英语课外辅导班对小学生英语学习影响的研究

东北师范大学
硕士学位论文
英语课外辅导班对小学生英语学习影响的研究
姓名：杨波
申请学位级别：硕士
专业：英语语言文学
指导教师：孔德惠
20091001

摘要
目前我国许多大中城市把英语课程的开设提前至小学一年级。“外语要从小学起”
的呼声在我国早已变成了一场教育界的“运动"。更有甚者，许多幼儿园纷纷开设英
语课。在国家、地方、学校重视英语课的同时，各种形式的课外辅导市场如英语培训中
心、英语培训学校、英语辅导中心等也在迅速兴起j蓬勃发展。近年来，各种类型的英
语辅导班持续高温不退。对此，教育界质疑呼声一直不断，但它始终吸引着大批的家
长，课外辅导班已经成为大多数中小学生英语学习的第二课堂。毫无疑问，这一现象势
必对我国小学生英语的学习以及小学英语课堂教学产生强大的冲击力和影响。对此研
究，有助于人们对英语学习理念、教育投资理念的更新与转变，有助于我国小学生更科
学地学习英语，有助于国家外语教学改革进一步推进，有助于英语课外辅导业的规范、良
性发展。
本文从二语习得关于语言学习年龄的理论着手，结合英语在我国是一门外语教学的
国情，针对我国中小学生英语学习状况，借助教育学、教育心理学、心理语言学、英语
教学法等有关理论，运用问卷调查法、比较法、个案研究、个别访谈等具体方法，对小
学英语教学和英语课外辅导情况从教材的选用，教学方法，师资力量和教学内容四个方
面进行系统对比研究，用实证探讨英语辅导班对小学生英语学习的影响。
文中详细分析了小学英语教学阶段所存在的具体问题：理论研究十分薄弱，师资水
平有限，课程设置与教授内容的矛盾，班容量过大等等因素。根据数据研究，从教材的
选择与利用，师资力量，教学方法和手段和教学内容方面对小学英语课堂教学与英语课
外辅导班教学状况进行了对比分析。同时也探究了小学生对于英语学习问题的真正心理
需求。
国家对基础教育阶段英语的重视，已把英语学习推进了小学一年级的课堂，课外辅
导班又起了推波助澜的作用。面对这样的现实，值得我们深思的问题有很多：当前我国
大多数小学从一年级开始开设英语课，小学生学习英语的状况如何?从一年级开设英语
是否比从三年级或初中开始开设英语课取得更好的更明显的效果?社会上各种各样的
英语辅导班让人应接不暇，许多小学生纷纷涌入课外班学习英语，这对于正规的学校英
语教育和小学生本身的英语学习会产生什么样的影响?
笔者认为对于家长而言，辅导班的选择一定要冷静

慎重，对孩子英语的学习要做到
有度，不可操之过急。对于每一位英语教育工作者来讲，一定要明确：以语言知识为拐
杖，在运用经验学习的同时，要注意理性认知，对于小学生尤其要培养他们可持续发展
的语言学习能力，我们应该借鉴和吸取各种教法的长处，采取适合中国国情、教情、学
情的教学法。对于课外辅导班强势发展的问题上，做到学校英语教学与课外辅导班教学
III

的优势互补是当务之急。
关键词：小学生英语学习；课外辅导班；学习兴趣的持久性；可持续发展能力
IV

Abstract
Primary school pupils have been required to learn English from Crrade Three in our
country since the autumn in 2001．For a long time，‘'English learning should begin from the
primary stage’’seems to have become a campaign in education；what’S more，many nursery
schools have also started to teach English．As English learning and teaching is
unprecedentedly valued by the central and local authorities，a market of extra．curricular class
lS emerging and prospering．Although it is queried continuously by education experts，kinds
of extra-curricular schools have been appealing the eyes of millions ofparents．It has become
the second class of learning English for millions of primary and middle school students．
Undoubtedly，it must produce a big influence on English learning of primary school pupils
and English teaching of primary school teachers．The research on this task will be very useful
to the change of the ideology in English learning and investing，will be very helpful to
primary school pupils in learning English effectively and successfully，and will contribute
much to the reform ofEnglish teaching and its sound development．
On the basis of extensive research，the paper is devoted to discuss the influences of
English extra—curricular class on primary school pupils’English learning．It starts from the
statement of the age of foreign language learner elaborated in the theory of Second Language
Acquisition and the functions of interest in learning．It also mentions that En西ish in Our
country is being taught as a foreign language，not a second language．
The writer draws upon many advanced theories in educational psychology，
psycholinguistics，and English teaching method，analyzes the situation of primary school
English teaching．The existing problems in primary English teaching mainly lie in the
following aspects：Teachers’theoretical research is weak；Current teaching quality is not
optimistic；Curriculum arrangement of Primary school is unreasonable；The size of class is
overlarge；Length of each lesson is not arranged according to the characteristics of students in
different ages；After-class English learning activity ofprimary school is not or rarely arranged；
Training of pupils’comm

unication skill is less；Primary schools have not created enough
English language atmosphere．
The paper also defines the concept of extra-curricular class；analyses school English
teaching and extra-curricular class English teaching in a comparative way from four sides：
qualification of teachers，the selection of teaching material，teaching method and approach，
teaching contents；explains the influence of English extra-curricular class on primary school
pupils and teachers．

After the massive statistical analysis，the writer gets the finding：the positive and
negative influence of extra—curricular class on English learning of primary school pupils．On
one side，extra-curricular English class Can enrich after—school lives of students，play a
promoting role to primary school English teachers，help pupils to lay a good foundation for
their future English learning，help to exploit pupils’potential of learning English，help
students to improve their interpersonal communication and individual development．On the
other side，extra-curricular class may bring inconvenience to school English teachers，may
cause some pupils’inadequate attention on English，which is not conducive to maintaining the
durability and life—long interest in learning English，and also may bring learning burden to
some pupils．
At last，the conclusions ale drawn as follows：For parents，the choice of“extra-curricular
class”must be made after prudent consideration，the attitude and action for their children’S
English learning should not be precipitately；For English educators，they must clearly
understand that fostering pupils’sustainable development ability in learning English is the
most important thing in primary English education，try to draw lessons from every teaching
method，and find the most suitable one to Chinese conditions．Concerning the whelming
expansion of extra-curricular class，the urgent task is to realize the mutual compensation of
advantages ofprimary school English teaching and extra-curricular class English teaching．
Key Words： English learning of primary school pupils；
lifelong learning；Durability of learning interest；
competence
n
Extra-curricular class；
Sustainable development

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东北师范大学硕士学位论文
Introduction
With the advent of the information age and rapid development of knowledge．based
economy，the international cooperation and exchanges are becoming more and more frequent．
English nowadays occupies an important position in the school curriculum as well舔in
people’S daily lives in China．The Ministry of Education(MOE)has begun to implement its
policy to define English as a standardized compulsory subject for all participants in
compulsory education．MOE requires that English teaching begin in Grade Three，which has
already been enforced in all cities and towns by the fall of 2001．And now，following the
example of Shanghai，where English has been taught from Grade One in 2001．in many cities
especially in developed or coastal places，primary school pupils start to learn English from
Grade One，what’S more，English is being taught in many nursery schools．
English learning and teaching is being valued unprecedentedly by the central and local
authorities·At the salne time，a market of extra-curricular class is emerging and prospering．
Millions of parents send their children into kinds of English extra-curricular classes．because
it is generally considered children have more advantages in learning a foreign language than
adults，and if children miss the oppormnity,they will not learn it easily or more successfullv
when theygrowup．
The discussion on the optimal age of leaming a foreign language is still underway；there
are different and controversial versions on it and which also exists in the内mous“Critical
Period Hypothesis”(CPH)theory．The version‘'the earlier(people learn foreign language)，
the beRer(effect they will get)’’lacks sufficient and scientific foundation both in theory and
practice，besides，most education expeas in our country have expressed suspicions．There are
many examples．Professor Gui Shichun(1 992)expressed suspicions on the issue t'English
learning from primary school period”，he thought that we should take educational economic
problem into consideration．Zhao Shikai(2002)believed“Under a condition which·critical
period’is not clear，it is really well worth deep thinking that it will contribute to the
development of their abilities or will have a destructive effect on their ability to teach young
children English in primary school or nursery sch001．’

’Zhang Zhengdong(2004)believed“It
IS not the case that the younger，the beRer'’．Yang Lianrui(2004)believed that as the age of
foreign language learners is becoming younger,we must make scientific，rational analysis and
research on the foreign language learning rules of children．
Speaking of the overwhelming phenomenon in students’learning English both in and out
of class，we must recognize that English teaching paRem in our country is foreign language
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东北师范大学硕士学位论文
teaching or second language teaching．Considering many factors such as lacking English
context，many language experts have stated English in our country should be treated as a
foreign language．Dai Weidong(2008)points out in a lecture on“The inspiration of second
language acquisition study to Chinese foreign language teaching'’that English is a foreign
language in China and that Chinese has always been learning it as a“foreign language”．
But the overwhelming phenomenon has given US a deep impression that we have already
treated it as a second language，such as children begin to learn English from Grade One and
most students step into extra-curricular class．Today，the school work assigned to children is
SO heavy that we should think carefully what influence from extra-curricular class will be
exercised over English learning ofprimary school pupils．This is the aim of the research．
The English extra．curricular class for children iS the most popular one in the market of
education training and it is the resulting product of the development of education and
economics of the era，therefore it is still in the starting and an immature stage，and the
theoretical research on it is not much or abundant．The paper begins with the issue about
language learners’age elaborated in the‘second language acquisition’theory，states that
English in our country should be treated as a foreign language，and in view ofthe situation of
Chinese primary and secondary students learning English，investigates the influence of
extra-curricular class teaching on primary school pupils’English learning．It will be a
cornerstone for the further research on it and have some reference value．
It seems that extra-curricular En酉ish class teaching has become the new and main force
of English teaching at elementary educational stage．As the same time of sending their
children into the extra．curricular class，the parents have deeply felt the learning burden on
也eir children is too heavy．In addition to the school work on weekdays，parents take their
children busy rushing among several extra-curricular classes on weekends，‘‘burden
reduction'’which people are always appealing for seems SO weak．
In spite of it，the popular extra-curricular English class still wins the hearts of most
parents and children，which has aroused experts’different opinions about it and sym

pathy for
children．The research on this task will be very useful to the change of people’S ideology on
English learning and education investment，will be very helpful to primary school pupils’
learning English effectively and successfully，and will contribute much to the reform of
English teaching and the sound development ofEnglish extra-curricular class．
2

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
Chapter I
An Overview of Related Theories
Speaking of the topic about English learning．some relevant theories and concepts must
be taken i芏lto considemtion，such as the‘‘Second Language Acquisition'’theory and the
concept of Foreign Language and Second Language as well as the interest in learning·
1．1 Critieal Period Hypothesis
IIl the 1950s。Neuropsychologist Penfield concluded after a study that Children’s
language acquisition ability is related to the development of the brain．In the 1 960s，
P咖linguists Lunenburg proposed the well·known Critical Period Hypothesis in view of
the native language acquisition．From the biological point of view，he believed that language
is a product of the brain．Children，from the age of two till the arrival of puberty,their brain
and language functions are kept at a developing period with great plasticity when the t、)l，o
hemispheres of the brain are related to the understanding and generation of language，the
whole bfain are involved in language learning．They absorb the new language information in
aquick and easy way；language acquisition Can be naturally and easily carried out·
Lunenburg concluded the critical period comes to an end at the age of 1 2-1 3·becaluse
after the advent of puberty，lateralization of the brain has occurred to the majority of people·
At this time．human brain is fully mature，the nervous system is rio longer elastic，which cause
increasingly difficult to learn a language．Linguists who support this point of V1ew have good
example of this：People put’’wolf-cubs”(found in some parts)into human language
environmen_t／society，and found that，whatever ways they used to teach them learning the
language．their language skills ale lower than the levels of the children grown up ln nonIlal
circumstances．
1．1．1 The supporting viewpoints
Over the years，many researchers use examples to show that the Critical Period
Hypothesis is also adapted to second language acquisition．A second language learner over
the critical period of language is less likely to acquire a second language close to the
mother-tongue level．
Pa出ows虹(1 980)judged the syntactic level of 65 non—native English speakers who had
been i11 the U．S．more than 5 years through their spoken materials；he found that the younger
3

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
the people arrived in the United States，the higher scores they got in grammatical accuracy．
Johnson and Newsport(1 989)

also investigated the relationship between learner’S second
language level and the ages they reached the host country of the second language．The survey
was conducted into a group ofpeople whose age ranges from 3 to 39 years old．Trough syntax
testing，they found that language level and age form an obvious linear relationship：The
younger they reach the host country，the higher current levels they have；language levels of
the people who arrived in the host country after the age of 1 6 are generally lower，and there is
no correlation between their age and language level．
Another study of Johnson and Newsport(1 99 1)Was to investigate the relationship
between the age and mastery of the language components related to the universal grammar,
and found that as the second language learners’age increases，the ability to use universal
grammar gradually weakens．
Christine Weber—Fox and Helen Neville(1999)used behavioral and
electrophysiological methods to verify whether the age plays a restrictive role and how it
works and SO on．They let Chinese English learners themselves of different ages reported their
level of second language，and scored their grammar ratings，then made a comparison between
the behavioral data obtained and the brain electrical activity measured in certain parts of it．
The results showed that adult’S second language learning ability declines with the growth of
the age of initial study．And the older the beginner is，the slower the semantic processing
capacity will be，and degree of specialization of the left brain weakens，the degree ri出
hemisphere involved in syntactic of processing increases．The study also found that people
who starts learning a second language at elder age acquires open parts of speech slowly．
1．1．2 The Opposing Viewpoints
Rashen，Long，and ScarceUa concluded that adults have more advantages than children
in many ways in the speed of language acquisition；At the initial stage of syntax and
morphology study，if the learning time and exposure time are same，adults progress more
quickly than children，older children progress more quickly than younger children．
Snow has made a study on the Critical Period Hypothesis in depth，the findings of which
denied the existence of the critical period．The results were thought to support the following
two assumptions：(1)Brain Dominance is fmalized from birth to the age of 5(Krashen 1973)；
(2)Brain has dominance since one is born，the observation of the development of
lateralization which tends to increase as the growth of age，is only the man—made result in
various psychological tests of Children’S policies of using language(Kinsbourne 1 975)．
Neuropsychological studies have further indicated that lateralization are completed
before adolescence，some lateralization may have been completed before 3 years old．Neural
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东北师范大学硕士学位

论文
plasticity in human brain does not occur in a sudden as what critical period theory had stated，
but gradually changes with the growth of age，for some people，it may be before puberty，
some may be completed after puberty．
Also many researchers believe that there are a number of language skills that are more
easily to acquire than others at some stage in the development phase of language；however，
although not easy，other language skills Call only be acquired after the critical period，they
emphasize there is not only one but several critical periods in one’S language development
process．
After reviewing the relevant documents，Spolsky(2000)concluded that：Even in the
pronunciation，the age is just a preference rule to get an authentic accent，not a necessary rule．
(Dong Yanping 2003)
1．2 Foreign Language and Second Language
In the study of the situation of children’S English language learning in our country，the
concept of Second Language and Foreign language need to be understood clearly．There is
great difference between them in the aspect of learning environment．So it is necessary to
recognize the types of English teaching in China．
1．2．1 Definition of Second Language and Foreign Language
In a broad sense，Second Language refers to a language beyond mother tongue or first
language(Ellis，2000)．In a certain geographical area，it plays a role as the school term or
social communication language．Second language teaching is the one to learn a language
other than the mother tongue under environmental conditions．For example，in the United
States and Britain，to the immigrants and foreign learners，English is their second language；
and now many Chinese study or work in English—speaking countries，they learn English in
order to survive or integrate into the local society，the teaching of English language under
such conditions is called Second Language Teaching．Due to historical factors，English in the
former British colonies such as India is still the main language or official language used by
the local people and school after they gained independence，to them，English is a second
language，and English teaching in these places are basically Second Language Teaching．
Foreign Language refers to a language which is not native language of large numbers of
people in a particular country or region．It doesn’t have functions of educational or social
terms．Learners generally leam the language in the school’S English classes．In China and
Japan，English is a foreign language．
Second l anguage Learning is an Unconscious Learning of the target language with a
5

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
feeling of integration，which mainly relies on natural language acquisition mechanism．
Foreign language learning is a Cognitive Learning made in intention under the condition
without the target language environment

．
1．2．2 The necessity of distinguishing Foreign Language teaching and Second Language
Teaching
With the development of research in Second Language acquisition，the content of
Second Language is also expanded．Now it refers to the second language of people after
learning their mother tongue or first language．In this definition，Foreign Language is also
being included in the Second Language．Under the influence of Second Language Acquisition
Theory in foreign countries，many domestic scholars believe that there is no essential
difference between the two，which results in the controversy on TESL(teaching English as a
second language)or TEFL(teaching English as a foreign language)in China．The distinction
between them is a rather complex issue，but quite necessary．
First of all，the type of teaching is related to the formulation of education policy，the
selection of teaching mode，the preparation of teaching materials，the choice of teaching
contents，determination of teaching objectives，the training for the teachers and SO on．
Furthermore，recognizing the difference between the two will help the building in English
teaching theoretical system，because equating the two，it is likely to copy foreign Second
Language Acquisition theory．For a long time，to a large extent，Chinese English teaching has
modeled on the teaching abroad．In fact，those teaching theories or teaching methods are not
necessarily suitable to English language teaching in China，because they are mostly aimed at
Second Language learners．Therefore，recognizing of the type of English teaching is a
priority．
1．2．3 Type of English teaching in China
English should be taught in China as a Foreign Language or a Second Language?
First，we should fully understand the characteristics of English teaching in Chinese
unique environment．Chinese English language teaching should serve for Chinese reform and
opening up，in most case，the occasion students will use or communicate in English should be
in China．China has no English language environment as the English speaking countries．So，
students’exposure to English is relatively not much．
Hu Zhuanglin(1 994)said that the teaching of English as a Second Language Teaching
and that as a Foreign Language Teaching are quite different．Dai Weidong(2001)thought that
in many ways there exists a qualitative distinction and difference between teaching of English
as a Foreign Language and as a Second Language．And later in 2008，he pointed out in a
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东北师范大学硕士学位论文
lecture on‘‘The inspiration of second language acquisition study to Chinese foreign language
teaching'’，that English in China is a foreign language，not a second language，Chinese have
learnt it as a foreign language．
Bao Tenren(200 1)considered that there is an important symbol to distinguish Second
Language Teaching or Foreign

Language Teaching in a country or region，that is to see
whether their school courses are taught in English or not．If most courses are being taught in
their mother-tongue except English class，the English teaching belongs to Foreign Language
Teaching．It’S obvious that there is no Second Language learning environment in China．So，
Chinese students should not be taught in a Second Language teaching pattern no matter in
primary school，secondary school or university．Chinese students should pay more attention to
rational cognition．As for primary school pupils，it is essential to foster their sustainable
development competence of language learning．Knowledge of language couldn’t be excluded．
We should learn from various teaching methods and adopt the suitable approach to Chinese
national conditions．
1．3 Interest in English learning
Interest，refers to the consciousness tendency in the active study of some kind of thing or
carrying on some kind of activities．Interest is not innate，which is based on the need．111e
well—known psychologist Jean Piaget said：‘‘All effective work must take a certain interest as a
pre-condition．”
j二
1．3．1 The concept of interest in English learning
Interest in learning refers to an awareness orientation and an emotional state that human
beings seek to understand the world and eager to acquire knowledge and constantly search for
truth．It is all intrinsic motivation factor，an important part of learning motivation and a strong
power to promote students’learning．According to the principle‘'material determines
consciousness”，human’S interest in learning is not a vacuum，it’S the result from human’S
positive psychological reaction formed in the study and practice，also the result will accelerate
re—emergence of learning behavior or conduct activities to promote learning．A large number
of research results proved that the interest in learning can make the whole mental activity
positive，producing high—efficiency state during the cognitive processes．Interest in learning is
essential for overall development of a person．
“Interest in English learning’’is based on more detailed classification of the concept of
“interest'’and‘‘interest in learning'’．It’S a tendency of the psychological preferences or
pursuit rises from pupils’English language learning activities，and is a powerful driving force
in their efforts to learn English．It’S a very important factor in the primary English learning
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东北师范大学硕士学位论文
process·
1．3．2 The functions of interest in learning
Interest in learning as a kind of a person’S intrinsic motivation，the functions of it in
learning activities is manifold．
1．3．2．1 Directional function
First．it call enhance students’attention，SO that students take the initiative to focus on
English leaming

activities，to memorize，imagine and think consciously．Once the students
have a strong interest in leaming English，he would concentrate on ding it willingly，in spite
of the outside interference，the difficulties in it．
Secondly，it can lay a foundation for future research and work in English，Once a student
had a strong interest in learning English，he would actively accumulate English knowledge
and English language phenomena，and may lay the foundation for his future career choice·
A 10t of people’S creative activities all started from their interests in something．For example，
Franklin became interested in research on electricity，and determined to study it，just because
he had watched A．Spence's electrical experiments，as a result，in the promotion of this
interest，he has made great contributions to the development of electricity and became the
world．famous scientist．What a person do(or not do)now and in the future is often directed
by his own interest．Interest Can determine a person's enterprise direction，establish his career．
Practice has proved that many successful people choose their occupations directed by the
interest．In addition，the interest in the role of this direction Can also be reflected in its
preparations for future activities．Therefore，teachers must pay attention to discovering and
nurturing students’interest in learning which is very important．
1．3．2．2 Dynamic function
The SO—called interest in the dynamic effect，refers to interest itself call be directly
converted to motive，as a driving force，inspire people to carry out certain activities．It gives a
tremendous power to arouse people’S avid study momentum and spirit of working day and
night．Piaget，in his discussion of the role of interest，said it is an energy regulator to launch
the power stored in the inner centre．The force from interest could make many scientists and
inventors such as Newton，Roentgen，and Edison，working in the studio or laboratory
Continuously for several days．Interest in learning English will provide pupils with a powerful
impetus and often will push them to carry out their study excitedly．
1．3．2．3 Compensating function
Interest could make up the impact resulted from unfavorable factors or conditions in
English learning process．Interest in learning English will encourage students to study in
depth the issues of English and creatively solve the problems in English．This not only makes
R

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
their English learning greatly improved，but also greatly improves their leaming methods and
learning efficiency．American scholar Lazarus，once as a teacher in high school，divided his
students into all intelligence group and an interest group．The intelligence group is not
interested in reading and writing whose average IQ is 1 20．While，the students in the interest
g

roup have more interest in reading and writing whose average IQ is 1 07．Both groups of
students received compulsory reading and writing courses and the same tests within a
semester．The result showed that interest group scored higher than the intelligence group，and
therefore concluded：Once the students have a keen interest in learning，the role of which are
far more important than the intelligence．
1．3．2．4 Pleasing function
The pleasing effect Can be seen when interest occurs or students carry out English
learning activities wim interest，it always accompanied by the satisfied，happy，excited and
positive emotions to the process or effect of English learning．Pleasing function of learning
English play a strong role in ensuring the continuous learning ofEnglish．
1．3．2．5 Consolidating function
Consolidating function make the students with a strong interest in learning English have
a longer memory time to their grasped English knowledge，have a deeper understanding of
concepts and rules of English，have a more firmly grasp of English language skill．This is
because the interest in learning of students is more attentive，they tend to have a more careful
observation andmore active thinking．
1．3．3 The durability of interest in learning
In consideration of the stability of interest，interest in learning is divided into temporary
and long—lasting interest．Temporary interest varies in degrees of intensity，even if it is very
strong sometimes，it’S still difficult to maintain，and likely to be replaced by other interest．
While，Long-lasting interest is relatively stable，it’S an access to make an in—depth research，to
acquire the system ofknowledge，and to develop one’S competence．
Some Students’interest in learning content will last a very long time，while others will
soon change．Similarly，the performances of students who have different interest degrees in
learning English are not the same，some students are consistent and persevering，while some
students are intermittent in repeated changes．
The ultimate goal of primary school pupils’English learning is to lay a solid foundation
for their future English learning to prepare for the English—related career they will engage in．
Therefore，more precisely，how to maintain the long-lasting interest in learning English is the
most important factor to develop students’learning ability and to achieve effective teaching
of English．
9

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
ChapterⅡ
The Situation of Primary School English Teaching
While English is being taught in most primary schools．a market of extra-curricular class
is emcrging and prospering．Millions of parents send their children into kinds of English
extr21．curricular classes to learn more about it．Besides，New English Curriculum Criteria
deftnes two leveIs of English proficiency to pupils in p

rimary school from five aspects，which
also b抽gs certain challenge to English teachers．So，in order to make a deep research on tne
si恻on of p1血嫩Iry school English teaching，the existing problems of it must be taken into
careful consideration．
2．1 The definition of the concept“extra—curricular
class’’
Because a person’s knowledge learned at school cannot meet the social need whlch 1s
growing rapidly，only if people USe a variety of learning space，learning to眦8觚d le跚ng
enviromnems to eIlrich themselves，Call they ensure their own survival．Extra-curricular class
is one important way to achieve a11．round development of each pupil·
2．1．1 The meaning of“extra—curricular class teaching'’
Tmditionally speaking，extra-curricular class teaching is a part of the extra-curricular
activities，it refers to the pertinent guidance which is given to the students after school by the
teacher．It is one of the most important auxiliary forms of classroom teaching，and one of the
most necessar、，parts in teaching links．With this teaching form，teacher could glve speclaI
consideration to each individual student to a great degree，it could embody the princiPle
t、eaclling students in accordance with their aptitude”and can show the teacher’S strong sense
of responsibility for students．The main functions of extra-curricular class teaching are aS
f0110ws：m越ng up students’missed lessons，improving students’ability，fostering students’
learning interest，etc·
．
Today，me concept of extra．curricular class teaching is different from its traditional
meanin岛which presents a tendency of diversity，and the meaning of it contalns more
el e_m e_nts。so“s．hould be understood in a broad sense．Along with the changes of times and
the developlnent of economics，people’s longing for knowledge is increasing continuously；
traditional extra．curricular class teaching offered inside the school could not meet the
demands of the students．As a r．esult of the growth of the living standards，people盯e
10

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
increasing their investment in education．The reform in teaching and education combining
with the rapid development of science and technology，have made the development of
extra-curricular class teaching present a tendency of diversity，the contents of which include
teachers’coaching and giving guidance inside school，tutoring at home，teaching outside
school，etc．So，at the present stage，the concept of“extra-curricular class teaching'’has
changed into another kind of teaching paRem which is entirely different from what we
understood before in a traditional Way．
2．1．2 The definition of“extra-curricular class teaching’’in this paper
111 this paper．the writer defines the“extra—curricular class teaching'’as follow：It is a
kind of money—cha

rged educational service，which is offered by all individual or an
educational institution outside sch001．who owns a considerable amount ofknowledge to meet
kinds ofneeds of different students．
One of the main parts of the text is the analysis of the teaching of outside school
institution，also called“extra-curricular class teaching”．Such educational institution outside
school is funded or established by individual or social organization，belongs to non-academic
or non—degree education．The“extra-curricular class teaching'’mentioned in the text is very
different from the traditional extra-curricular class teaching inside sch001．First，the execution
places transfer from inside school into outside school；Second，the person who executes
teaching transfers from school teacher to outside school teacher；Third，at present time，the
extra—curricular class teaching is a kind of charged service，not a kind of duty．
2．2 The Requirements of New Curriculum Criteria
The research and development of English curriculum criteria is an important part ofnew
curriculum reform in national elementary education，and it is the final result of practices and
experiences of many English educators and expels．Its basic idea lies in“facing all students，
paying attention to quality education'’which will be regarded as a direction in primary school
English teaching and learning these years．Primary school English new curriculum criteria
says：The purpose of primary school English curriculum is to arouse students’interest in
learning English，develop their positive learning attitude，help them to build self-confidence in
learning English，train them to acquire a good sense of language，favorable pronunciation and
intonation，make them acquire the ability to communicate with simple English，and lay a good
foundation for their lifelong learning and development．
The general objective of primary English education is to train pupils’comprehensive
competence in English．The formation of such competence is built on the integrated
11

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
development of pupils’language skills，language knowledge，emotional attitude，learning
strategy，cultural consciousness．Language skills and language knowledge are the bases of
language using ability，cultural consciousness is the guarantee of using a language
appropriately，emotional attitude is an important factor that influences students’learning and
improving，learning strategy is the precondition of improving learning efficiency and
independent learning ability．All the five aspects together promote the formation of
comprehensive ability in using a language．Ministry of Education(MOE)defines nine levels
of English proficiency from the five aspects，among which the first two are the levels required
for primary school graduates：Pupils of Grade One and Two are required to at

tain level one，
pupils of Grade Three and Four are required to attain level two．That is to say，before pupils
step into middle school，they should attain the second level according to the new English
Curriculum Criteria．
2．2．1 Requirements on language skills
Language skill is an important integral part in forming language communicative
competence．It is composed of the skills in listening，speaking，reading and writing，as well as
the comprehensive using ability of the four sides．
Second level of language skills are as follows：
Listening：(1)Being able to recognize simple words and listening materials with the help
of pictures，images and gestures；
(2)Being able to understand simple stories with illustrations；
(3)Being able to understand and answer simple questions in English
activities；
(4)Being able to understand commonly-used directions and to make
corresponding reactions
Speaking：(1)Being able to convey the ideas in oral English with clear pronunciations
and appropriate intonations；
(2)Being able to make a short dialogue aiming at oneself or family；
(3)Being able to use some commonly—used everyday expressions(greetings，
farewells，acknowledgement，and regret)
(4)Being able to tell simple story with teacher’S help
Reading：(1)Being able to read words and expressions learnt already；
(2)Being able to read simple new words with spelling rules；
(3)Being able to understand simple directions and instructions in the text；
(4)Being able to understand simple messages appeared on the greeting card，
etc；
】2

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
(5)Being able to read simple story or little passage with the help ofpictures．
and form a habit ofreading according to sense group；
(6)Being able to read story and passage loudly and precisely
Writing：(1)Being able to write sentences after model；
(2)Being able to write out simple greeting words；
(3)Being able to write simple headings or descriptions to some pictures or
objects according to the directions；
(4)Being able to use capital and small letters and punctuations correctly
Playing&acting：(1)Being able to play simple English games；
(2)Being able to perform little fairy tales with teacher，S help：
0)Being able to perform 3m—O ballads or simple poenls：
(4)Being able to sing 3¨O English songs；
(5)Being able to watch English cartoons or equivalent TV
programs，the time for it at least 1 0 hours each year
2．2·2 Requirements on language knowledge
At primary education stage，the language knowledge what a pupil should learn and grasp
includes phonetics，vocabulary，grammar，functions and topics．
Second level oflanguage knowledge is as follows：
Phonetics：(1)Knowing that incorrect pronunciation can affect commuIlication：
(2)Knowing the pronunciation of letters；
(3)Knowing the simple spelling rules；
(4)Knowing that a word h

as stress syllable；
(5)Having a clear pronunciation and anatural intonation
Vocabulary：(1)Learn 600一700 words and 50 commonly used expressions of the topics
of this level；
(2)Knowing that a word is composed of letters
Grammar：(1)Knowing that a noun has single and plural forms；
(2)Knowing the differences among main personal pronouns；
(3)Knowing that a verb has formal changes under different conditions：
(4)Knowing the prepositions which call express time，place，and positions；
(5)Knowing the basic patterns of English simple sentence aIld its
ideographic functions
Functions：Knowing the basic expression forms of communicative‰ctions such as
greetings，farewells，acknowledgement，regret，introductions，and request．
13

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
一——————————————————————————————————————————————————一
Topics：Being able to understand and express the simple information on the topics such
龉numbers，colors，times，weather，food，clothes，toys animals，flora and fauna,
health，oneself,family，school friends，activities，festivals．
2．2．3 Emotional attitude requirements
Emotional attitude refers to such factors as interests，intensions，self-confidence，wills，
and cooperative spirits which have effects on students’learning process and learning results
as well as the motllerlalld consciousness and international range of vision formed gradually in
the process oflearning．
Second level of emotional attitude：
(1)HaViIlg the interests to listen to English，speak English，recite ballads，sing songs，tell
stories，and play games；
(2)Being willing to imitate，dare to open mouth，participate and consult actively
2．2．4 Learning strategy requirements
Learning strategy refers to the actions or measures takenby the students to learn and
promote effectively．
Second level oflearning strategy：
(1)Cooperating and completing the assignments with others actively；
(2)Consulting and discussing with teachers and students on their own initiative；
(3)Making simple English learning plan；
(4)Practicing contents which have been learnt themselves；
(5)Associating words with the counterparts；
(6)Focusing attention in the course oflearning；
(7)Trying to read English stories and after-school readings；
(8)Expressing and communicating with learnt English in a active way；
(9)Taking a close observation on English used in everyday life or in the media；
(1 O)Being able to use simple students’English dictionary．
2．2．5 Culturai consciousness requirements
Lan擘皿a呈re has rich cultural connotations．In English teaching，the culture refers to the
history and geography，local and traditional customs，living style，literature and art，code of
con(1uct．values of the English countries．It is o

f great value to contact and acquaint oneselt
with the cultlH．es of English countries in getting a deeper understanding of the native culture
and the use of English，and fostering the international consciousness·
Second 1evel ofcultural consciousness：

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
(1)Knowing the simple appellations，greetings and farewells in English；
(2)Responding to the ordinary praise and request properly；
(3)Knowing the important intemational recreational and sports activities；
f4)Knowing the names of the common drinks and food；
(5)Knowing the capitals and national flags of the main English countries；
(6)Knowing the important symbolized objects such as the Big Ben in London；
(7)Knowing the important festivals of English speaking countries
2．3 The Existing Problems in Primary English Teaching
These years，much study has been carded on primary English．Especially in 2002，a
large．scale survey throughout the whole country Was conducted by the research group
directed by Professor Dai Weidong of Shanghai Foreign Language University on current
English teaching situation in China,including primary school English．Many problems were
exposed．
2．3．1 Weaker theoretical research capability of English teachers
Just like every other subject，English teaching has its own laws．English teaching practice
should be on the basis of enough cognition to teaching target，teaching rules and teaching
approaches．
For example，We did not have careful，deep，all—round research and thought on the
problems‘‘What rules should pupils have in English learning?”and‘‘What should we do to
carry out primary English teaching under present language context and teaching conditions?”，
SO we have rio answer about it yet．If we don’t study teaching rules，we cannot get the true
essence of teaching，the vivid instruction will be turned into boring preach．Nowadays
generally speaking，foreign language teachers’scientific research consciousness is
unsubstantial，this leads to the deficiency of creativeness in writing thesis and studying
scientific research tasks，and in most cases，and this is done to get a title of fl professional or
technical post．
2．3．2 Less optimistic teaching qualifications
The quality of English teaching is determined by the English teachers’quality on fl large
degree．and it iS the key factor to the SUCCESS or failure ofEnglish teaching．
Many researches indicate that in primary education stage，the success or failure of
English curriculum is mainly determined by English teachers’language capacity and teaching
skills to young children．According to the data published by relevant department recently，in

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
2008，the number of primary and secondary school students has reached 1 63．2 million，but
English teachers are in serious shortage，especially in rural ar

eas and remote regions．Few
have college education or above，most have very low educational background，and many of
them were transferred into English from other subjects．Today new textbook possesses a new
challenge to teachers of English in primary schools，because if they teach language
communicatively as requested，the teacher must be able to listen，to speak，to read and to write．
However，considerable English teachers could not speak or write English fluently，many
teachers have not received any training on teaching methodology，and they don't know
children’S psychology，as a result，their monotonous adult-like teaching method lead to an
unsatisfying effect．Except that，the allocation of teacher resources is not equitable，there iS a
wide gap between eastern and western，urban and rural areas，in few schools in the city，
English teachers are seriously overstaffcd，and on the contrary，in primary schools ofraral and
remote regions，English teachers are in extremely shortage．
2．3．3 Unreasonable arrangement of primary school curriculum
Ministry of Education(MOE)requires that primary school pupils have at least four
periods of English education per week，but in most primary schools，only two periods of
English is arranged，each period has 40 minutes，SO the overlong interval between learning
periods and the over many teaching contents cause the facts that many teachers couldn’t use
reasonably teaching materials，many useful activities were passed over，the English input
given by teachers is essential yet far from enough to suppoa the development of learner
fluency,majority of students are exposed to English for only one or two hours per week and
have extremely limited chance for oral practice，only a few minutes a week in class，this led to
m曲rate of students’forgetting，low rate of English repeating．In the survey，80％of primary
school teachers think that their school’S English curriculum is very unreasonable．Curriculum
is reasonable or not greatly influenced English teaching，which involves not only the
cultivation of English language ability of students and learning effects，but also teachers’
teaching interest and enthusiasm．
2·3．4 Overlarge class size
Large population of existing primary school pupils，shortage of teacher resources and
lack of correct understanding of foreign language teaching，made the size of class is over
large．This is a worth-noting problem．Although educational department emphasizes
persistently in recent years that the number of pupils in a class should not be over 45，but due
to the unbalanced allocation of teacher resources，in many schools of the cities，the number of
the students in fl class has reached 60-一80。while in some other developed countries，the
16

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
number of it is only 1 8．28．This is an extremely unfavorable element

for learning English，
classroom order is hard to keep，some normal activities are difficult to carry on，and students’
chance ofpracticing is greatly reduced．
2．3．5 Unsuitable length of each lesson which is not arranged according to the
characteristics of students of different ages
According to the survey,the length of primary，secondary and university class basically
have no differences，which is not in accordance with the characteristics of the students of
different ages．Primary and secondary schools almost have the same hours for each lesson．
Psychological studies have shown that，under normal circumstances，7 to 1 0-year-old children
Can continuously focus about 20 minutes．However，the survey showed that many schools
have not developed appropriate teaching time according to the physical and psychological
characteristics of primary school pupils．
2．3．6 Few after-class English learning activities of primary school
Language is an important part ofculture．Learning a foreign language includes learning a
new culture．It should be a fun and interesting process in which many activities should be
involved．The requirement of teachers to students in English learning activity is relatively
simple and limited to one or two．There iS no clear guidance or demand for student
self-learning．Students are unable to effectively carry out after-class learning activity，only do
some listening or mechanical recitation practice which goes against the cultivation of
autonomous language learning habits．The facts that English morning reading time and
self-study time are not or rarely arranged，counseling service for self-study time is insufficient，
time interval of learning is too long，etc，cause the low frequency of exposure to En酉ish．
2．3．7 LiRle training of pupils’communication skills
The survey results shows that a considerable number of primary school teachers think
the most important learning objectives of pupils are‘'be able to listen and be able to say'’．
However，in practical teaching，little or no spoken language or listening class are arranged in
the curdculum．
English lessons in primary schools are generally integrated，owing to the limited time
and other reasons，it is difficult to carry out oral skills practice．And some teachers still tend to
pay too much attention to the correctness of English．Therefore many students lost their
interest in learning English．They may get good marks in tests but the ability to use English．
2．3．8 Deficient English language atmosphere in Primary school
17

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
The survey of primary school teachers reflects that pnmary schools are short of English
atmosphere．Undoubtedly，in primary school all the subjects except English are taught in
Chinese．Besides，there is not basically any form of English language activities to promote
students abilit

y．So，the real destination for students to use the knowledge and skill through
communicative activities S to learn English can be hardly achieved．
Resulted from these existing problems，the second level of requirements defined by
Criteria for English Courses is difficult to attain by all the pupils in all the five sides—
language skill，language knowledge， emotional attitude，learning strategy and cultural
consciousness．
18

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
ChapterⅢ
Research Design
Based on the preliminary elaboration mentioned above and extensive document analysis，
the b嬲ic idea of tllis research project is formed to attempt a more comprehensive grasp of
pupils’English learning inside and outside school·
3．1 The purpose of study
Nowadavs the majority of primary school pupils in our country start to learn English
知m G刚e One。what’S more，English is being taught even in many nursery schools·Engllsn
le锄缸g and teaching is being valued by the central and local authorities·At the same nme；a
market of ex廿a．cu玎icular class is emerging and prospering unprecedentedly·The paper alms
at knowing the situation of primary school pupils’English learning in school and m
extra．cu玎icular class，and finding out the influencing factors of it·Then，on the basis of it,
cXplore the influence of English extra-curricular class on primary school pupils’Engllsh
1eaming，w11ich will provide theoretical guidance to English teachers’teaching，puplIs’
English learning，and the concept of parental education．
3．2 The contents of study
Situation of primary school English teaching and learning；
Situation of extra-curricular class English teaching and learning；
The influence of extra．c谢cular class English teaching on pnmary school English
teaching and pupils’English leaning·
3．3 The SUbj ect of study
(1)Primary school pupils
Third鲫ers and fifth graders are from one key school and one regular school in the
city of Qinhuangdao；
(2)English teachers
F0ur of吐1锄are舶m different extra-curricular schools in the city of Qinhuangdao，
国朋6，．f厦妒English School，EF English Training School and Ladder English Tra觑fng
School；
1口

东北师范大学硕士学位论文
Two of them are from key primary schools，two from regular primary schools and
three from junior high school in the city of Qinhuangdao．
(3)Parents
Two f them whose children have been learning English outside school since 5years old；
Two．of them whose children began to leam English after Grade Three；One whose
1 1-year—old child has not learnt English in extra-curricular class．
3．4 The methods of study
In this paper．‘'the age of foreign language learner'’and‘‘Critical Period Hypothesis’’in
the theory of Second Language Acquisition is mentioned as guidance．And many researching
methods are used，such a