張曉蕾

【Abstract】With the limitation of the students vocabulary， teachers have to simplify their teaching language with the help of facial expressions and body movements. In this article， the effect of using body language in listening， speaking， reading and writing will be discussed.

【Key words】Body language； English teaching； Application

English teaching is a key part of the school education. With the English teaching methods reform， more and more English teachers organize the teaching process in English so that they may realize the communicated English. Contemporarily， however， students in primary school cant speak very well； their vocabulary and expressive ability are limited too. These limitations made it difficult to realize the communicated English in the class. According to the students present level and practical situation， body language is required. The use of body language in English teaching is necessary and practical. In the English teaching in primary schools， body language is frequently used to improve the teaching effect and the students ability.

1 Body language helps to improve listening

The Greek philosopher Epictetus ever wittily said： “ Nature has given man one tongue and two ears that he may hear twice as much as he speaks .” From the saying we can learn how important the listening in our daily life. To understand others is a basic purpose in English teaching， and teachers often train the students listening accordingly. In this process， if the body language is used， the effect will be better. When beginning a new lesson， the teacher narrates the story outline in English. The body language may help. For example， a teacher can stretch his arms slowly when he says “she is in a big room”； he can open his eyes widely with mouth opened when he says “ she is so beautiful a lady”. As a result， the students will have such an impression： she is very beautiful indeed.

2 Body language helps to improve speaking

The contemporary emphasis is gradually laid on spoken English teaching. Every lesson has a dialogue， the teaching programs require the teachers to organize the class to practice English according to the characteristics of dialogue. Generally speaking， the body language can arouse and sustain the students interest of learning and using English .In the English class， the teachers should not only use body languages themselves， but also ask the students to use them according to the different situation. Take it for example， lesson five in Book 4 is about the time when the new students first meet， and they dont know each other. So a teacher can introduce himself first， such as： “Hello， everyone， nice to meet you here. Now Ill introduce myself to you. My name is Kevin . I like playing basketball， for it makes me much stronger； I like playing chess， for it makes me more clever； and I like reading books， for “ reading makes one perfect” . During the introduction， the teacher should use the new vocabularies and sentence structures together with a vivid expression and mating gestures as possibly as he can. He smiles when he says hello to the class； he shakes hands with some students saying “nice to meet you”； he writes down the name on the blackboard； he imitates the action of dribbling and shooting at the basketball， playing chess and turning pages to explain his hobby. After his introduction， the teacher can create a circumstance for the students to practice. Usually， application of body language in different situations will result in an attracting and successful lesson.

3 Body language helps to improve reading

The purpose of English teaching is to train the students preliminary ability of using spoken and written English. In primary school， we lay emphasis on the reading ability that serves the students further study. When reading the sentences， attention should be paid to where to speak softly， emphasize， and raise or lower our tone. To make it clear， we can imitate strong or soft pats that are used in music teaching， which means to use the arcs to represent different tones. Generally speaking， we use falling tones in declarative and special interrogative sentence， first rising tones and then falling tones in the choosing interrogative sentience. The students are not often accustomed to and always confuse them， however， with the help of body language， they can solve the problem much more easily. For example， they use gestures. As they read the choosing interrogative sentence， they raise their hands in rising tones and lower in falling tones. After training for some times， as soon as they read the sentences， they will remind themselves of the gestures. As a result， there will be no problems in rightly reading the sentences at all.

4 Body language helps to improve writing

Writing is one of the four basic skills to learning language， and it is so important a skill that we can even say without it， people cant communicate with others， not only should the students get some English knowledge and vocabularies， but also the ability to communicate in spoken and written English as what is mentioned in the teaching programs.

The linguist Franklin ever said， “Tell me， Ill forget； teach me， I remember， involve me and Ill learn.” If we ask students to write an unfamiliar composition， they would probably be unable to and feel discouraged. However， students can write excellent articles if they have the experience. In and out of the class， we should ask the students to participate some English –related activities， and then ask them to write it down. Take “the first snow in winter” for example， having enjoy themselves in the beautiful snowing and been given some hints， the students can write much better a composition. For contrast to their complete imagination， the students are deeply impressed by the body movement of the teachers and themselves， which will surely leads to a better article.

【References】

[1]He Guangkeng. The Basis of English Teaching and Learning Methods[M]. Ji nan University Press，1999.

[2]Shen Minxian. The Use of the Body Language in Elementary School[M]. Shanghai Education Press，2001.

[3]Hu Chao. The English Teaching and learning Methods[M]. Higher Education Press，2003.

[責(zé)任編輯：謝慶云]