臺灣地區中學英語教師對於文法教學的信念

High School English Teachers' Beliefs on Grammar Instruction in Taiwan

賴淑菁(Shu-jing Lai)

指導教授 ： 陳秋蘭教授

國立臺灣師範大學/文學院/英語學系/碩士(2003年)

摘要

本文旨在探討台灣的中學英語老師對於文法教學的看法，包括老師們認為文法扮演什麼樣的角色、應該怎麼教、教什麼、在哪一個階段教，還有要花多少時間教。研究採取質、量並重的方式進行資料蒐集，透過問卷和訪談的結果來探討老師們的信念和影響其信念的因素。
根據調查和訪談的結果，中學教師們多數認為文法教學有其必要性，但不可以因為文法而忽視閱讀或聽力練習。老師們認為要讓學生養成廣泛閱讀的習慣，去了解文章的意思，才能把英文學好。就教學方式而言，中學英語老師大多採用較傳統的演譯法，先告訴學生規則，再讓他們做相關的練習或是從課文去印證該規則的用法。有少數的老師提到用歸納法或是溝通式的練習來教文法，而這些老師多是較年輕的、正在修碩士課程的、或是已經從國外拿到碩士學位的人。在教學內容方面，老師們大多依照教科書或文法書的編排來教文法。有少數人認為應該要在國中或高中三年內把文法規則教完，但大多數的人認為文法教學應該以基礎和常用的規則為主，點到重點為止。就時間來看，雖然老師們高度贊同中學階段要教文法，但大多數人認為文法教學不應該占太多時間。面對年紀教小、尚在起步階段的學生，老師們大多認為應該盡量不要教文法，或者將文法教學的份量減到最低，教一些最簡單、最基礎的規則。
一般來說，文獻資料多贊成教師信念有不容易改變的特質，因為從老師們當學生開始，就已經耳濡目染，深深地被傳統的方式所影響。他們成為教師之後，很難脫離舊有的觀念和教學模式。但是，就本研究的結果來看，老師們雖然還是跟以前的老師一樣重視文法，他們已經從一個完全仰賴文法的模式，轉化成同時注重語意和語法了。這種改變，在一些受了現代觀念薰陶的老師身上最為明顯。不管是正式的在大學或研究所修學位，或者是在教書的工作崗位上和英語教學界的教授接觸討論、使用根據新觀念編排的教科書，都有可能對老師們的信念產生或多或少的影響。因此，雖然新政策的推動在短期之內看不到太大的成效，老師們確實有受到影響，努力地讓自己的教學在拉高學生考試成績之餘，能夠培養學生的溝通能力。即使有些老師強調要教文法，多數也只是希望教了之後對學生整體的英文能力有所幫助。有鑑於此，教師培育單位應該繼續倡導新的教學觀和教學法，除了職前的培訓課程之外，也應該強調持續的在職培訓課程，才能強化訓練的效果，落實新的教學觀和新的教學法。除此之外，更應該聽聽老師們的聲音，探討老師在實施以溝通或語意為主的教學時所遇到的困難，以尋求解決之道。

關鍵字

教師信念 ； 文法教學

並列摘要

The purpose of this study is to explore what beliefs high school English teachers in Taiwan have towards grammar instruction, including the role, approach, content, and time of grammar instruction. The study adopts a combination of the qualitative and the quantitative approach. By means of questionnaire survey and interview, teachers’ beliefs on grammar instruction and the factors that influence these beliefs are looked upon and examined.
According to the results from the questionnaire and the interview, teachers in general hold positive views towards the incorporation of grammar teaching, under the premise that meaning and exposure to the target language receive primary focus. As to the teaching approach, most teachers adopt a deductive and explicit approach. A smaller amount of participants reported the use of the inductive approach and the incorporation of communicative practices. These teachers share several characteristics: younger, currently taking graduate courses, or got an MA degree from foreign countries. Regarding the content of grammar instruction, most teachers follow the textbooks or grammar books. While some of them agree to the instruction of all grammar rules in the time frame of three years in junior or senior high school, most of them focus on teaching only the most frequent and the most important rules. They think it is more important to include grammar rules that students have to learn to satisfy current needs or carry out the tasks assigned. With regard to the time of grammar instruction, while it is highly agreed that high school students be taught grammar, most teachers think that the instruction should not occupy too much time. They also think that younger learners and beginners should not be taught grammar, unless the rules are very simple and basic.
As the literature suggests, teachers’ beliefs are hard to change because they have been planted and rooted since teachers’ early days as students. The current study, however, found that formal training has an effect on teachers’ beliefs. Teachers have turned from placing sole focus on linguistic structures to placing dual focus on structures and meaning at the same time. The influence of new concepts is especially evident on teachers who have received training in under-graduate or graduate programs, or teachers who have interacted with professors in the field of English language teaching or used textbooks compiled based on new foreign language teaching approaches. This is to say, while it takes a long period of time for new policies to be accepted and practiced, teachers are seeking ways to develop students’ communicative competence as well as upgrade students’ performance in exams. Even for teachers who stress the importance of grammar teaching, they teach grammar because they think it will help students learn English. In order to carry out the latest ideas for teaching, teacher-training institutes should keep on promoting these concepts, no matter at pre-service or in-service programs. In addition, these institutes need to listen to what difficulties teachers face while administrating meaning-focused or communication-focused instruction so that solutions can be worked out to help teachers realize their beliefs into practices.

並列關鍵字

Teachers' beliefs ； Grammar instruction

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