Hu Xiao-yu

(No. 161 Middle School Beijing, China)

Introduction

In this article, I will focus on 3 aspects of my teaching experiences with the New Senior English for China:

1. Some feedback from students (Ss) about their opinions on NSEFC Students' Book (SB) and my impression on the new series.

2. Some approaches used in my NSEFC learning classes with some sample lesson plans.

3. Experiences of teaching literature and having drama classes in using NSEFC

Survey results conducted with my students:

·94% of the Ss think that the materials in the NSEFC are more enjoyable and instructive than the old ones.

·76% of the Ss say that the ideas given in the NSEFC make them think more deeply about life.

·98% of the Ss believe that the knowledge about Western cultures provided in the NESFC helps them to understand and tolerate cultural differences.

From the figure above, we can see that the great majority of Ss are favor of the new textbooks, especially its rich humanistic themes. It is known that the NSEFC has brought in many more learning resources. As for the amount of its new words, reading, and writing exercises.

·72% of the Ss think that there is no problem with the number of the new words; 17% among them even think there could be more!

·91% of the Ss believe that the amount of the reading in the NSEFC is just the right amount; 19% of them even hope they could read more!

·96% of the Ss say that they don’t think the writing tasks are a burden to them, but a good way to develop their logical thinking and imagination.

My overall impression on NSEFC

·Its greater use of graphic or visual aids helps Ss interpret information, and develop the habit of learning language by creating images in their minds.

·Its clear instructions, models, learning strategies & self-performance assessment make it easier for Ss to learn autonomously and to become independent learners.

·Those integrated-skill designs also help Ss see the connections between language skills.

·Its exercises or activities are easy for Ss to have cooperative & discovery learning and easy for teachers to do task-based teaching.

All these distinguishing features can easily be noticed when you look through the NSEFC SB. As a teacher, the quality of the reference book is also important. Every time when I am preparing lesson, I know I will learn something and my imagination will be sparked if I read the guided and suggested teaching notes in the TB.

·It provides specific suggestions on how to implement effective ELT methodology, educational psychology and theories.

·It is a good resource for helping teachers to become teacher-researchers.

·It is a real guidance on how to achieve language enrichment, and to avoid language-skills burnout.

Integrated-skill training, cooperative learning & task-based teaching in using NSEFC

As a teacher with ideas, I try to keep in mind not only the aims stated in the NSEFC Teacher's Book (TB) but also my own. Regardless of which approach I use, I try to involve my students in small groups with different tasks or activities.

Here below are 4 types of classes that I use in my NSEFC classes:

1. Text-based reading (class):

—ideas analysis

—text organization

—content summary

—class report

2. Grammar discovery & language learning (class):

—sentences models

—rules & usages discovery

—class report & summary

Instead of directly explaining the grammar rules or language structures, the new textbook provides many interesting and meaningful activities with model sentences for Ss to induce, to summarize, to find out rules themselves. So in grammar learning class, Ss have group work to discover and learn rather than to be taught about the grammar first.

3. Peer / group writing & correction (class)

—ideas re-organization

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