A Study On Lead-in In Senior High School English Teaching Classes

English classroom is the main position for students to learn English and the main form of organizaing foreign language teaching. Lead-in plays an important role in English classroom teaching. Lead-in is the most basic and a very important step of the teaching process."Well begun is half done."Lead-in is the first link of English classroom teaching, and also the first impression that an English language teacher leaves to students. A successful lead-in can make students concentrate within a few minutes, arouse students? interest in learning English, trigger their motivation for English learning, produce a strong desire for knowledge and fully mobilize students? initiative and enthusiasm so that it can make a certain foundation for students to learn new teaching materials successfully. Lead-in not only makes teachers and students enter into teaching situation in a better state, but also promotes students? level of spoken language and communicative competence, and accordingly improves the efficiency of English teaching classes. However, most senior high school English language teachers are busier considering how to explain knowledge, and they often neglect the function of lead-in in English teaching classes, therefore, the effect of lead-in is not satisfactory.In order to know the specific situation of lead-in in senior high school English teaching classes, identify the crux of the problem and consequently take effective countermeasures, the author did an survey of the senior high school teachers and students both from senior 1 and senior 2 Grade in the city of Ying Kou by using the methods of classroom observation, questionnaire and interview. The classroom observations of this study are the English compulsory courses of senior 1 and senior 2 Grade, because it not only focuses on the students? basic language skills but also their abilities of oral communication.In this paper, the questionnaires of teachers and students consist of the design of lead-in, lead-in means, lead-in functions and some other aspects of lead-in in English teaching classes. The analysis and research results of questionnaires from both teachers and students show that at present the ways to manifest lead-in are not flexible and diverse enough, that is to say, teachers didn?t choose appropriate means of lead-in according to the actual situation of students and thus it caused the lead-in of classroom teaching not meet the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of teaching. The results of the questionnaires also indicate that the functions of lead-in are not well achieved, thus lead-in did not sufficiently arouse students? interest in learning English and stimulate their learning motivation and failed to improve the efficiency of English teaching.On the basis of the survey the author found some problems existed in the lead-in part, and by analyzing the relevant reasons provided some implications to the effective implementation of lead-in in English teaching classes. First of all, teachers should skillfully design lead-in, flexibly carry out lead-in to fully mobilize students? learning initiative and make them actively participate in classroom teaching. Second, in the teaching process, teachers should use dynamic means of lead-in that are suitable to the students based on knowledge rules and psychological needs of the students to make them consider learning as a spirit of enjoyment and learn English in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Finally, teachers should have a clear purpose of lead-in and integrate knowledge and interest as to stimulate students? interest in learning and desire for knowledge and make them enter into a pleasant learning state in order to construct new knowledge better.