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1、Extensive RecitationAn Effective FL Learning StrategyAbstract English, as a foreign language, has been widely learned throughout China in the past thirty years or so. In the 21st century，English is becoming more and more important in the international communication due to the globalization. At colle
2、ge, all the students, including the English majors and the non-English majors, have to learn English. Both the teachers and the learners have tried a variety of strategies in order to achieve high proficiency of English. Language is a tool for communication and it can only realize its function when
3、it is used in different realistic communicative contexts. Thus，to learn a foreign language successfully means to acquire the skill of using the target language properly and exactly in different social situations. In order to achieve this final aim, productive vocabulary and fluent usage of all gramm
4、atical rules in sentences making become especially important in learning a foreign language. And in the development and acquisition of the skill, recitation plays a very important role in China where the learners have their own particular learning background and traditional learning strategy. In Chi
5、na, English can only be learned as a foreign language instead of a second language since there is no English language environment at all. In order to make the learners acquire the language skills effectively, different learning strategies have been used in the past years. These strategies include gr
6、ammatical translation, direct approach, the situational approach, listening and speaking approach and the communicative methodology. Because of the variety of teaching strategy introduced into China, recitation as the Chinese traditional learning strategy is submerged and abandoned.In this paper, th
7、e writer reviews the related language learning theories and the studies of recitation and attempts to explore a learning strategy which is practical for the Chinese English learners at the basic stage in college. That is “extensive recitation”, which is based on the theory of “input hypothesis” and
8、accords with the cognitive process of human mind. It is realized on the basis of comprehension and appreciation. The learners must first read extensively according to their own interest, and then choose some parts from the reading material to recite. Later on, they are to imitate, repeat and recreat
9、e those recited sentences or paragraphs in their own speaking or writing. It is different from the traditional way of recitation and has its own specialties and advantages. The most distinguished specialty is that it takes the learners personal interest into account and hence it is very helpful in e
10、nhancing learning motivation and realizing individual learning. The paper also tries to prove the function of extensive recitation by carrying out a four-month test over 67 first-year English majors. The result shows the learners in the experimental group makes greater progress in reading speed and
11、speaking and writing proficiency than those in the control group.This paper proceeds in the following way: Chapter 1 points out the necessity of introducing extensive recitation.Chapter 2 introduces the related studies concerning about language learning and recitation. Extensive recitation is based
12、on these studies. The differences between traditional recitation and extensive recitation are fully analyzed.Chapter 3 discusses the cognitive process of extensive recitation based on the cognitive and psychological analysis of discourse. Extensive recitation helps knowledge intake of the target lan
13、guage and the process can be divided into five stages. Chapter 4 explains the whole procedure of the research. It covers the research questions, subjects of the research, and data collection.Chapter 5 analyzes the results of the research and discusses the findings and limitations of the research.In
14、the end, on the basis of the research, the writer comes to the conclusion that extensive recitation is a good learning strategy in foreign language learning.The findings of the present study are enlightening in guiding both the foreign language learners and the teachers as to what to recite, how to
15、recite and how to make the recitation most effective. Of course, his conclusion is not intended to be the final word on the topic. There is a lot to be desired. The paper hopes to be an introduction to elicit the further research in this respect.Key words: extensive recitation, personal interest, in
16、put, language proficiency摘 要在过去的三十年中，英语，作为一种外语学习，一直受到广泛的关注。在二十一世纪，由于经济全球化，英语在国际交流中变得越来越重要。在大学里，所有的英语专业或非英语专业的学生都得学习英语。语言是交际工具。只有当语言处在真实的语境中，才能实现它的交际功能。因此，要成功地学会一门外语，就得掌握在不同社会语境中使用不同的目标语的技能。为了达到语言学习的这一终极目的，增加产出性词汇量，把语法知识熟练地应用于话语产出中就变得尤其重要。中国的语言学习者有着特殊的学习背景和传统的学习方法，因此，在语言技能的培养和获得中，背诵扮演了极为重要的角色。在中国，没有英
17、语语言环境，所以英语只能作为一种外语，而不是第二语言来学习。为了使学习者能有效地获得这一语言技能，在英语学习的历程中，教师采用了不同的教学策略。这些策略包括语法翻译法、直接法、情景教学法、听说法和交际法。由于各种学习方法的引进，背诵这一传统的学习策略渐渐被埋没进而放弃了。在本篇论文中，作者回顾了相关的语言学习理论以及对背诵的研究，试图探索出一条适合中国大学基础阶段学习者的英语学习策略“广泛性背诵”。这一策略以输入假设理论为基础，符合人类的思维认知规律，并在理解和欣赏的基础上最终得以实现。学习者必须先根据自己的兴趣选择材料进行广泛的阅读，然后根据自己的喜好挑选出相应的篇章或段落进行背诵。最后，通
18、过模仿、重复或再创造把所背的内容运用于自己的口语交流或写作中去。广泛性背诵不同与传统意义上的背诵。它具有传统背诵所没有的特征和优点。其中最为不同的特征是它考虑到了学习者的个人兴趣。因此，它对提高学习者的学习动机，实现个性化教学极为有利。为了证明广泛性背诵的实用效果，本篇论文的作者对英语本科一年级的两个班67名同学进行了一个学期，即四个月的实验。实验结果证明实验组的学生在阅读速度、口语和写作能力上所取得的进步比控制组的学生要大得多。全文共分六章：第一章指出了使用广泛性背诵这一学习策略的必要性。第二章介绍了语言学习理论和背诵的相关研究，并详细地介绍了传统背诵和广泛性背诵的区别。第三章在对话语的认知
19、心理分析的理论基础上，讨论了广泛性背诵的心理认知过程。广泛性背诵有利于语言的获得。它的认知过程可以分为五个阶段。第四章介绍了研究的全过程：包括研究要解决的问题、研究的对象和数据的收集。第五章分析了研究的结果并讨论了本研究的发现以及它的局限性。最后，在本研究的基础上，作者得出了结论：广泛性背诵是一种有效的外语学习策略。本研究的发现有助于帮助老师和学生选择适当的背诵内容和背诵方法从而使背诵发挥最大效应。当然，这一策略并非唯一或最好的学习策略。作者只希望通过自己的努力唤起广大外语工作者对学习策略的更多关注。关键词：广泛性背诵、个人兴趣、语言输入、语言水平ContentsAcknowledgement
20、siAbstract (English version)iiAbstract (Chinese version)vChapter 1 Introduction.1Chapter 2 Literature Review52.1. Literature review.52.1.1. Related language learning theories. 5 2.1.2. Related studies of recitation7 2.2. Comparative analysis of extensive recitation and traditional recitation 9 2.2.1
21、. Different materials chosen for recitation9 2.2.2. Motivation involved10 2.2.3. Different input.12 2.2.4. Different treatment of the input16Chapter 3 The Cognitive Process of Extensive Recitation.18 3.1. Cognitive study of discourse18 3.2 Cognitive analysis of extensive recitation.20Chapter 4 Metho
22、dology and Data Collection.254.1. Questions concerned254.2. Method.254.2.1. Participants and Setting .254.2.2. Data Collection 264.3. Results. 284.3.1. Questions analysis284.3.2. Reading performance and statistical analysis.314.3.3. Writing performance and statistical analysis38Chapter 5 Results and
23、 Discussion.425.1. Results obtained from the test.425.2. Advantages discovered in using extensive recitation435.2.1.Enhancing a positive attitude toward the target language 435.2.2. Being useful for the teaching for individuals. .445.2.3. Reducing the negative transfer of the mother tongue .455.2.4.
24、Turning the explicit knowledge about grammar into implicit knowledge 46 5.2.5. Reducing the learners anxiety.49Chapter 6 Conclusion. 51Bibliography53List of Published Essays of the Author. 57Appendix: Questionaire .58 Chapter 1 IntroductionEnglish, as a foreign language, has been widely learned in C
25、hina for more than a hundred years. English now is becoming more and more important in international communication due to globalization. At college, all the students, including the English majors and the non-English majors, have to learn English. According to the “English teaching outline for Englis
26、h majors at basic stage”, the teaching objective is to “convey English basic knowledge, train the students to have a complete and strict basic skills, and develop the students language competence of language use.” (Li Guanyi, 1994) That is to say, both the language skills and communicative competenc
27、e should be emphasized. Throughout the history of English foreign language education in China, teachers have tried a variety of strategies in order to ensure the learners to have a high proficiency of English. From the 1840s to the 1940s, grammatical translation was largely used. This strategy focus
28、ed on the grammatical analysis and the direct translation between the target language and mother tongue. At the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century, the direct approach gained brief popularity emphasizing on the learners listening and speaking ability. From the 1930s to the 1960s,
29、the situational approach was developed from the structural theory of language. The situational approach laid an emphasis on the close combination of the structure and situation of language. At the beginning of 1960s, another methodology called listening and speaking approach was introduced into Engl
30、ish education, whose basic teaching principle was imitation, memorization and recitation. Since 1980s, a new teaching strategy has swept China known as the communicative methodology. Becoming the new tide of language learning, communicative methodology has therefore caused the abandonment of the Chi
31、nese traditional learning strategy, recitation (Li Guanyi, 1994).English, as a language first, is the most important tool for communication. It is the product of the need and practice of communication. Language is alive only when it is used in reality, otherwise it would become a dead language. A pe
32、rson can only learn to use a language during the process of using the language. Language is also the tool that allows a human being to think and to reflect upon the culture of the native speakers of the language; language reflects the process and result of thinking. So the way of thinking must be re
33、flected in the language. Therefore, language must be taught as a communicative tool to the learners. For the nature of language, communicative approach becomes very popular in English teaching in China. It focuses on the creation of authentic situations for communication in English learning. Since t
34、he 1980s, the communicative approach has been widely used for English learning in China. The language learners focus on creating real situations for communication in English learning, so they pay much more attention to spoken English and listening ability. With the adaptation of this learning strate
35、gy, the foreign language learners can speak more fluently and obtain a good level in listening comprehension. Meanwhile, their pronunciation is better, and they get familiar with more functional expressions. Despite its advantages, the learning strategy has its great disadvantages. Just as Prof. Wen
36、g Qiufang said when she was interviewed by Bao Tianren (2004), “We have made a big mistake in Chinese foreign language teaching. The whole fundamental education, including primary school, junior and senior middle school, even the college, advocates productive teaching which emphasizes output and ser
37、iously ignores, even denies the layers of knowledge and the layer of “double bases”, whether its college English teaching for non-English majors or English teaching for English majors. Consequently, we are poor in vocabulary, grammar, and phonology.” She also states that in these years, the issues s
38、uch as the exact teaching methods adopted by the teachers and learning strategies used by learners are not emphasized. Finally, educators simply regard the old and traditional methods are not good and recitation is viewed as a time-and-effort consuming and ineffective learning strategy, which leads
39、to the small amounts of vocabulary and less information in output.Maley (1983) regards that recitation only helps Chinese students to acquire the knowledge of a target language. They can not use the language as tool to communicate. But other scholars such as Scovel (1983) think recitation is one of
40、the traditional learning strategies of Chinese students. This factor should be taken into account when studying English learning in China. Recitation, as a traditional learning strategy, emphasizes the memorization of words, grammar rules and texts in the text books. The fact is that it is disregard
41、ed by the learners. The students hate to memorize. They simply regard it as the old and traditional strategy which is ineffective in improving their English proficiency. Some teachers say it is a kind of mechanical leaning strategy which has no creation of the target language. What is known to all i
42、s that the cultivation of students memory is also to improve their competences. Students play the active roles in learning. Their excellent memory comes from daily practice. Therefore, teachers could cultivate and improve students memory, according to the principle of memory and psychological charac
43、teristic. The American famous speaker, Dyerer, made successful achievements that were related to his exceptional good memory. That is to say, without excellent memory, there can be no accumulation of knowledge, no human process of cognitions, even no innovation of knowledge and social civilization.
44、Actually in daily teaching, teachers cannot attach enough importance to it. It is necessary for teachers to emphasize memory cultivating in order to improve teachers teaching efficiency and the students learning efficiency. The best way of transformation is to encourage students to memorize. Then it
45、 makes teaching and learning efficiency more perfect. Both communicative approach and recitation used in China at present have their own advantages and disadvantages in learning a foreign language. Can we find a learning strategy which can cover the advantageous features of the two learning strategi
46、es in one learning strategy? The writer of this paper develops a new learning strategy on the basis of the two learning strategies. That is extensive recitation, a recitation done by the FL learners on the basis of reading a lot out of class. The writer designs a study of extensive recitation in a s
47、emester among two classes of freshmen at college. The study shows that the learners English proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing of the experimental class is improved faster than that of the control group.The paper consists of six chapters. It proceeds as follows:Chapter 1 is a general intr
