Model essay on English and American literature I: Research and practice of cultivating college students' English and American literature literacy I. Introduction
In China, since ancient times? Read a book a hundred times to see what it means. An old adage. This sentence means that in language learning, as long as you keep reading, you will know the meaning unconsciously. In English learning, this method should actually be treated in two ways. On the one hand, students can really master the word, sentence structure and overall sense of language through continuous reading, but on the other hand, because English is not the mother tongue of China students, it is impossible to achieve it even after reading it many times? What's the point? The degree of. In this case, the importance of British and American literary works is highlighted. As we all know, literary works are the epitome of language, and they are very complicated but extremely extensive language refinement and clever use. The mastery and application of language and characters in literary works will only be higher than the requirement for the application of general language and characters, but not lower than this requirement. Then, can we take cultivating students' English and American literature literacy as the teaching goal and introduce English and American literature elements into English teaching to improve students' English performance in an all-round way? The answer is yes. Through teaching practice, teachers find that introducing a large number of British and American literary works into the teaching process, taking cultivating students' English and American literary literacy as an important teaching goal, and carrying out teaching activities on this basis can really greatly improve students' English achievements, and their English level has also been greatly improved, reaching the value of paying equal attention to both examination and practice, which is extremely beneficial to students' all-round growth.
Second, the necessity and feasibility analysis of cultivating students' English and American literature literacy in current college English teaching
1. Cultivating students' literacy in British and American literature can subtly help students understand western culture more deeply.
Culture is the foundation of language, and the intangible thing of culture determines all the elements of language. Any language has distinctive regional characteristics and is the refinement of a country or region's civilization. At the same time, language is an important part of culture. It is no exaggeration to say that learning a language is actually learning the culture of that country or region. It is very difficult to learn mother tongue and national culture, because even a small country has a history of at least several hundred years. These hundreds of years of historical accumulation are extremely profound, and it is impossible to master them in just over ten years. This is why every student in China won't get too bad grades in Chinese, but not everyone will get good grades. Learning your own language is still the case, not to mention learning the language of a country with completely different cultural background and history, far from Wan Li. Every country has people with strong writing skills. Their literary works are the refinement and ingenious combination of the whole country and national language, which is not only helpful for the analysis of language and characters, but also directly reflects their own cultural and social background. Culture can't be educated, so you can only feel it yourself. By cultivating college students' English and American literature literacy, students' sensitivity to English and American culture can be enhanced.
2. Effectively improve students' comprehensive English ability.
The main points of college English education in China are listening, speaking, reading and writing, but in fact, we can see from these points that this level is very low. For example, Chinese teaching for non-literature majors is not subject to examination, because it is the premise for all people in China to communicate. However, the assessment of Chinese will not stop at two levels: reading and writing. The examination of Chinese will assess students' profound understanding of ancient Chinese and modern Chinese, and appreciate the deep thoughts, feelings and cultural elements hidden behind the paper language. But the assessment of English is not so in-depth. Of course, there is definitely a difference between the assessment of mother tongue and the assessment of foreign language, but the current English teaching is to cultivate more outstanding talents who can adapt to internationalization. In order to enable these students to communicate smoothly with native English speakers in the world in the future, the requirements must be improved. However, because English is not the mother tongue of China people, it is necessary to take some necessary measures to improve the English ability of China students. It is a good way to read a lot of British and American literary works and experience their feelings and culture.
3. It can effectively improve students' aesthetic ability and cultivate students' correct values.
As early as 1000 years ago in the Tang Dynasty, about? Listen? And then what? Partial hearing? Discuss. The same is true of language learning. Although this is the correct way for China students to firmly believe in Marxism, their faith will be strengthened if they can have a deeper understanding of various ideologies around the world. Excluding the direct factors such as cultural differences between the East and the West and the collision of values, any country will eulogize the truth, goodness and beauty and criticize the false, evil and ugly. In the expression of emotion, this humanistic trend of thought is consistent in any country. Moreover, the present era is an era of global integration, and a full understanding of cultures around the world is of great benefit to cultivating students' aesthetic ability and values. Literary works play an incomparable role in promoting aesthetics and values, and their humanity is beyond the reach of any other activity.
Third, the realistic path analysis of cultivating students' English and American literature literacy in college English teaching
1. On the Problems to be Solved in Cultivating Students' English and American Literature Literacy
In order to improve students' English and American literary literacy in an all-round way, we should not only read more basic English and American literary classics, but also make comprehensive preparation and reform. First of all, we should make necessary innovations in the education system. Education reform has been carried out in China for many years, but it seems that only basic education has changed greatly in the whole education system, and the reform of higher education seems to be weak. This is actually unscientific, because higher education undertakes the important task of directly exporting talents for the society, and the effect of its reform will directly affect the success or failure of the whole education reform. Then, as far as the goal of cultivating students' English and American literary literacy is concerned, it is inevitable to talk about the balance between exam-oriented education and quality education. In order to improve students' English and American literature literacy, it is necessary to increase students' reading of English and American literature. In order to prevent English from attracting most students, it is necessary to use relative evaluation to urge students to make efforts in this regard. Of course, this model itself is to break the shackles of exam-oriented education, and the assessment can't just be an exam. Some activities and competitions can be held properly, which not only increases the interest, but also improves the enthusiasm of students, and also enables students to deepen their understanding of British and American literary literacy in practice, so as to achieve the goal of killing two birds with one stone. Secondly, we should cultivate a high-level team of teachers. Since students are required to improve their English and American literature literacy, teachers' English and American literature literacy must also be guaranteed accordingly, and teachers should also improve their teaching ideas and concepts accordingly. In other words, high-level teachers are reflected in two aspects. First of all, teachers should change their thinking, correctly understand the important role of British and American literature in English teaching, deeply understand the important role of British and American literature in English teaching in higher education, and actively carry out necessary innovations in their own teaching activities. This situation has much higher requirements for teachers than traditional English teachers. In this situation, college English teachers must have a solid basic knowledge of English, have a deep understanding of western culture, have a better overall grasp of students' English level, and master some cultural knowledge from all over the world. Only in this way can all-round teachers really undertake the task of cultivating students' excellent English and American literary literacy. Third, the current English textbooks are in urgent need of adaptation. The cultivation of British and American literary literacy can't be brought into full play only by local explanations in class and students' consciousness after class. In order to make English and American literature literacy one of the important factors to evaluate the overall English level of college students, it is necessary to adapt the existing English textbooks. The current English textbooks are jointly compiled by relevant experts from China and some foreign experts. These textbooks are indeed more suitable for students in China, but there are some shortcomings in literariness. In future English textbooks, large-scale British and American literary works should be added to the existing model, so that students can learn original English works instead of English textbooks specially designed for them, which is more conducive to cultivating their true sense of language and adapting to the future international society. Of course, it is difficult for students to understand British and American literary works, because there are often a lot of slang, rhetoric and unconventional English usage in literary works, but it will become easier to appreciate British and American literary works after adapting to these difficulties.
2. The practical path of cultivating students' English and American literary literacy.
After solving the preconditions of basic education system, teaching materials and teachers, we can take students as the center and cultivate literary literacy according to students' needs. First of all, we should set up diversified teacher-student interaction activities and change the traditional classroom education model. The cultivation of British and American literary literacy can not be fully realized by students' reading and writing and teachers' explanation. In teaching practice, students can be guided to study independently first. Before the teacher explains, they should read through the set chapters to find out what they don't understand at all, and solve these problems through teacher-student communication or classmate communication. Participate in more classroom activities, such as the interpretation of literary works, the feeling of reading literary works, etc. , deepen students' familiarity and sensitivity to literary works, and greatly improve students' enthusiasm; After class, we should carry out larger and wider activities, organize relevant organizations, hold activities regularly and so on. Second, make more use of current computer technology and network technology. The present era is the era of computers and networks. Teachers should encourage students to get more information about British and American literary works from the Internet, which can guide students to understand the author's background, the overall logic and context of literary works independently. And with the help of multimedia equipment, change the former teacher mode that only gives students visual stimulation in various forms of sound, light and video. In fact, this teaching method, which allows students to use multimedia devices and the Internet, can not only get more information about literary works in a limited time, but also really integrate passive and passive English teaching. Teaching? For the initiative of the subject to the present? Study? This change will make it more effective to cultivate students' literary literacy. Thirdly, we should combine theory with practice and encourage students to speak and write more. After reading literary works, everyone will feel something in their hearts more or less. Teachers should encourage and guide students to say or write this kind of feeling, so that students can keep their vague feelings clear and deepened in the process of speaking and writing, and gradually integrate these bits and pieces accumulated in continuous reading into students' literary literacy, so that students' English learning efficiency and achievement are better than the traditional model of a higher level.
Four. conclusion
There are differences between Chinese and western cultures, which has advantages and disadvantages for cultivating students' English and American literary literacy. The advantage is that once students have a certain understanding of western culture, it is very obvious to improve their English and American literature literacy. The disadvantage is that students need to know too much and too complicated. But in fact, students who can face up to and effectively use the cultural differences between China and the West are the talents needed by the future society. Education is always one of the most important issues in a country, because it is directly related to the future of a country and a nation. In China's education system, higher education plays an important role in directly exporting talents to the society. In higher education, English is a compulsory course for all majors, but the teaching effect is poor. In recent years, relevant experts and scholars have been studying innovative ways of college English, and the whole teaching mode of college English needs to be greatly changed. Under the current situation, introducing the teaching mode of British and American literature to cultivate students' English and American literature literacy has become an effective means in theory and practice. Of course, this model is still in its infancy, and all the work is not perfect. However, I believe that with the development of the times and the deepening of education reform, the cultivation of British and American literary literacy will surely become an important means to improve students' English ability in an all-round way and cultivate more outstanding talents for the country to adapt to the trend of internationalization.
Fan Wener: Improving the quality of English and American literature education in colleges and universities. English and American literature is one of the main courses for English majors in colleges and universities. The purpose of this course is not only to strengthen students' basic language training, but also to improve students' quality and cultivate humanistic spirit. The syllabus for English majors in colleges and universities points out:? The purpose of literature course is to cultivate students' ability to read, appreciate and understand English original works, and to master the basic knowledge and methods of literary criticism. Reading and analyzing British and American literary works can improve students' basic language skills and humanistic quality, and enhance their understanding of western literature and culture. ? British and American literature was once favored by foreign language majors. However, in? Value skills over humanities? Under the impact of the spring tide, utilitarianism is rampant, and practical courses such as oral English, listening and translation have become important professional courses. British and American literature courses are dispensable and gradually marginalized. At present, many colleges and universities have greatly reduced the courses of British and American literature when formulating talent training programs. According to the survey, most undergraduate English majors in Henan Province have only 72 hours of English and American literature, including 36 hours of English literature and 36 hours of American literature. The literature class of two class hours a week is far from the expected teaching effect.
First, the problems of English literature courses for English majors in colleges and universities
(A) the curriculum concept is inaccurate and the content is incomplete
There is no uniform standard to define whether the history of British and American literature and the selected reading of literary works are two courses or one course. At present, the foreign language schools of most universities combine the history of British and American literature and the selected reading of British and American literature, which should be separated, into one, called British and American literature. There are still some schools not open? History of British and American literature? This course only offers English literature and American literature for one semester when students enter the third year of college. Students don't have a systematic and macroscopic grasp of the whole history of British and American literature. They study works directly, so that they can only master the works of a few specific writers, but they lack an overall grasp of various literary schools, literary inheritance and the relationship with the times.
(B) less class hours, the trend of marginalization is prominent.
In order to cater to the mercantilist social atmosphere, a hurricane of cutting literature courses has blown up in foreign language departments all over the country. Change the syllabus, delete literature courses, and increase courses such as economy, trade and finance without considering their own reality. The course of British and American literature has changed from a small class of 10-20 students to a large class of 100-200 students, from two academic years? Focus? To a school year, or even a semester of courses. Some foreign language departments simply choose English and American literature as an elective course, and the course of English and American literature has encountered serious problems? Marginalization? .
(C) unreasonable opening hours, teaching content divorced from students' reality
Although many students are English majors, they seldom come into contact with British and American literary works, especially classic works, when they are freshmen or sophomores. Poor literary skills, when I was a junior, I suddenly came into contact with profound literary works, such as the classic drama Faust, Macbeth. I found it difficult to understand, so I had no interest in learning and the teaching effect was poor. In fact, literature courses shoulder the heavy responsibility of improving students' humanistic quality. We should not only attach importance to professional education, but also strengthen the literature education of freshmen and sophomores to improve their comprehensive foreign language quality. Learning foreign literature is an effective and important part of improving comprehensive quality.
The current situation of British and American literature courses and teaching for English majors in colleges and universities is not conducive to the cultivation of English majors' literary literacy, which greatly reduces the teaching quality of English majors. This situation will not change. College English majors will only train translation tools, not all-round English professionals. As a teacher of British and American literature for English majors in colleges and universities, we should take it as our responsibility to improve the teaching quality of English majors, explore the road of teaching reform, get out of the predicament of British and American literature courses, and give full play to the humanistic value of British and American literature.
Second, British and American literature curriculum reform measures
(A) adjust the teaching content of British and American literature.
Have you been using English and American literature textbooks for many years? Literature History+Selected Reading? Fixed, outdated model, the textbook lists all kinds of literary history knowledge in historical order, such as the background of all writers, the date of birth and death, the general situation of works, etc. , occupying most of the space. In fact, it is unscientific to introduce background knowledge by using precious textbook space, which may make students ignore the literary works themselves. Literary works should be based on literary appreciation and enhance the ability of literary criticism and appreciation and innovative thinking. Our suggestion is to set some homework and questions before the work, so that students can use modern network and multimedia equipment to find and summarize the author's introduction and the background of the work, leaving precious space for the literary work itself. The choice of writers and literary works is also an important aspect of textbook reform. Traditional English and American literature textbooks tend to respect the past and despise the present, especially the early classic works dabble too much in old English. For example, students encounter an obscure English ancient poem "Beowulf" at the beginning of literature class, so it is difficult to grasp the essence and connotation of the work and it is easy to dampen students' enthusiasm for learning. Because British and American literature has a long time span, a wide range of contents and numerous famous works, the setting of teaching materials and the choice of writers should take into account the acceptance of students and focus on screening under the macro grasp. For example, when it comes to contemporary drama in American literature, we should focus on Eugene, the three greatest American dramatists in the 20th century. O' Neill and Arthur? Miller and Tennessee? Williams, and make a comparative study of their writing style and historical heritage, such as Eugene? O 'Neill's Desire under the Elms, Arthur? Tennessee Miller's Death of a Salesman? This paper makes a comparative analysis of Williams' Glass Zoo, so as to find out the same themes that playwrights want to reveal, such as the loneliness and desire of modern people and the destruction of human nature by industrial society. This way is conducive to students' scientific grasp of different literary periods, and also helps to enhance their interest in learning and reduce the difficulty of learning.
(2) Reform the teaching mode of British and American literature.
Teachers from traditional English and American literature textbooks? Cramming at the last minute? In the teaching mode, English and American literature teachers recite the texts from books in class, but students are very tired of memorizing these knowledge, so they can't talk about their own views and ideas on a specific work, let alone appreciate literary classics and enhance literary interest. Due to the rigid teaching materials and teaching methods, the course of British and American literature has become an intensive reading course plus a history course, and students have only learned some specific language knowledge points, but have not improved their overall analytical ability and perceptual ability of literary texts. British and American literature teachers can try to design research-oriented classrooms and practical teaching models. At the beginning of the British and American literature class, the teacher recommended some research topics about British and American literature and culture for students to learn, such as Victorian literature research, American dream literature research, American modern drama research and so on. The whole class is divided into several groups, undertaking different topics, and presenting the research results in class by slides. In addition, in order to improve students' interest in learning British and American literary works, we can adopt multi-channel practical teaching activities, such as holding English poetry recitation competitions, English drama performances, and timely organizing to watch English original films.
(C) the use of multimedia and computer network-assisted teaching methods
British and American literature is far from our familiar mother tongue environment and language habits, and it spans a long time and is outdated and backward? Book+blackboard+chalk? It is difficult for the traditional teaching mode to create a lively classroom teaching scene and stimulate students' strong interest in learning. Modern teaching methods such as multimedia and computer network assist classroom teaching, which is conducive to reforming the teaching effect of British and American literature. At present, most colleges and universities have problems such as insufficient multimedia facilities and outdated facilities. Colleges and universities should strengthen the investment in this field, paving the way for the exploration and popularization of multimedia and computer network-assisted classroom teaching mode.
First of all, with the help of multimedia and online classroom teaching mode, abstract and obscure literary works can be presented to students more vividly, directly and stereoscopically through video, audio and other materials, which can improve students' interest in learning and enliven the classroom atmosphere, thus improving the boring, monotonous and boring teachers' ills in the English and American literature classroom, fully mobilizing students' learning enthusiasm, developing students' creative thinking, and further improving students' learning effect. Secondly, with the help of multimedia and network technology, this teaching mode can overcome the limitation of teaching time and teaching place to a greater extent, which is helpful to effectively extend students' autonomous learning to extracurricular and realize the effective connection between students' personalized autonomous learning and classroom teaching.
The form of multimedia and network-assisted teaching has greatly changed the role of teachers, which puts forward higher requirements for teaching teachers. Teachers must thoroughly study teaching materials, grasp the key and difficult points of teaching, formulate clear classroom teaching objectives, design service plans for them, and determine the types and skills of media that effectively transmit teaching information, so that the media can play a greater role. Teachers should change their teaching concepts and methods and know how to design student-centered teaching activities. The teacher wants to change from the original one? Give priority to teaching? Become? Learning? And through training and other ways to quickly master modern teaching methods, effectively cooperate with traditional teaching methods, and realize the improvement of students' comprehensive language ability.