attention to the analysis of language forms and ignores the essence of language as a communication tool. Before liberation, the "translation method" in Chinese teaching was later changed to vernacular Chinese, and many people came up with "five blocks" to avoid the essence of the problem, that is, to cultivate students' ability to use language. "Nothing to say" and "Pretending to teach". No wonder Mr. Lv Shuxiang said, "Several students with good Chinese proficiency asked him about his experience and said in unison that they benefited from extracurricular reading." In other words, if you don't learn well, you will meet a very stupid person. If you learn well, you will become a self-taught person. The teacher "pretends to be teaching." The reflection of the old-timers in the Chinese field on classical Chinese education is indeed of great enlightening significance for improving Chinese teaching;
1. Genre pair training integrates grammar, rhetoric, phonology, culture and poetics, which is a successful example of putting the principle of situational teaching into written language.
2. concentrate on literacy.
With the primary foundation, we should try our best to solve vocabulary problems, mainly in application, but we should also pay attention to rote learning, such as vocabulary, poems, famous articles, model essays and so on.
3. The teaching purpose is more scientific.
The classic exam-oriented has mobilized all aspects of normal teaching: reading for writing and absorbing for output. The key to the success of Chinese teaching lies in the cultivation of output ability rather than absorption ability, which is the secret of the success of classical Chinese teaching.
Note: 1, China Language, No.8 1979.
2. Me and Chinese Teaching, edited by Liu, People's Education Press, 1984, p. 37.
3. See page 167.
4, middle school Chinese teaching reference, No.9, 1992.
5. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, No.3, 1990, Re-study of Chinese Grammar, p. 1.
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More than two thousand years ago, Confucius' educational thought was profound. It is an inexhaustible cultural treasure of the Chinese nation and a treasure house of educational thoughts rooted in traditional civilization. Studying and inheriting Confucius' educational thought will be of great benefit to the current Chinese teaching reform in China.
The first is the influence of the educational thought of "teaching without class" on modern students' view.
Confucius' thoughts are embodied in his speech "The Analects of Confucius". Confucius believes that there is little difference in human nature, and the difference in personality is formed after tomorrow. "The behaviors are similar, but the knowledge is far from each other", so he attaches great importance to the education of the day after tomorrow and advocates "teaching without distinction". However, in the usual education and teaching, we often consciously or unconsciously divide students into three or six grades, artificially divide some poor students that teachers think are "unteachable", and ignore their education and requirements. It is manifested in favoring top students at ordinary times, unilaterally pursuing the enrollment rate, ignoring all students, ignoring middle students, hating or even giving up the so-called "poor students". There are many reasons for this situation, which are influenced by exam-oriented education, but the teacher's educational thought is an important reason. Is our education and teaching for all students or for a few elites? Is it to train qualified citizens or just to select talents? The current reform of quality education requires facing all students and being responsible for their all-round development. It is not only necessary to break the ideological forbidden zone that "poor students" cannot teach, but more importantly, to establish the concept that "poor students" need education more. In fact, the main reason why these students lag behind others in some aspects lies in education itself, not in students' innate quality. Before 2000, Confucius put forward the view that "the sex is similar, but the learning is far away". Therefore, we should be more responsible to every student, especially to strengthen the education of "poor students", which is also an inevitable requirement of the development of modern society. Of course, this does not require every student to behave in the same way at school, but in modern society, every student has made progress in some aspects, thus benefiting students and society.
Second, the influence of Confucius' equal view of teachers and students on the contemporary view of teachers and students.
Confucius loved to be loyal to his students all his life and did not hide his knowledge. He also established relationships with students from different countries. There is deep affection and close relationship between teachers and students. Confucius' thoughts of "different people have different opinions" and "learning from others" are manifested in the democratic style of study in which teachers and students can criticize each other in the process of moral education.
Confucius' view of teachers and students is equal, which can only be reflected from a small matter: Confucius is very dissatisfied with Nanzi, and he can't explain it, so he has to swear to Luz in heaven and earth to express himself: "If you refuse, you will hate it!" Tired of it! "Only in this way can we get the understanding of Lutz.
We also advocate equality between teachers and students today, but what we think of as equality between teachers and students is only from the perspective of personality, that is, to treat students as a person. More often, this is just an abstract person, not a person with flesh and blood, personality and expertise. Confucius' equality between teachers and students is also manifested in knowledge and morality. There is a problem of mutual learning between teachers and students. In fact, the knowledge structure, scope and sources of middle school students are very extensive. Although teachers are superior to students in subject knowledge structure, scope and social experience, they do not include all aspects. Sometimes, our teacher has to take turns to learn from the students. We must completely emancipate our minds, change the past thought of "dignity of teaching", and establish a brand-new view of teachers and students that is democratic, equal and learning from each other.
Third, the enlightenment of "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" and "no resentment, no frustration and no development" to the modern Chinese teaching concept.
Confucius' teaching thought and teaching method is to admit innate differences, but emphasize "learning and knowing" and attach importance to teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. Confucius often understands students by observing and talking. They are not only the premise of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, but also the premise for teachers to carry out a series of work. If you don't understand students, you can't educate them.
Enlightenment and induction of Confucius' basic methods of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. He said: "If you don't get angry, you won't get angry. If you don't give up, you will give a corner. If you don't take it back, there will be no more." Zhu Note: "Angry people can make sense, but they can't get it; Those who are anxious can talk, but they will fail. Kai, that is, open its meaning, send its meaning, that is, reach its words. "Anger" is a psychological state in which students are thinking about a problem and are eager to solve it without thinking it through. At this time, the teacher should know what the students think and help them open their minds. This is that "enlightenment" and "awkwardness" are the psychological state in which the students have thought about a certain problem, are not yet mature, and are in a state of speaking but not expressing. At this time, teachers should help students clearly understand and understand concepts and express them in accurate language, even if they are "fat". Confucius asked for heuristic teaching under the psychological state of forming students' "anger" and "sadness". The opposition between heuristic teaching and injection teaching has a long history, and Confucius is the pioneer of heuristic teaching. The teaching principles and methods inspired by Confucius have great enlightenment to our education and teaching reform today. Today's quality education requires giving full play to the main role of learning, respecting students' enthusiasm and initiative in learning, and guiding students to learn to think independently, acquire and use knowledge. This principle requires correctly handling the relationship between teaching and learning.
1. Establish a teacher-student relationship that benefits from teaching, carry forward teaching democracy, fully respect students' personality, and inspire and induce.
2. Stimulate students' interest in learning and thirst for knowledge, fully mobilize students' initiative in learning Chinese, guide students to think positively, learn how to think about problems, and cultivate the ability of self-study. Teachers should create teaching situations in normal teaching and stimulate students' thirst for knowledge in certain situations. For example, in Chinese teaching, the created scenes should be aimed at social hotspots and the focus of students' thinking. The problem of heuristic education and teaching lies in whether it can consistently improve efficiency and enhance students' innovative practical ability in education and teaching practice.
Fourth, the enlightenment of "combining learning with thinking" and "applying what you have learned" to the inquiry learning method of modern Chinese.
In Confucius' teaching theory, he attached great importance to the important role of "learning" and "thinking". "Learning without thinking is useless, thinking without learning is dangerous". The combination of learning and thinking is a dialectical unity process in which perceptual knowledge rises to rational knowledge. Among them, "doubt" is more important in teaching. As long as students think seriously and independently, they will inevitably have doubts. Doubt leads to questions and answers. Through different forms of questioning and answering, students will not only increase their knowledge, but also develop the habit of finding, analyzing and solving problems independently.
If "learning" and "thinking" are regarded as the first and second stages of Confucius' teaching process, then "learning" and "doing" are the third and fourth stages. In the first and second stages, Confucius asked students to acquire and consolidate knowledge, and in the third and fourth stages, students were asked to turn knowledge into ability. The first sentence of The Analects of Confucius is "Learning from time to time is fun". Confucius specially set up practice and internship stages in the teaching process, aiming at cultivating students' practical skills. Integrating "learning" into the teaching process is a great creation of Confucius. The process of "learning from time to time" is not only a process in which students master the knowledge taught by teachers and form their abilities. Confucius was the first person to integrate the idea of knowing and doing into the teaching process, thus completing his teaching process of learning, thinking, learning and doing.
Confucius' view on the unity of "blood, thinking, learning and behavior" also has enlightenment to "research learning" in quality education today. "Inquiry learning" is a learning method based on students' autonomy and inquiry learning, under the guidance of teachers, studying special topics from life and society, and acquiring knowledge through personal practice and simulated scientific research. "Inquiry learning" is learning under the guidance of certain knowledge principles, which requires students to truly achieve the unity of "learning, thinking, learning and doing".
1, has a deep understanding of the subject. "Inquiry learning" should be related to certain knowledge and carried out under the guidance of certain knowledge, no matter from the research, research methods, research process and research purpose of the subject. It is hard to imagine that an illiterate person can engage in "research study". Therefore, to do a good job of "research study", we must first learn the knowledge of various disciplines, and master the internal relations between the knowledge of various disciplines, and do a good job of synthesis.
2. Have the ability and spirit of independent thinking, and combine "learning and thinking". "Inquiry learning" is based on self-reliance and exploration, which requires giving full play to people's subjective initiative, being diligent and thinking.
3. Be able to "apply what you have learned", form abilities, participate in social practice more, and apply what you have learned to practice. On the one hand, we should sum up principles from social practice, on the other hand, we should be able to explain certain social phenomena by using principles and enhance our ability to find, analyze and solve problems. Combine "learning" with "using" to form practical ability and innovative ability. This is an important purpose of quality education at present. "Learning without using" is of no benefit to modern society.
Fifthly, the enlightenment of Confucius' moral education process and methods to contemporary China's educational view.
According to Confucius' educational practice, educational thought and his philosophy of knowing and doing, his moral process can be divided into three stages: moral cognition stage, moral emotion stage and moral behavior stage. Confucius always combines knowledge imparting with moral knowledge in teaching and education, and pays attention to giving full play to students' subjective initiative. This has certain reference significance for our moral education practice today, that is, to carry out the moral education process in the teaching of various disciplines at ordinary times and to tap the moral education factors from the teaching of disciplines. In fact, the content system of various disciplines contains rich humanistic spirit, such as the rigorous scientific attitude of natural scientists and the sense of social responsibility of sociologists, which all require us to give full play to our subjective initiative, explore and improve students' humanistic spirit and moral quality.
There are many educational methods of Confucius, such as being cautious in words and deeds, matching words with deeds, turning good into good, promoting good and restraining the country, cultivating self-cultivation, helping others as friends, being strict with self-discipline, and setting an example. All these give us a lot of enlightenment in current moral education. Traditional moral education emphasizes "indoctrination" but lacks emotion, emphasizes principle but lacks practical operation, and emphasizes that thought is more important than behavior, all of which need to be improved.
1, correctly use criticism and self-criticism, and combine promotion with inhibition. Confucius attached great importance to consciously transforming and transferring goodness, and paid attention to the use of educational means to promote goodness and suppress goodness, with remarkable educational effects.
2. Pay attention to self-cultivation. In the process of moral education, Confucius correctly handled the internal relationship between introspection and external inspection. See the sage Si Qi, but not the sage. In a threesome, you must learn from me, follow the chosen ones and change the bad ones. In family moral education, if we can arouse students' self-examination and internalize moral knowledge and emotion into their own requirements and actions, our educational work will achieve great success. Be strict with yourself and set an example. Teachers must pay special attention to "setting an example" if they want to achieve good results in moral education. Confucius said, "Example is better than words." "What if you can't be honest with each other?" The power of example is infinite, and the personality of education and the moral level of education have a subtle influence on the formation of students' noble morality.