Cognitive Apprenticeship And College English Teaching In China

Cognitive apprenticeship is a teaching and learning theory based on constructivist situated cognition and is a combination of practical approaches of traditional apprenticeship in craft workshops and modern schooling. It draws its inspiration from traditional apprenticeship which features learning while doing, teaching face to face and emphasizing the visibility of internal thinking of both expert and novice. It emphasizes the creation of a meaningful social context in which learners are given many opportunities to observe and learn expert practices. By enculturating learners into authentic practices through activities and social interaction, they are able to develop the cognitive skills of practitioners. Cognitive apprenticeships are designed to bring implicit processes involved in carrying out complex skill processes into the open, where students can observe, enact, and practice them with the help from the teacher. To put cognitive apprenticeship into practice, Collins et a(l1991)offered five instructional methods of cognitive apprenticeship, they are modeling, coaching, articulation, reflection, and exploration. This thesis describes and illustrates the theoretic bases, contents and dimensions of cognitive apprenticeship. It also demonstrates and analyzes two typical teaching cases and points out the advantages and disadvantages of cognitive apprenticeship in teaching practice. The thesis as well discusses the practical inspirations of cognitive apprenticeship to Chinese college English teaching(for non-majors)and the ways to apply it to the Chinese college English teaching to cultivate the language skills, especially speaking, reading and writing skills of Chinese college students. The new round of college English teaching reform is ongoing nationwide, aiming at the reform of teaching approaches and learning strategies. The objectives of the reform are the shifts from traditional teacher-centered classroom teaching to the student-centered diverse teaching methods with the aids of multimedia net technology; from the knowledge transfer to skill cultivation. The reform is fundamental and influential and with its unique and practical features, the cognitive apprenticeship may play an active and positive role in the ongoing reform and bring new horizon and vigor to Chinese college English teaching and make it more successful and practical.