| It is true that every English teacher is concerned about how to optimize English teaching for the sake of teaching efficiency and the promotion of students' overall development. However, when people are analyzing the teaching process, they attach too much importance to thecognitive side of language learning, while the other important aspect-----the affective element is neglected.In the late 1960's, Douglas Brown concluded that affective factors played a crucial part in the second language acquisition, and some learners' academic failures can be attributable to different kinds of affective obstacles.With affective attitude being brought to the foreground in the English curriculum in 2001, the study of affective elements in English teaching has taken on a flourishing look. Affective teaching is a teaching approach by which teachers take cognitive factors and affective factors into account at the same time so as to perfect the goal of teaching and produce better results during the teaching process. In this way the purpose of developing students' cognitive abilities and emotional qualities can be harmoniously realized.What is the exact affective state in English teaching? How can teachers optimize English teaching by utilizing affective factors? All the English teachers should study these questions seriously and urgently. So I choose "A Research on How to Optimize Senior High School English Teaching by Utilizing Affective Factors" as my thesis' subject, which has practical significance and may also serve as a modest spur to induce others to come to this field.In this study, the author first gives reasons to carry out the research, explaining the phenomenon of the ignorance of students' emotional and personality elements in English teaching caused by today's predominant examination-oriented education. Also, the object and method of the study are also discussed briefly. In addition, the author explains the basic frame of the article as well as its unique and creative features.Affective teaching is based on rich theories which can be found in philosophy, neuro-linguistics, second language acquisition and educational psychology. Next, by means of recollecting the history of the concept about affective education on language teaching from both home and abroad, the author finds out the orientation for this study.After that, based on the concepts, characteristics and functions of affect, affective elements in English teaching, which mainly includes individual factors and relational factors, are analyzed. We argue that these factors may facilitate or debilitate students' English learning. Therefore, the author enunciates the great value of affective education in English teaching. That is to say, we should try to utilize the positive affective elements to improve students' learning and reduce the bad effect caused by negative affective elements in our English teaching.The next chapter gives the definition of affective teaching and discusses the concept and goals of English affective teaching. Three teaching principles are followed in order to carry out English affective teaching efficiently.Then, the writer investigates the affective state of the students in senior high school English teaching and learning. The questionnaire is directed to two dimensions----positive and negative affective factors. A full preparation is made to ensure the reliability and validity of the investigation. Then the author counts the statistics carefully and analyzes the results insightfully.Finally, in light of the investigative results together with the theory and practice in affective teaching, the author puts forward affective strategies applied to English teaching to optimize senior high school English teaching. At the end of the research, the author indicates both the strengths and weaknesses of this study. |
