| Where is the interest, there is the memory. Ever since the education of English begins, the research on stimulating learners' learning interest will never stop. According to the New Standard of English Curriculum, it is pointed out that, nowadays, English teachers not only should teach English language knowledge, but also should teach background knowledge or cultural information of English speaking countries, so that learners can use the language properly in communication. In the New Standard of English Curriculum, the importance of learners' interest in learning English has also been emphasized. Interest is usually understood as an equivalent of motivation. It is considered to have important influence on learners'attention, learning, thinking and performance. Findings indicate that an interest-based motivation to learn positively influence on both how learners realize and organize given learning tasks and the quality of learning outcomes. (Krapp, Hidi and Renninger,1992).With interest in learning English, pupils will be willing to learn English. They will spend more time on reading or writing English, they will think about ways to overcome the difficulties and insist on learning it. To stimulate Higher Graders'interest in learning English is more difficult than to stimulate Lower Graders'interest in learning English. One reason is that the games and visible teaching tools are not so attractive to Higher Graders as before. They enjoy the activities that equal to their cognitive ability. This experiment is to stimulate Higher Graders'interest in learning English through teaching English Proverbs. English Proverbs are sentences which contain vivid usage of English vocabulary, grammar and figures of speech.Through learning English Proverbs, pupils will learn about cultural background knowledge of English speaking countries. This will help pupils with better comprehension of English literature and proper communication with native speakers. Most importantly, these will develop pupils' interest in learning English. The experiment has been taken place in a class of Grade Five pupils in Shiqi Zhongxin Primary School in Zhongshan. Before the experiment begins, a questionnaire has been done to see how much the pupils are interested in learning English. Analyzing the result of the questionnaire, I know that in this class,10% of the pupils have great interest in learning English,60% of the pupils have interest in learning English,20% of the pupils are quite interested in learning English,10% of the pupils have little interest in learning English. From the result, I can draw the conclusion that most of the pupils in this class have interest in learning English, some of them are very interested, some of them are not so interested. The experiment lasts for two terms. It contains these activities as, Teaching English Proverbs related to the textbook content in the class, Learning a new English Proverb every week by pupils themselves, a Sharing Party of'My Favorite English Proverbs', Rewriting English Proverbs, a survey on Chinese and English Proverbs, English Proverbs Bookmarks making and English Proverbs Hand-made Newspaper Show. When the experiment ends, pupils have learnt about one hundred and fifty English Proverbs. By the instruction of the teacher, every pupil in this class takes part in all the experimental activities, In the process of the experiment, children often do some study by themselves, do some research by themselves and try to accomplish some tasks in groups or teams. Through these experimental activities, pupils learn the methods to find information and the manners to cooperate with other group members. Their ability of self-study and cooperation has been developed. Their ability of creating, comparing, concluding and reasoning has also been improved. Their interest in learning English has been developed and they have the awareness on cross-cultural communication. These experimental activities can also been done for other Grade Five and Grade Six pupils. |
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