《进步英语读本》“致教师”
1936

楼光来 队克勋

Even a good text-book can do very little for the pupil unless it is handled by an experienced teacher．It seems advisable for a teacher to keep the following four points in mind if he wishes to make the most efficient use of this series．

Interest． The classroom is not a gloomy court．Rather，it should be as interesting a place as a social club where free discussion，story-telling，playing，self-expression，etc．are enjoyed．Provide for favorable attitudes on the part of the pupils by making yourself interested in the work．All children like to talk and to play．But most of them think that the English language is difficult to acquire and that the classroom，where playing，enjoyment，or talking is prohibited，is dull and dead．Therefore the first lessons should be simple．The pupils should find their lessons interesting．They will be eager to learn if they begin to talk and play in the very first lesson．

Order． Burk's Motto“Good order is the foundation of all good things”should be applied to the study of English．The right order of learning a language is hearing，seeing，talking，acting and then reading and writing．If a lesson is thoroughly heard and talked over by the class，half of the work is done．We have never seen a child learning his mother tongue by reading or writing．His mother talks．He hears and talks．He never uses a book，he uses，instead，his ears and mouth．The ears are the receptive organs of language and the mouth is the expressive organ．These organs are much more important than books and pens．A Chinese returned scholar from Japan can translate Japanese classics，but finds himself dumb before a Japanese，while a child of four years old，who lives in the neighborhood of a Japanese shop in Shanghai may fare much better．So in teaching a foreign language，the living voice，not the dead book，is of importance．Do not let a student see a word or sentence before he hears it first from the teacher．Reading and writing are also taught，but not until the pupil has heard and talked over the lessons．

Action． The instinct of play is found in everybody，particularly in a child．If a child has something to act in the English class，he will love the period；for he sees that the study of English is interesting and useful．He will enjoy both the means and the end．The lessons afford the teacher and the pupils abundant opportunity for action：conversations，games，and dramatizations．Teachers，after years of experiment，have been convinced that the direct method is the best method of language learning．But the direct method can never be carried out without action．Drawing on the blackboard or on paper and active work with cardboard，scissors，pastes，etc．should be encouraged as efficiently as possible．

Motivation． The lessons should be related to the pupils' own experiences，questions，problems and desires．Let the pupils meet real situations as they arise．Supply chances to use their language power not for recitation but in actual life situations．For instance，ask them to build a little house for a rabbit，to write short letters to their friends，teachers，or parents，to have a picnic in the woods，to hold a social meeting，to buy things by mail，etc．Without motivation，interest can hardly be sustained．It is very perplexing to have to do something or have to say something ．Motivation affords the pupils something to do and something to say ．In other words，it will overcome indifference and weariness in language study．

Therefore we request every teacher to teach the following items with the above four principles in mind．

1．The Reading Proper． The reading proper consists largely of folk-tales and stories．Arouse the pupils' interest by telling the story in the lesson with all books closed．Tell it in simple language so that they can understand the general meaning．Bring to class pictures and as many things，mentioned in the story，as possible．After they have heard the story，go over the new words，phrases，and idioms by using the blackboard．Then let them open their books．First read to the class，then make the pupils read in concert and individually．

2．Memory Work． Choose a part of the story or a poem for memory work．Have the pupils recite it and write it out in their notebooks from memory．Short sentences or paragraphs committed to memory are invaluable in enlarging their vocabulary and developing their language power．

3．Phonic Drill． The book begins with the phonetic scheme，instead of the alphabet．The phonetic scheme gives out correct pronunciation，and correct pronunciation makes reading，spelling，and dictation easy．Begin with oral ear-training exercises．Go over the Phonetic Scheme on Page One at the beginning of every class period until the pupils have mastered it．The method is analytic，separating a word into letters，consonants and vowels，and recombining them into a word．The“Pronunciations”given at the end of some lessons are only suggestive．The method is flexible．

4．New Words． Let no pupil read the new words until he has heard them．Every new word should be useful to the pupils．A useful word is one that is often used．So they should not be expected to learn the new words in a brief period．Provide for retention，review，and recalling．If a new word is only met once，it is not worthwhile to remember it．A new word is of little use unless it is daily called into practice．It should be acquired with as little weariness as possible．

5．Poetry． Help the pupils to appreciate poetry，if not to study its beauty and rhythmic flow．Encourage them to recite some poems without books．They will find pleasure in reciting poems．It is a good exercise to translate poetry into prose by changing the construction of sentences．

6．Grammar． It would be waste of time to commit technical terms and grammatical definitions to memory．To study grammar for grammar's sake is out of place in the Junior Middle Schools．But certain grammatical forms should be taught through drill as early as possible．The grammar lessons in the series are not separate lessons．They are given in order to help the pupils understand the reading lessons clearly and efficiently than without them．So grammar should be gone over with the reading lessons and worked into practice by constant repetition．Gather materials for discussion from the stories being studied．

7．Exercises． All the exercises should first be done orally and then in writing，first individually and then with the class as a whole．Encourage the pupils to give full answers which they can find to express himself．Provide for him something to say and have him say it in his own way．The exact words are not important．Answers in different forms to the same question should be allowed．To demand only the answer to a question is unwise．

原文载于《进步英语读本》，世界书局，1936年 VjdVuAob/m0jKvZmr3IlFR2/gCEl3P0LrzS4mHyCK1hQhKOL+04l7zvyJ0xC6t8q