首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Ask an American schoolchild what he or she is learning in school these days and you might even get a reply, provided you ask it
Ask an American schoolchild what he or she is learning in school these days and you might even get a reply, provided you ask it
admin
2010-06-18
73
问题
Ask an American schoolchild what he or she is learning in school these days and you might even get a reply, provided you ask it in Spanish. But don’t bother, here’s the answer: Americans nowadays are not learning any of the things that we learned in our day, like reading and writing. Apparently these are considered fusty old subjects, invented by white males to oppress women and minorities.
What are they learning? In a Vermont college town I found the answer sitting in a toy store book rack, next to typical kids’ books like ’Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy Is Dysfunctional’. It’s a teacher’s guide called ’Happy To Be Me’, subtitled ’Building Self Esteem’.
Self-esteem, as it turns out, is a big subject in American classrooms. Many American schools see building it as important as teaching reading and writing. They call it "whole language" teaching, borrowing terminology from the granola people to compete in the education marketplace.
No one ever spent a moment building my self-esteem when I was in school. In fact, from the day I first stepped inside a classroom my self-esteem was one big demolition site. All that mattered was "the subject," be it geography, history, or mathematics. I was praised when I remembered that "near", "fit", "friendly", "pleasing", "like" and their opposites took the dative case in Latin. I was reviled when I forgot what a cosine years beneath a torrent of castigation so consistent I eventually ceased to hear it, as people who live near the sea eventually stop hearing the waves.
Schools have changed. Reviling is out, for one thing. More important, subjects have changed. Whereas I learned English, modern kids learn something called "language skills.’ Whereas I learned writing, modem kids learn something called "communication" Communication, the book tells us, is seven per cent words, 23 per cent facial expression, 20 per cent tone of voice, and 50 per cent body language. So this column, with its carefully chosen words, would earn me at most a grade of seven per cent. That is, if the school even gave out something as oppressive and demanding as grades.
The result is that, in place of English classes, American children are getting a course in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Consider the new attitude toward journal writing: I remember one high school English class when we were required to keep a journal. The idea was to emulate those great writers who confided in diaries, searching their souls and honing their critical thinking on paper.
"Happy To Be Me" states that journals are a great way for students to get in touch with their feelings. Tell students they can write one sentence or a whole page. Reassure them that no one, not even you, will read what they write. After the unit, hopefully all students will be feeling good about themselves and will want to share some of their entries with the class.
There was a time when no self-respecting book for English teachers would use "great" or "hopefully" that way. Moreover, back then the purpose of English courses (an antique term for "Unit") was not to help students "feel good about themselves." Which is good, because all that reviling didn’t make me feel particularly good about anything.
The writer’s intention is to get us to ______.
选项
A、rethink educational Strategies
B、confirm current trends
C、think about what constitutes communication
D、reassure parents
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/jRlO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Withincreasingprosperity,WesternEuropeanyouthishavingaflingthatiscreationdistinctiveconsumerandculturalpatterns
ForaCEOtobesuccessfulingovernment,hehastoIncommentingonO’Neill’srecordasTreasurySecretary,thepassageseems
Marriagemaybeaboutlove,butdivorceisabusiness.Forglobalcouples--bornindifferentcountries,marriedinathird,now
Accordingtothedoctor,KapsakandEkaUdo’schildrenAllofthefollowingcanbeinferredfromthepassageEXCEPTthat
InBritain,popularnewspapersarealsocalled______.
Insemantics,______dealswiththerelationshipbetweenthelinguisticelementsandthenon-linguisticworldofexperience.
Researchersinvestigatingbrainsizeandmentalabilitysaytheirworkoffersevidencethateducationprotectsthemindfromthe
Societywasfascinatedbyscienceandscientificthingsinthenineteenthcentury.Greatbreakthroughsinengineering,theuseo
从20世纪下半叶起,英语作为全球通用语盲的地位进一步得到巩固和发展。英语已经不再是非英语国家和英语国家的人们进行交流时的工具,而更多地成为非英语国家之间的人们进行沟通的共用语言。英语在非英语国家的发展已经造成了许多带有浓厚地域特色的变体,它们的诞生已经或将
A、Morethan120.B、About200.C、Twoandonehalfmillion.D、Notmentioned.B
随机试题
A.甲型肝炎病毒B.乙型肝炎病毒C.丙型肝炎病毒D.丁型肝炎病毒E.戊型肝炎病毒输血后肝炎是由哪型病毒引起
粒径为多少的微粒可用于栓塞癌变部位的小动脉,进而治疗癌变部位
A.给予对症处理B.职业性有害因素C.有害的生产过程D.生产性因素E.应立即向当地职防机构报告
肺炎喘嗽的临床主症是
由图7-58所示数字逻辑信号的波形可知,三者的逻辑关系是()。
下列关于税率的表述中,说法不正确的是( )。
资金预算的构成项目包括()。
呼吸系统由呼吸道和()组成。
A、条件(1)充分,但条件(2)不充分B、条件(2)充分,但条件(1)不充分C、条件(1)和(2)单独都不充分,但条件(1)和条件(2)联合起来充分D、条件(1)充分,条件(2)也充分E、条件(1)和条件(2)单独都不充分,条件(1)和条件(2)联
CompetitionorCooperation1.竞争和合作是生活中不可缺少的组成部分2.有人倾向于竞争,有人倾向于合作3.我的观点
最新回复
(
0
)