British & American Literature and Modern College English Teaching

李蜀秦

新疆天山职业技术学院

British & American Literature and Modern College English Teaching

李蜀秦

新疆天山职业技术学院

With the deepening process of internationalization， modern world has come into the age of economic globalization and integration of science and technology. As the most extensive information carrier and communication tool， the importance of English becomes evident. And also， in the increasingly popular higher education， college English courses become more and more important. Traditional college English teaching focuses on the mastering and applying knowledge of English language by repeated reciting and memorizing. This way too emphasizes training of basic skill， so ignores the ability of humanities. Modern college English is not only a course on the basic knowledge of language， but also a quality education program for widening knowledge and knowing world culture. So， when we design college courses， we should consider teaching students’the cultural quality and international culture knowledge. Culture is the art of language， as well as an important educational way to improve college students’ quality. It can not be separated from language teaching. Integrating British & American Literature contents into college， English teaching can make students the talents with high cultural accomplishment and humanistic qualities.

By telling the importance of British & American Literature as well as modern ways in English teaching， this paper starts a big discussion about college English teaching by raising the teaching awareness about British & American Literature of teachers to improve the results of modern teaching model.

1.Importance of British & American Literature in English Teaching

1.1 Educational Value for Life

Literature is a kind of culture show to life experience. Learning literature is not only the best way to learn language，but the effective method to improve students’ quality-oriented education and human spirit. Literature words include the thinking to life， value orientation and particular ideology. The British & American Literature in different period can be the epitome of social reality， which tells the history and culture of the US and England as well as reflects the best wishes of people who pursuits the true， the good and the beautiful. To learn British & American Literature can not only provide shortcuts to learn English， but also help students mold character and cultivate healthy outlook on life values， so that improve college students’ humanistic quality on the whole.

1.2 Value to Learn

1.2.1 Humanistic Knowledge

In the British & American Literature， there are both rich literature knowledge and other knowledge about humanity， philosophy， religion， history， music and so on. The poetry， drama and novel make up the important part of western culture. They are not only the representative of the western culture， but the important way for students to know about western knowledge and western culture. In those works， many valuable ideas and thoughts are worth learning and using for reference. By strengthening the ability to think further about cultural information， college students can further their understanding about history， geography，policy， economy， custom and the like of the countries who use English. As a result， we can broaden our horizons， know more about culture of foreign countries， enrich our knowledge and inspire our wisdom. Both English and Chinese have the glorious history and tradition， but they are the totally different languages， which makes the cultural differences between them. When Chinese students learn English， they will be disturbed by Chinese easily， or we can say it’s easy for them to comprehend English in Chinese thinking. So，Chinese students can learn English better when they know the differences between the two cultures.

1.2.2 Language Knowledge

The British & American Literature works are excellent integrators with using of language， perspective arrangement and ideological contents. To learn the British & American Literature can not only accumulate authentic verbal statement and arrangement， but also master rigorous expression. Verbal language is a kind of life message. It’s from life and shows life， with characters of naturalness and easiness，so that students can learn it more easily. From reading and discussing about literature works， students can improve ability of understanding， analyzing and appreciating， as well as master and consolidate basic skill of listening， speaking，reading and writing. College teachers should let students fully contact literate contents in class and appreciate literature works after class. This way can provide students rich language environment， so that they can master language in the natural state. It’s not realistic to learn a language well without cultural background. So， with cultural background knowledge， students can understand English language phenomenon correctly.

2. Positive Role of British & American Literature in English Learning Level

2.1 Improve Ability of Listening， speaking and Writing

Most contents of British & American Literature lessons are from related teaching materials or classic British & American Literature works， which are both written in English.

First， language in class and books is mostly in English，students should not only listen carefully and also concentrate on making notes， so that they can improve their listening comprehension gradually. Second， in order to improve oral ability， they should have enough input firstly both from spoken information and from answering questions or telling stories about the works. Third， in writing ability， students can accumulate vocabularies and master some presentation skills by learning key words， sentences and grammar in every British & American Literature work. In order to train students’ ability of thinking and also improve students’writing ability， there are some particular forms such as making sentences with the similar structures， writing storylines and book reports.

2.2 Improve Reading Comprehension

In the process of learning and appreciating British & American Literature， students can get general contents and can improve technique of narration by analyzing characters，languages and main ideas. And also， it stimulates students’interesting on reading and train the consciousness of reading original works fully， so students’ reading comprehension ability is improved.

2.3 Arouse the Enthusiasm of Students

Learning interest is a kind of cognitive disposition of students based on learning needs. It is the most realistic and active part of learning. English can not only be rote learning， or it will be boring. If there are the British & American Literature stories as materials， students will feel the refresh and get more interests.

3. New Models of Teaching in the British & American Literature Class

3.1 Introduce the British & American Literature knowledge from the lower grades

As time progressed， modern society has developed into a world with complicated environment and diverse cultures. It needs people who have the ability of independent to think and solve problem. So expending human’s subjectivity is the theme at the present. In order to increase students’ consciousness of learning British & American Literature， introduce the British & American Literature earlier.

3.2 Recommend Classic Books

In the view of humanistic education， excellent literature works is the wisdom of the people and teaching materials of life. It includes profound philosophy that makes students have ideological education and accomplished character.

3.3 Use Multimedia Technology

Multimedia technology shows the British & American Literature works to students in the form of sound and image. It makes students feel three-dimensional culture and exciting visual effect so that creates practical and situational results. With full communication， discussion and cooperation between students and teachers， it forms a dynastic and open teaching process with finishing the comprehension about the British & American Literature.