Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica 2020, Vol. XXIX, N°2, 307-313
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.241 307
P
SYCHOLOGICAL
C
HANGES OF
S
TUDENTS IN
S
ECOND
L
ANGUAGE
T
EACHING
:
T
AKING
E
NGLISH
L
EARNING AS AN
E
XAMPLE
Nengwei Fan
Abstract
In recent years, a growing attention has been paid to second language education from the perspective of psychology. Taking English learning as an example, this paper aims to identify the psychological changes of students in second language teaching. First, a questionnaire survey was conducted among students of a vocational school in Hebei Province, China. Drawing on psychological theories, the survey data were statistically analyzed to evaluate thepsychological changes and features of students in English learning from several aspects, namely, learning interest, learning purpose, learning motivation, self-confidence and learning difficulties. On this basis, some suggestions were put forward to improve the English education methods. The results show that vocational school students are severely lacking in vocabulary, confidence, interest and effective methods of English learning, as manifested by the generally low English scores; the atmosphere of English learning is not sufficient on campus; the teachers should help students build confidence in learning English, and stimulate their interest and motivation in English learning. The research results provide a theoretical basis for English education in vocational schools.
Key words: English Learning, Vocational Schools, Second Language Teaching, Psychological Changes.
Received: 05-02-19 | Accepted: 08-08-19
INTRODUCTION
With the continuous development of education, foreign language education has become one of the important supports of the global economy. It is urgent to study English education and teaching. English course, as a compulsory course for vocational school students, is related to the employment of students after graduation (Genesee, Rogers, & Holobow, 2006; Falkauskas & Kuperman, 2015). The factors influencing students' English learning are very complicated. If teachers do not understand students' psychology of learning English, teachers cannot meet students' psychological needs, and teachers' teaching methods cannot be appropriate (Aharony, 2006;
School of Foreign Languages, Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng 224002, China.
E-Mail: [email protected]
Arunachalam, Syrett, & Chen, 2016). Since English education in vocational schools started very late, students are generally weary of learning English. So, it is urgent to study students' English learning psychology (Jung, Choeh, Baik et al., 2014; Mazlum, Cheraghi, & Dasta, 2015). If we can find its regularity and universality, it can not only help teachers to conduct targeted teaching, but also can help teachers establish new teaching concepts and promote the development of the theoretical
system of English teaching (Burgoyne, Whiteley,
& Hutchinson, 2011; Chen, Tardif, Pulverman et
al., 2015; Zhang, Gu, & Hu, 2011).
The development of society has put forward new requirements for English teaching in vocational schools. Vocational school students generally have poor learning quality at the beginning of enrollment. Students have a poor foundation in English learning. This is an unavoidable fact (Fallon,Lahar, & Susman, 2009;
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Burnham, Singh, Mattock et al., 2018). Current teaching materials in English education are dull and lack of fun with single form of classroom teaching. The educational concepts of vocational school teachers are generally backward with no classroom interaction and are lack of vitality.
(Norwich, 1999; Kuperman, Matsuki, & Van
Dyke, 2018; Schoor, Kownatzki, Narciss et al., 2014; Poreh,Sultan, & Levin, 2012).It is not only the starting point of English teaching research but also the focus of English teaching research about how to face the reality, comply with the reality, how to update the teaching concepts, how to combine students' psychological characteristics factors in teaching, how to elaborately refine the teaching contents, how to adopt the new teaching methods and means to stimulate students' interest and motivation.
If the teaching of English is not based on the
psychological characteristics of students,
students are not willing to learn, the teaching of teachers will be lack of flexibility, and teachers will also be tired of teaching. The lack of vitality in teaching is a waste of time and money, which also leads to low efficiency. This paper takes students' psychological problems as the starting point, tries to combine the theoretical knowledge related to psychology, analyzes the psychological factors of students' weariness in learning, and puts forward improvement measures for teaching methods, so as to enhance students' confidence in learning English and stimulate students' interest in learning, so as to improve the English teaching environment in vocational schools.
THEORIES RELATED TO SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING
Foreign language teaching theory
Different teaching methods basically reflect two different language views: functional language views and structural language views. The structural view of language believes that language is a structured code system composed of relevant components of sentences, such as words, phonemes, sentences, etc. Therefore, language teaching needs to be carried out in a systematic way, and the functions and meanings of words, sentences, and phonemes in the system need to be clarified in teaching. Linguists believe that difficulties in language learning are mainly caused by language differences. If the structure of the mother tongue is similar to or
similar to that of the language to be learned, students will make fewer mistakes in the process of learning. The structure of the two languages is different, and the application of grammar in the two languages is different, which is the reason for the difficulty in learning and the
errors in the application of grammar.
Comparative analysis is a common method used by teachers at present. Teachers can reduce the interference of mother tongue to the second language by comparing with mother tongue and finding the differences in grammar application.
The functional view of language believes that language is a tool for communication, and language is not an independent system. Therefore, it is not necessary to study the structure of language, but the meaning of language in specific places. Language is primarily for communication. There are three main functions of language: expression, interpersonal communication, and writing articles. Expression means that people use language to talk about the world and express their emotions so as to understand the objective world. Interpersonal communication means that people use language to conduct social activities and establish new interpersonal relationships. Writing means that the meaning expressed by the words people use in the essay or discourse conforms to the situation. The function of language is made up of the organization and use of language. The process of learning and using a second language is also a process of psychological cognition. Language ability and psychological cognitive ability are interactive and complementary.
There are two main methods of foreign language teaching, namely deduction and induction. Deductive method means that teachers teach the rules of language to students and teach the specific grammar rules of language to students. Students apply these rules to their learning. All methods of teaching language rules are deductive. Induction refers to the rules that allow students to generalize and summarize language by themselves in the process of learning. Induction emphasizes the use of language rather than the knowledge of language. In addition, the teaching methods of language include direct method, counseling method and communicative method, which all belong to induction method.
The relationship between foreign language learning psychology and teaching
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES OF STUDENTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING: TAKING ENGLISH LEARNING AS AN EXAMPLE 309
Over the years, foreign language researchers have conducted a great deal of research on learners' psychological changes in foreign language learning from different perspectives, forming a wealth of theoretical knowledge. According to previous research, the purpose of foreign language teaching is to help students eventually learn a foreign language. Students are the subject of learning. Learning is students' own business. In the learning process, there are huge
differences in students' abilities and
personalities, which will determine whether students can achieve certain achievements in language learning. Students' motivations and ways of learning also vary greatly. To teach students a foreign language well, teachers need to overcome many difficulties. Teachers need to guide students to study and stimulate their interest in learning.
Modern educational theory holds that students are the subject of learning. Students' cognition, attitude, emotion and knowledge level have great influence on language learning. The main body of language education is students. In the process of teaching, teachers need to respect the learners, take students as the subject of learning, and respect their values, emotional needs and their own willingness to learn. Students have the ability to educate themselves. Through guidance, teachers can stimulate students' learning potential and finally achieve the goal of self-realization. The modern educational view holds that the traditional teaching method is no longer suitable for the present teaching. Teachers need to cultivate students' innovative consciousness and practical ability. Students are not only containers to receive knowledge, but subjects with the ability to explore, acquire and master knowledge.
Students' psychological changes have a very
important impact on teachers' teaching
methods. Only by complying with students' inner needs and enabling students to actively understand their learning needs and pursuits, can students truly learn for themselves. Learning a foreign language is to be able to communicate effectively and to make practical use of the language. Students need to apply their foreign language knowledge in real life. Teachers need to highlight the effectiveness of direct application in curriculum design and focus on the practical application scope and application scenarios of foreign languages. Only in this way can students master the practicality of foreign
language knowledge. The purpose of studying the foreign language needs of different types of
students is to understand the future
development direction of language teaching. The goal of language education is to combine the psychological changes of students in the process of learning and find the right method of teaching.
THE SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN ENGLISH
TEACHING
A survey of English teaching in vocational schools
Today, with the development of economic diversification and globalization, vocational schools are responsible for the training of high-quality workers for all walks of life. These people still need to have basic English skills, such as
filling in English documents, reading
instructions, identifying English signs, etc. Therefore, English education in vocational schools is particularly important, which needs to be employment-oriented and cultivate practical English in the workplace, so that scholars can well adapt to career development. The development of society has put forward new requirements for English teaching in vocational schools.
Figure 1
.
Student information of the survey
Educators need to update their teaching concepts and adopt new teaching methods based on students' psychological characteristics, so as to stimulate students' interest in learning
and meet the requirements of social
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vocational school in Hebei province were
interviewed through questionnaires and
interviews, and their learning psychology,
learning interest, learning purpose and
motivation, self-confidence and learning
difficulties were interviewed. A total of 151 questionnaires were received in this survey, of which 146 were valid, accounting for 91.25%. The basic information of the students interviewed is shown in figure 1.
Figure 2
.
Students' English scores
Figure 3
.
Students' vocabulary
The English entrance scores and vocabulary of the interviewed students are shown in figure 2 and figure 3.As can be seen from figure 2, only 5.6% of the students with English scores above 120 (full score is 150), while 84% of the students with English scores below 90.This shows that vocational school students have a generally low English scores. As can be seen from figure 3, only
8.6% of students with vocabularies above 1600, only 14.1% of students with vocabularies between 1200 and 1600, and 41.6% of students with vocabularies below 800.According to the survey, students in vocational schools are generally not good at English, and their English vocabulary is generally poor. Vocabulary is the basis of English learning. So, it is an urgent task to improve students' vocabulary, and it is also a key issue that teachers need to pay attention to in the teaching process.
The analysis of students' psychological changes
The survey results of students' confidence in learning English are shown in figure 4. It can be seen from the figure that students who are confident in learning English account for 9.3%, which is a very small proportion. The proportion of students who have some confidence in learning English is 31.5%. Students who have no confidence accounted for 59.2%. Through the conversation with students in this survey we can find that some students have never passed the exam in their first contact with English course, which leading to a weary attitude. And some students choose to quit learning because they just don’t understand English. Although the English foundation of vocational school students is relatively poor, what really hinders them is the lack of self-confidence. Therefore, the emphasis should be placed on the cultivation of students' self-confidence in the process of English teaching.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES OF STUDENTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING: TAKING ENGLISH LEARNING AS AN EXAMPLE 311
Figure 5
.
Interest in English learning
Students' interest in English learning results is shown in figure 5. It can be seen from the figure that students who takes learning English as a favorite interest accounts a very low proportion of only 5.4%. Students who don’t like or even dislike English learning accounts a total proportion of 66.50%. The results of the survey shows that most of the students are lack of interest in English learning, thus will affect the students’ initiative to learn English. Without a strong learning initiative, that academic performance will be undoubtedly affected to some extent.
Figure 6
.
Purpose of English learning
The results of the survey on students' purpose of learning English are shown in figure 6. It can be seen from the results that 45.5% of the students are to cope with examinations, while 43.8% of the students believe that learning English is good for their future. Students who love English language or western culture only
accounts for 4.2% and 6.5% of the students who are learning English. This shows that it is a mainstream idea for students to pursue short-term goals like coping with examinations, and it is also the purpose of most students in China to learn English at present. Some students also take learning English as a long-term goal to achieve. Therefore, in the process English teaching in vocational schools, it is necessary to take the practicability of English as the goal of training and conduct a career-oriented English teaching method.
Figure 7
.
The purpose of students' speech in
class
Figure 8
.
Factors influencing students' active
speech in class
The results of the survey on the purpose of students' speech in class are shown in figure 7. It can be seen from the figure that more than half of the students believe that the speech in class is to steel themselves, while 24.5% of the
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students find it boring, and 20.2% of the students believes it is just for the limelight or show-off. According to the survey results, more than half of the students are willing to get involved in classroom interaction, which is to say they are with certain subjective initiative in English learning.
Figure 8 shows the survey results of factors influencing students' active speech in class (multiple choice questions). It can be seen from the figure that 75.4% of the students think that the reason for active speech in class is that they are familiar with the topic, while 24.6% of the students believes the reason is teachers’ encouragement, students who belive the reason for their active speech is classmates' response accounts for the smallest proportion of 18.3%. The figure shows that students are willing to make active speech about topics they are interested in and are willing to take the initiative to be involved in classroom discussions. And certainl, the performance of classmates, the encouragement of teachers and the atmosphere in class will also affect students' participation in classroom speech.
Figure 9
.
Difficulties in learning English
The survey results of students' difficulties in learning English are shown in figure 9. It can be seen from the figure that students suffering from the lack of proper ways to improve their English accounts for a highest proportion of 62.3%, indicating that these students fail to master a good way of learning, while 26.8% of the students are fear of ridicule when they speak English, indicating that emotional factors have a great impact on students’ learning of English. The lack of English learning environment is also
one of the important factors, accounting for 53.8%, indicating that the cultivation of students' English learning environment and atmosphere plays a decisive role. Besides, the teaching level of teachers is also one of the factors. Teachers should improve their personal influence and teaching methods to play a better role in education.
The survey results show that the importance of students' psychological factors in learning English is self-evident. During the teaching process, teachers should combine the students' psychological characteristics, make reasonable use of teaching theories, make proper improvement upon the teaching methods, teaching contents, teaching forms, and try to meet the psychological needs of students as far as possible, and to help students to build their self-confidence in learning English, to stimulate their interest in learning English, arouse their motivation in learning English, so as to improve students' enthusiasm and initiative in learning English, and to prepare for the reserves and application of English language knowledge.
CONCLUSIONS
This paper made a systematic study upon the psychological changes of students in the process of learning English in a vocational school in Hebei province, and made a comprehensive evaluation upon the psychological characteristics of students in learning English. The main conclusions are as follows:
(1) The students are lack of interest in English learning, and they did not find appropriate methods to learn English at the very beginning, which leads to their poor performance of English scores and low self-confidence, having a serious negative impact on their enthusiasm for English learning.
(2) Some students believe that the purpose of learning English is for their own long-term development, which indicates that students in vocational schools still have the motivation to learn English and they do have a correct
understanding of English. However, they haven’t
found the right method to learn English and there is no good English learning environment around them, which leads to an attitude of weariness.
(3) The teaching methods of school teachers need to be improved to comply with students'
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES OF STUDENTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING: TAKING ENGLISH LEARNING AS AN EXAMPLE 313
interest in learning, to build students' self-confidence, and so as to improve students' enthusiasm and initiative in learning English.
Acknowledgements
Top-notch Academic Programs Projects of
Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
(PPZY2015A012).
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