英语毕业论文The-Application-of-Body-Language-in-English-Teaching.doc

肢体语言在英语教学中的运用

The Application of Body Language in English Teaching

Contents

Abstract...........................................................................................................1
Key words....................................................................................................... 1
I. Introduction ............................................................................................... 2
II. The necessity and importance of using body language in English
Teaching ....................................................................................................2
III. The concrete application of the body language in English teaching................................................................................................. 4
1. Body language helps to improve listening ................................................ 4
2. Body language helps to improve speaking ................................................ 5
3. Body language helps to improve reading................................................... 6
4. Body language helps to improve writing................................................... 7
IV. How to use body language.................................................................... 8
V. Conclusion................................................................................................ 11
References.................................................................................................... 11

The Application of Body Language in English Teaching

The Application of Body Language in English Teaching

Abstract：With the continual reform of language teaching and learning methods, teachers are in great demand to organize the classes in English and create English-learning circumstances. However, with the limitation of students' vocabulary, teachers have to simplify their teaching language with the help of facial expressions and body movements. In this article, the possibility and the effect of using body language in listening, speaking, reading and writing will be further discussed, and the application of body language in English teaching will be proposed.
Key words: English teaching;  importance of body language; application of body language

摘 要: 随着言教学和学习策略的不断改革，需要教师用英语组织课堂并创造一个学习的环境。然而，由于学生们的词汇量有限，这需要教师借助面部表情和肢体动作简化英语教学。在这篇文章中，我们将深刻讨论在英语听说读写的过程中肢体语言的可能性和影响，以及肢体语言英语教学中的运用。
关键词: 英语教学；肢体语言的重要性；肢体语言的运用

I. Introduction

As everyone knows, the classroom teaching is one of the most important ways for　
students to learn English. As far as the English teaching in school education is concerned, teachers have to arouse the students' interest so that they may learn better. There are many ways to arouse the students' interest and help them to learn better, body language used in English teaching is one of them.
Body language is an important media through which people communicate with each other. It refers to the patterns of facial expressions and gestures that people use to express their feelings in communication. The specialist who does body language research, Fen Lafle Angles, once said: "Once it was lost, a baby couldn't have grown into a normal person". It's also true to the juveniles. In school education, body language plays a positive role in cultivating the students' characters. For, teachers are usually respected, and factually, what or how the teachers say and do will be possibly imitated by the students (sometimes subconsciously). In a word, teachers' graceful body language helps to improve the students' artistic-appreciation and moral character. If the students develop a wonderful body language, which will possibly leads them to form an optimistic and active feeling, they will surely have a more smooth interpersonal relation.
The affection of teachers' body language on the students is reflected not only by establishing a good example, but also shortening the teacher-student estrangement by which a more harmonious studying atmosphere is created. As a matter of fact, teachers' friendly appearance can greatly encourage the students' studying enthusiasm. Furthermore, the characteristics of theoretic and abstraction of knowledge also requires the vivid, dramatic and an accessible gestures to make it specific and figurative. As a result, the students' interest is motivated and the effect of teaching is greatly improved.

II. The Necessity and Importance of Using Body Language

Body language is used by people for sending messages to one another. It is very useful because it can help you make yourself easily understood. When you are talking with others, you are not just using words, but also using expressions and gestures. For example, waving one's hand is to say "Good-bye." A smile and handshake show welcome, and clapping hands means congratulations. Nodding the head means agreement, but shaking the head means disagreement. The gestures are accepted both by Chinese and foreigners as having the same meanings. Different countries have different body language. For example, men in Russia, France and Arab countries kiss each other when they meet, but men in China or Australia shake hands instead of kissing. People in Puerto Rio like touching each other, but people from English speaking countries do not touch each other. If you touch an English person, you should say "Sorry.' People in Arab countries like standing close to one another when they are talking, but English people must keep a distance away when they are talking. In some Asian countries, you must not touch the head of another person. In Arab countries, you eat using the fingers of your right land; the left hand is not used at all. In parts of Asia you must not sit with your feet pointing at another person.
     When you use a foreign language, it is very important to know the meanings of gestures and movements in the foreign country. Following the customs will help you communicate with people and make your stay there much more pleasant and comfortable.
English teaching is a key part of the school education. With the reform of English teaching methods, more and more English teachers organize the teaching process in English so that they may realize the Communicated English. The Communicated English means that teachers instruct the students and explain questions basically in English, and the students are also required to use English in class. Contemporarily, however, the students in the middle school can't speak very well; neither can they understand why they should use different tones in different time or situation; their vocabulary and expressive ability are limited too. These limitations made it difficult to realize the Communicated English in classes. According to the students' present level and practical situation, body language is required. For example, a teacher often gives us such an instruction: "You two, please come to the blackboard." The students can easily understand it if the teacher looks at (or points to) some two students. Then, the teacher points to the blackboard. The students will carry out the order without obstacle even if they don't hear the key words "blackboard" clearly. Furthermore, teachers usually have to explain some language points, and at this time, they have to differentiate the classroom expressions and the examples. Take it for example, we ought to use the form 'have done' such as 'Have you finished that job jet?'" To make the students understand clearly, a teacher has lots of ways. To do it by speed, he uses a common speed when reading "we ought to use the form 'have done'", and reads slowly when giving examples; he can also get the effect by repeating the example 'Have you finished that job jet'; a more frequent way is to use gestures to lay emphasis on the key points when he said "have done"(emphasizing it in voice at the same time), he reaches out his index finger, pauses in the air, and then gives out the example. This action will usually give the students a deep impression. From the above we can learn, the use of body language in English teaching is necessary and practical. In the English teaching in middle schools, body language is frequently used to improve the teaching effect and the students' ability.

III. The Concrete Application of the Body Language in Listening,
Speaking, Reading and Writing

1. Body language helps to improve listening
The Greek philosopher Epictetus ever wittily said: "Nature has given man one tongue and two ears that he may hear twice as much as he speaks." From the saying we can learn how important the listening is in our daily life. During the teaching career, when teacher giving lessons to the Grade Two students, she found that most of them have the difficulty in listening. When the teacher used English to ask them to do the games, they felt so confused, and did not how to do it. The purpose of learning language is to communicate with others. If the students have great difficulty in listening, how can we achieve the teaching aims? In order to change this kind of situation, the teacher should change some traditional teaching methods. To understand others is a basic purpose in English teaching, and teachers often train the students' listening accordingly. In this process, if the body language is used, the effect will be better. When beginning a new lesson, the teacher narrates the story outline in English. The body language may help. For example, a teacher can stretch his arms slowly when he says "She is in a very big room"; he can open his eyes widely with mouth opened when he says "She is so beautiful a lady". As a result, the students will have such an impression: She is very beautiful indeed; a teacher who imitates the crying or the movement of the animals under the premise of teaching order will surely achieve a better effect. If you don't understand something right away, don't give up. Keep listening. The speaker might say something later that will help you understand the main idea.
Listen for key words. Key words are stressed. They are louder, longer, and higher pitched than other words. These are the words that the speaker thinks are most important in a sentence. For example, notice the stress and intonation in this dialogue: A: I went to the store. B: Which store?
In such a situation, think about the situation and ask yourself these questions: Who is speaking? What is the relationship between the speakers? What are they talking about? Where are they? How do they feel? Pay attention to body language, gestures, and facial expressions. This may give the students a better idea about what teachers are saying. In the class teaching, teacher is the organizer and director. If the teacher wants the students to get into the habit of using English, he must use English to teach them. And the most of time that the students practise their listening is in class. So if the teachers use English with the help of body language to explain his or her ideas to the students, this can create a very good language environment for the students to practise their listening. And as time passes, the students will get used to this and understand the meaning so that it will helps them to improve their listening involuntarily.

2. Body language helps to improve speaking
With the development of society, language learner are not longer contented with the development of reading ability, but an urgent need to improve the linguistic comprehensive ability of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Because of the reform and opening up policy of China, the international contacts go on a deeper lever and all-around development. The social demand of students’ oral English ability is increasing. Thus, it is an urgent and important task for foreign languages teaching workers to improve the students’ oral English ability. Therefore, it is important and significant to inquire how to improve students’ spoken English ability in the classroom teaching. So according to this, teachers have to use body language during the teaching.
The spoken language is one of the important ways to communicate, so we should try to develop students' ability of speaking. Factually they are helped to reach the aim in a certain degree by their teacher's body language. The contemporary emphasis is gradually laid on spoken English teaching. The first lesson of every unit in Senior English begins with dialogue. The teaching programs require the teachers to organize the class to practice English according to the characteristics of dialogue. Generally speaking, the body language can arouse and sustain the students' interest of learning and using English. In the English class, the teachers should not only use body languages themselves, but also ask the students to use them according to the different situation. Take it for example, the first lesson in Unit one, Book one is about the time when the new students first meet, and they don't know each other. So a teacher can introduce himself first, such as: "Hello, everyone, nice to meet you here. Now I'll introduce myself to you. My name is Arthur. I like playing basketball, for, it makes me much stronger; I like playing chess, for, it makes me more clever; and I like reading books, for, 'reading makes one perfect'". During the introduction, the teacher should use the new vocabularies and sentence structures together with a vivid expression and mating gestures as possibly as he can. He smiles when he says hello to the class; he shakes hands with some students saying "Nice to meet you"; he writes name down on the blackboard; he imitates the action of dribbling and shooting at the basketball, playing chess and turning pages to explain his hobby. After his introduction, the teacher can create a circumstance for the students to practice: "Mary and Jack are new classmates. They are walking together in the street, and they meet one of Jack's old friends, Yangpei. Then Yangpei and Mary are introduced to each other by Jack. After the students' practice the dialogue is introduced naturally from it. Usually, the application of body language in different situations will result in an attracting. In the end, the students will understand the meaning of body language and it will be a successful lesson.

3. Body language helps to improve reading
Reading is an important way of gaining information in foreign language learning. It is a basic skill for a language learner. There is a lot of reading exercises in an examination today. But all these readings must be done in limited time. So students are asked to read them correctly and with a certain speed.
The purpose of Senior English teaching is to train the students' preliminary ability using spoken and written English. In the senior school, we lay emphasis one the reading ability that serves the students' further study. Here we mainly mention the helpfulness for re