Word Building Exploration课例分析、反思与评析

张莉 张佩云

师者，传道授业解惑也。“解惑”不仅局限于教师课堂教学或课后习题的答疑，也包括某些学习阶段教师帮助学生发现问题，研讨问题并积极寻求解决办法。本节课是一节以学生为主体，通过探究英语构词法帮助学生记忆单词的研究性课程。针对学生提出在记单词过程中遇到的困难，引导学生尝试使用构词法帮助单词记忆（Abbreviation，Affixation，Conversion，Compound），解決学生提出的问题;同时引领学生探索体验尝试这四种构词法的应用，以此帮助学生实现成为积极学习者（active learner）的角色体验。

一、课前准备

本节课共分为四个部分，分别为缩略语（Abbreviation），词缀法（Affixation），词性转换法（Conversion）和复合词（Compound）。课前布置研究性课题，学生自愿报名。由学生自己选择研究方向，确定研究方向后，组织研究小组，教师作为指导者参与其中，并提出以下要求：1.明确本小组研究的内容，如定义、构成方式、常见例词等;2.设计活动，让尽可能多的学生参与其中;3.设计练习，让学生学以致用;4.制作课件，进行小组展示;5.与指导教师沟通，不断完善。

经过为期一周的准备，全班46人都参与其中，十几名小组负责人进行了各具特色的展示，在展示结束后都使用该部分构词法的词汇进行了总结。

二、课堂实录

Lead-in：Use a conversation between the teacher and a make-believe expert on language learning to introduce the topic.

（一）Abbreviation

Introduction：Abbreviation is a short form of word or expression.Affixation is a way to form new words by adding affixes.Conversion is a process of changing one word from one part of speech to another，eg.，change a none into a verb or vice versa.Compound is a noun or adjective，etc，that is made up of two or more words.

A：Well...Have you heard that the government is promoting the use of ETC throughout the country？

B：Of course！ My dad is actually applying for one online.

A：Wow！ So do you need to upload a picture of your ID card or something to get that？

B：Sure，and along with necessary proof of the car.The ETC card will be sent to our address by EMS in the end.

A：Now please pay attention to the red words on the screen.Obviously there are some similarities among them.

B：（Read the red words on the slide）Right.These are abbreviations.

Part I  What is an Abbreviation？

A：As we can see，abbreviation is a shortened form of words and phrases.Abbreviations can take various forms，and there isnt a rule that would strictly define how words should be shortened，because the purpose of using abbreviations may be saving space and time，avoiding repetition of long words and phrases，or simply fitting popular usage.

B：There are different ways to form abbreviations.

（1）Use the first or first few letters，such as Co.for？company.

（2）The most important letters of the word remain，such as？Ltd.for？limited.

（3）Take only the first and the last letter，just like？Dr.for？Doctor.

（4）Use the initials of the words in a phrase instead.Examples are BTW for by the way and ASAP for as soon as possible.

Part II  Create your own Abbreviations！

A：You may think that abbreviations are rather modern stuff that boomed because of technology and？text messages，but theyve actually helped us save space and time for thousands of years.Apparently，it takes a lot less effort to write SARS than to write “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”.And another advantage is that it helps to remember.

B：Thats a good point！ Whats more，we can also create our own abbreviations！ Just remember to hold firm to a particular way of organizing your own word.As it will be for personal usage，you can use some symbols in the way you like.

A：Lets have a guess of some of the abbreviations created by our classmates together！

Part III  Conclusion

A：These self-created abbreviations are simple but rather impressive，and they also show us an accessible way to create interesting and practical abbreviations.

B：Nowadays，for instance，people focus on NBA，CBA or FIFA.And it has be come a daily routine to chat with friends using expressions like LOL and OMG.Some are always eager to pass the TOFEL & IELTS，while others dream of being a CIO or CEO or CFO—probably they should have focused more on a UFO.

A：As cultural exchanging is getting much further，we can see abbreviation everywhere in our lives.I wish everyone can apply the abbreviations to our daily study，and enjoy the fun of creating your own set of abbreviations！Thank you for listening！

教師总结：Good job.We can find abbreviation is common in our life.They can be used not only in the names of organizations，agencies，programs，but also in your names.We can carve our initials in the rings or necklaces.The initials of my name is ....What about you？ And when we talk about something secretly we can also use initials.

（二）Affixation

Introduction：Were here to introduce affixes to all of you.Are you tired of memorizing new words？ Dont worry .Were here to introduce an effective way.Have you noticed that there are a lot of words that look just similar？ Such as“export” and “import” ，and so on.We can notice that there are some identical components in these words.We may find the key to memorizing them easily .As we can see ，these words consist of “root”and “affix”.A very large number of words are formed in this way.So，lets learn some common affixes together.Lets look at the following examples.

1.tri-：three  trilogy  a series of three play （三部曲）

2.in-：negative incomparable the synonym is matchless（無与伦比的）

3.inter-：between  intercept  to stop sb./sth.that is going from one place to another place（截获）

4.homo-：the same  homosexual  to refer to a “gay”or a“lesbian”（同性恋的）

Affixes can fall into four groups——Numbers，Negatives，Directions and others.

Numbers

1.uni-：one     unique    being the only one of this kind（独一无二的）

2.bi-：two    bilingual   able to speak two languages equally well（双语的）

3.tri-：three    triangle    a shape with three sides and three angles（三角形）

4.penta-：five    pentagon   a shape with five sides and five angles（五角形）

……

Negatives

1.a-/ab-    abnormal   abuse

2.anti-     anti-social   anticancer   antiwar

3.de-      decode    break the code  （解码）

4.il-       illiterate  not knowing how to read or write （不识字的 ）

……

Directions

1.back-      backyard           2.fore-      forehead

3.cata-      catacomb           4.wise-   clockwise   counterclockwise

Others

1.let -little        piglet（小猪）       booklet（小册子）

2.ex- former      ex-girlfriend（前女友）

3.cyber- something related to information and computer  cyberspace（信息空间）

4.anthro- being related to human beings  anthropology（人类学）

And if you know the origin of some words，it will help to arouse your interest.One example is “man”.Originally it means something related to hand，and its exactly where “manual” comes from.And I want you to guess the next words meaning.In the past，people regarded men as a group of people who did a lot of work with hands.And there comes a question：“How did ‘woman come into use？” In fact，women were regarded as those who are always crying.And they are so“lazy” enough as to put the sound of crying “wowowo” in front of “man”.

Part I  Activity

Complete the story.Change the words into the proper forms by adding affixes.

Wearing his uniform（form），Xinxin went to work.He rode his bicycle（cycle）on the road and he was not so happy ，for his work was still left unfinished（finish）.At a turn of the road he ran across his ex-girlfriend（girlfriend），who was kissing a girl on the road.“Oh，my God.She was homosexual（sexual）.”Xinxin thought he was lucky that they had parted.

He continued riding.Suddenly ，when he got to a crossing ，a man rushed out.Although he almost hit  Xinxin ，he began to shout  at  the poor boy impolitely（politely）.He carried a camera with a tripod （pod）and he also led a piglet（pig）.Xinxin wanted to quarrel  with him .But he soon found that the mans words  were rude as well illogical （logical）.He could do nothing but keep silent.Whats worse ，the man hit him on his forehead （head）.What  a black day！

After the introduction ，have you already had some understandings of roots and affixes？ When were confronted with a new word，search for the words you have learned to get some familiar affixes，and progressively get the meaning of the new word.

Part II  Conclusion

Through the learning，we may already formulate some concept of affixation in our mind.Now lets put it into practice.I will go all out to make you believe that affixation is literally the most common way of making new words in English.It is often the case that we may encounter some words which we never met before in our daily English learning.But we still stand the chance that we can guess its meaning even though we dont know it at all.

教师总结：Good cooperation.They co-work，co-study and co-present their findings.Their presentation is meant to popularize some basic affixes.Try to enlarge your vocabulary by deepening your desire to learn more of them after class.

（三）Conversion

Introduction：As we all know ，in ancient Chinese，conversion is quite common.For example，皆白衣冠以送之……乃朝服，设九宾——《荆轲刺秦王》，in the first sentence means wearing white clothes and hats ，and the朝服in the next sentence means being dressed in，both are nouns changed into verbs.In English conversion is also quite common.Our presentation falls into 5 parts—transportation，character，body，animal，and others.

Part I  Transportation

Firstly ，lets come to some nouns about transportation.A train，all right？ Such vehicles as bus ，ship ，train ，truck ，plane ，and so on，have similar meanings.Turning into verbs ，they mean "go to someplace usually by this sort of vehicle".

Characters：mother，father，nurse，master，dwarf，partner

（1）She mothers two children and adopted a third.n.母親 → v.照顾

（2）A.G.Bell  is  thought  to  have fathered  the  phone.N.父亲→v.发明

（3）Dont  baby  your car.N.婴儿→ v.婴儿般对待

（4）Patients are  nursed  well in the hospital.N.护士→ v.护理

……

Body parts： eye，stomach，palm，leg it，mouth，nose，

（1）How can you  stomach  the violence in the film today？ n.胃 → v.忍受

（2）The magician palmed the coin and suddenly produced it from the boys ear.n.手掌 → v.握在掌心

（3）We  legged  it home when the storm broke.n.腿→  v.快走

（4）He eyed his son with anger.n.眼睛  →  v.看

……

Animals：dog，monkey，parrot，snake

（1）Whenever I go，my little brother   dogs  my footsteps.n.狗→ v.跟隨

（2）Dont monkey with my television.n.猴子→  v.捣蛋，乱动

（3）The students seemed serious and hard-working，but they confined themselves to textbooks.n.鹦鹉 →  v.复述

（4）snake ones way   蜿蜒曲折

Others：

（1）Don't trouble trouble  until trouble you.n.麻烦 →  v.打扰

（2）The problem has almost cornered him.n.角落→  v.逼到角落

（3）Ive never picture in my mind that I will been a superman now.n.照片→ v.想象

……

Part II  Conclusion

If you grasp the skill you will find English is interesting to learn.Therefore，lets try to enjoy our English study together！

教师总结：Who chaired this part？They partnered each others and gave lots of vivid examples so that we can master these words easily.Thank you all.After class you shall enjoy ice-creams.Dont worry about the bill.I will foot it.Some students are so excited that tears well up，no ，but their mouths are watering.

（四）Compound

Introduction：Hello everyone，today Id like to talk about the compounds.As we know，the theme of the class is“word-building”.As a matter of fact，the word “word-building” itself is a compound word.We cant make a word for each new thing ，or the vocabulary will get so big that you can never remember the words！  For example，米饭，白.There are different way to form compounds.

Part I  Activity

Weve come to the most exciting part：activities.The rule of the game is：Ill show the Chinese translation on the slide.Please guess what the English word is.Each compound is divided into two parts，and the student with one of the two parts， stand up and read out the part.

崭新的鞋子 brand-new shoes

经常锻炼身体 work out regularly

聚光灯 spotlight

万能的上帝 almighty God

费时的工作 time-consuming work

幸福感a sense of well-being

……

Part II  Conclusion

Id like to recommend using compounds consciously while writing，because they can make your compositions clear and lively.

教师总结：They gave us an all-round study of compounds.He has made all-out preparations for the report.But I overheard that he thought it was an ill-advised choice to concentrate on the job because its time-consuming.Is it true？

課堂总结：Some students may think English is boring but actually its interesting.Whats the bridge？ Hands-on experience.Try to enjoy word building，enhance English，enrich your life and enlighten yourself. Thanks again，my almighty students.I am sure this lesson will have a far-reaching influence on you study life.I hope you have a sense of well-being both in the campus and off-campus life.

Homework：Write a mind map of all the words learned in the class.

三、教学反思

本节课以词汇学习为切入点，以任务驱动学习，鼓励学生自主、富有个性地学习，不断积累经验，丰富学习经历。本节课激发了学生的学习动机，让学生在体验中学习，在学习中领悟，激发了学生的求知欲，让学生体验、运用研究成果。学生通过查阅与整理，完善知识框架。打破课本内容限制，鼓励学生进行探究式学习，鼓励学生交流与合作。倡导学生主动体验，全员参与。重体验，重研究，重过程是新课程改革的基本要求。但学生自身程度不一，本节课对于有些学生难度略大。因此，教师对学习内容要注意分层次，有梯度。由于经验不足和时间有限，学生的文字材料还有许多不足之处。编写的故事内容比较单一，语句不够丰富。研究方式可以更具有多样性，比如设计调查问卷了解学生更具体的需求;上网查阅的资料更丰富些;查阅更多英语原版书籍等。缺少学习策略的探索。在每一部分的展示中如果能渗透学习策略，课堂效果会更好。编故事本身就是学习的一种策略，能够让学生将所学的知识学以致用。学生可以再尝试其他的学习策略，如编曲子，填歌词，让学生唱起来。通过朗朗上口的歌曲，帮助学生更好记忆。

四、教学点评

张老师选择了一堂对于高二学生非常重要的词汇构成法校本课进行教学。高中英语考试大纲明确规定学生需要掌握英语词汇的复合词、派生词、转化和缩写的相关内容，但在高中教材中这些内容零散分布在不同的单元任务中，学生对词汇学没有一个综合而系统的学习。所以，高二学生在有了一定的词汇储备后，再学习词汇的四种构词法，就会领悟到构词法的规律，从而进一步进行分类和系统性地掌握更多的词缀并利用规律进行猜词和记词。

课前充分指导，课上以学生为中心，给学生更多的展示机会。本堂课有十几名学生站在讲台上，用地道标准的英语进行讲解，大家根据不同的任务进行有创意的教学设计，最让大家惊叹的是他们关注知识输入的同时，也能注重跟其他同学的互动和反馈。学生在小组合作探究和同伴互助角色分工下，学习气氛格外热烈，学习效果非常突出。

学习的过程中，实现了“一体三重”，即以学生为中心，注重知识向能力培养的转变，注重知识输入向输出运用的转变，注重知识讲解向活动实践的转变。关注学生的思维品质和学习能力的培养。在这堂课中，授课教师鼓励学生课前查阅搜集词汇学的相关知识，安排学生进行小组合作，合理分工，准备幻灯片、知识梳理、任务认领和课上展示等活动。多样的教学方法引领学生不断地进行认知、概括、推理、总结和创造等思维活动，有助于其思维的逻辑性、缜密性和创造性的提升。