大学英语课堂教学中培养学生兴趣的方法——以Time单元为例

张 文

(安庆师范大学外国语学院，安徽 安庆 246133)

大学英语课堂教学过程中，教师可通过学习谚语、欣赏英诗、图片展示、幽默段子等教学设计，激发学生课堂互动，营造和谐学习氛围。本文拟以《新编大学英语》第4册第8单元“Time”为例，具体分析如何培养学习情趣。

一、谚语 Idioms

Time will tell if we are right.

Time heals most troubles.

Lost time is never found again.

Time works wonders.

Time and tide wait for no man.

Time tries friends as fire tries gold

Question：What can you learn from these idioms?

二、诗歌赏析 Poems

Time is too slow for those we wait，

Too swift for those who fear，

Too long for those who grieve，

Too short for those who rejoice

But for those who love，time is eternity.

Questions：

1.What is your impression of the poem depending on your point of view?

2.Can you offer some examples for or against what is discussed in the poem?

三、看图说话 Talking about the pace of life in different cultures

1.Japan is at the top of the list.It seems to have the quickest rhythm of life.The Japanese are great time-keepers.The clocks in banks are the most accurate，and they walk fastest and work with efficiency.The United States is the second.The Italians and Indonesians don’t have a fast speed of life.Their bank clocks are not so precise and they seldom walk quickly.

2.The possible reasons for these differences are：

—Accelerating economic development leads to a quick pace of life.

—A variety of pressure also quickens the rhythm of life.

—The fierce competition in the society makes one’s pace of life faster.

3.—I prefer a moderate pace of life.I don’t like to be urgeded too much.I would become crazy if I had to follow the speed of the Japanese.Of course，I don’t like the Italian pace of life either.In some cases，when there is something significant or urgent，we have to be fast and finish the task efficiently.

4.— I prefer a very slow pace of life with no time pressure.Good ideas occur quickly when I’m free with nobody pushing me.So I think Southern Europians or Latin Americans know the nature of life.If we are pushed to finish a task，we may miss lots of pleasant things in the world.

四、幽默笑话 Enjoying Humor

Work in groups and read the following story and discuss the questions.

Once a theater department decided to produce Chekhov’s The Seagull.Would this Russian dramatist of the 19th-century attract them? Could they understand the play and his characters? The next morning，I overheard one student say to a classmate，“If I found out I was going to die，I’d go back to see The Seagull.Even though I had only 30 minutes to live，it would seem like seven hours.”

Questions：

1.What play did the students see?

2.Who wrote the play?

3.Did the students enjoy it? Why or why not?.