A Research Of English Phonetics Teaching Strategies In Primary School Based On Constructivism Theory

In primary school English teaching, the phonetics teaching is an indispensable but underappreciated tache. We have reached a general consensus that phonetics teaching is an essential part of English corriculum. With the development and popularization of the English learning, people begin to highlight the importance of pronunciation in English learning. The phonetics teaching is very important in English teaching, especially in primary school English teaching. The purpose of primary school English teaching is to motivate primary students’ s interests in learning English, to cultivate students’ preliminary sense of language and to lay a good foundation for students’ pronunciation and intonation. Therefore, phonetics teaching has played an important part in primary school English teaching.Phonetics teaching in primary school calls for theoretical guidance. Constructivism first emerges in the field of philosophy and psychology, while now it’s widely applied in the field of education. Researchers hold that one of the most important developments in education is that constructivism theory also plays a significant role in teaching and learning. As constructivism expands the research on education theory and effectively guides the activity and practice in all education subjects, it’s regarded as the modern and effective model in guiding education and practice. Constructivism advocates that under the guidance of teachers, learners are treated as the center of learning. In primary school phonetics teaching, constructivism overcomes the drawbacks of obtaining knowledge in a superficial, isolated and mechanical way, which conforms to the current education notion to train the talented bearing originality, initiative and cooperation, and endeavors to enhance the phonetic teaching effect and help students develop both of the linguistic competence and communicative competence.This thesis aims at investigating the current situations of phonetics teaching and finding some more effective and practical methods on English phonetics teaching under the guidance of constructivism in the primary school. This research will mainly focus on resolving the following four key issues:1. What are the problems in current learning / teaching situations of English phonetics about primary students in Taiyuan?2. What should be the principles of English phonetics teaching and the principles of English phonetics teaching strategies in primary school?There are also two potential questions: how do these principles affect the application of English phonics teaching in primary school in Taiyuan? Moreover, how is the social perception of English phonetics teaching strategies in primary school in Taiyuan?In this research, both qualitative and quantitive methods are adopted to help the author make this research. The author makes efforts to select enough and typical questionnaire to analyze and figure out what roles phonetics teaching plays in primary school English teaching.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One is a brief introduction to the background, significance, purpose, methodology and organization of the research.Chapter Two is literature review on the phonetics teaching strategies abroad and in China. Chapter Three introduces theoretical foundation of the research and the constructivist perspective on English teaching. Chapter Four is about the methodology of this research. Research questions, research instruments, design and implementation of questionnaires, respondents of the research and the procedure of data collection are introduced in detail in this part. The research instruments include one questionnaire,which has been done by students who are selected at random from four primary schools in Taiyuan and an interview with 20 primary school English teachers to collect the data.Chapter Five mainly deals with the research questions which are raised in chapter four.Chapter Six is the conclusion of this thesis. It summarizes the key points and indicates the limitations of the research as well as suggestions for further study.