If you were to ask my students what they do in my classes, most of them would probably say “we play”. And if you were to observe me through a window glass, you might conclude that I don’t seriously teach, or as one of my colleagues jokingly put it “你是在騙錢吧?” You see, in my classes, we sing songs and dance, say chants and rhymes, perform fingerplays and play lots of task-based games. And all of this is what I will refer to as plays throughout the article or what the students might put it – we play. I don’t explicitly teach or explain grammar unless a student asks for clarification which is the time he or she’s stuck in his/her efforts of working out the rules of the language on his own (Read Understanding How VYLs and YLs Learn Languages, VYLs and YLs Learn through Experimenting). This way of doing is completely different from the way most of teachers and parents were taught English. Out of many, I would like to offer just three points to make the case for plays in teaching VYLs and YLs.
如果你問我的學生, 我們在課堂上都做些甚麼, 絕大部分的他們大概都會說, 我們都在玩! 而且, 若你透過教室的窗戶來觀察我的上課, 你可能會覺得我沒有很嚴肅認真地在教課. 或是就像我一位同事曾開玩笑地說, 你是在騙錢吧?
你瞧, 在我的課堂中, 我們唱歌與跳舞, 念歌謠與韻文, 表演手指遊戲, 玩很多”目的導向”的遊戲. 而這些就是我在這篇文章會提到的「遊戲」的概念, 或是我學生說的 --「我們都在玩」. 我不會很明確地在教或是解釋文法, 除非是學生自己問起. 通常這代表孩子自己在腦袋瓜裡已嘗試要歸納出語言的規則, 但卻卡住了.(相關文章, 請見此) 而這樣的做法與大部分的老師與父母截然不同.相關的概念很多種, 我這兒只想提三點來說明何以「遊戲」對於教學齡前或兒童是這麼重要.
1.Plays help build a positive attitude towards learning English at an early age. Learning English is not an easy task. Effort to remember concepts and rules is required all the time. Plays help make this fun and enjoyable. Through them, many burdensome tasks as memorizing concepts can get completed with a smile without them even knowing they’re doing it. And that’s a win-win situation. With VYLs and YLs, much gets done if packaged as games. Please do make sure to watch Life Is Beautiful.
遊戲可以協助孩子在還小的時候, 建立對於美語學習有積極的態度. 學美語真的不是件容易的事, 需要無時無刻地努力記住概念與規則. 遊戲可以幫這過程更有趣更好玩! 透過遊戲, 很多有點難的工作, 如要記住概念, 都可以讓孩子在微笑中完成, 而他們可能根本都還不知道他們早就做到了! 這絕對是個雙贏的局面~ 對於學齡前的孩子與兒童, 很多事情若是被包裝成遊戲的話, 都可以做到! 別忘了可以看看這部電影: 美麗人生.
2.VYLs and YLs, like adults, want to feel successful in whatever they do including learning a new language. Songs, rhymes, chants and fingerplays allow them to do exactly that just in a single class hour. They leave the class with some English to show off to their parents and friends and feeling successful. And nothing breeds success like success. These little things they do here and there, which might appear unrelated to the content of their textbooks, actually help produce the most important ingredient in their English learning journey: confidence. Confidence in their ability to speak English will take them places where nothing else in my knowledge will ever take them to.
學齡前的孩子與兒童, 跟大人一樣, 不管做啥事, 包括學習一個新的語言, 也想要獲得成就感. 歌曲、童謠、韻文或是手指遊戲可以讓孩子在一個課堂中就學好. 他們離開課堂時多少學會點容易上口的美語,他們會展示給爸媽跟朋友, 然後覺得自己很有成就感. 沒有比成就感更能帶來成就感了. 他們在這兒在那兒完成的一點小事(並不一定與他們教科書內容有關), 其實讓他們產生在美語學習上最重要的一環: 自信! 相信自己能說美語的這股自信, 會帶孩子到任何地方!
3.The plays expose them to an incredible amount and variety of good quality English content and lessen the need for speaking Chinese. Good quality English contents are the building blocks of their learning edifice. They can draw upon them in one hand, to creatively constructs sentences and convey meaning on their own, and in the other hand, to easily remember concepts. How many times have you seen children run the melody of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in their minds in order to retrieve a body part’s name? And if a class is well articulated, the teacher can have all the kids actively using English 95% of the time. The all fun is in speaking English not in Chinese. There is therefore no need for Chinese.
藉著有趣的遊戲可以讓孩子沉浸在大量且多元、品質好的美語環境, 減少說中文的需求. 品質好的美語環境是建立孩子「學習大廈」的磚塊, 孩子在遊戲中不斷聽到大量的品質好的美語, 一方面可以幫助孩子創造出自己的句子, 用自己的方式表達意思, 一方面也可以讓他們輕易的記住該記住的概念. 舉個簡單的例子來說, 「頭兒、肩膀、膝、腳趾…」這首歌謠就很適合讓孩子不斷的練唱, 自然而然的記住身體各項部位的名稱. 再者, 若授課老師能仔細地設計銜接好課程進行的方式,有95%的時間,孩子自己就能在課堂上積極地使用美語. 因為遊戲中最好玩的部分都在說美語的情況下才有.根本沒有必要說中文.
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