Application of Constructivist Theory to Reform English Language Teaching: Understanding the Leap in Grasping the Whole Picture of Things
It can be seen that this idea aligns with Bruner's thinking on the diversity of training development. Random Access teaching includes five stages: presenting the basic situation, random entry into learning, thinking development training, group collaborative learning, and evaluation of learning effects.
The Meaning Construction of Three Constructivist Teaching Theories:
3.1 Emphasizing the Reform of Traditional English Teaching Goals
Traditional teaching goals focus on students' memory of knowledge. This emphasis on learning outcomes at the expense of the learning process leads to rote memorization among students, resulting in a lack of thinking ability and difficulty in practical application. To change this situation, teachers need to first alter their concept of ultimate teaching goals. Accumulating language knowledge should not be the ultimate goal; rather, helping students construct the meaning of this knowledge is most important. This involves assisting students in constructing the intrinsic link between laws and things to achieve a deeper understanding. Teachers should strengthen guidance on students' learning strategies to lay the foundation for them to learn how to learn. Once learners master appropriate learning skills and strategies, they will engage in independent learning. Teachers should first make students aware of the strategy, then provide opportunities to practice the new strategy, demonstrate it, and introduce it. Through students' self-evaluation of the effectiveness of these strategies, guide them to adjust their learning objectives and strategies according to their needs during the learning process to actively construct the meaning of knowledge.
3.2 Emphasizing Interactive Learning
In the past, Western learning theories focused on individual learning activities. Vygotsky believed that constructivist learning is social, interactive, and collaborative. Knowledge is not only constructed by individuals interacting with the physical environment but also through social interaction and collaboration, which are more important. Constructivism emphasizes the importance of social interaction in learning. According to constructivist views, individuals construct understanding based on their experiences, which can differ and inevitably have some limitations. Only through sharing and coordination of meaning can more accurate and comprehensive understanding be achieved. Mutual exchange and collaboration in the learning process provide rich resources and active support for knowledge construction. Therefore, teachers in the classroom should provide an interactive learning environment for collaborative, multi-designed communication and language practice opportunities. In this process, first, strengthen the interaction between teachers and students, establishing an equal and harmonious relationship, prompting students to have positive emotional migration to achieve the effect of affinity and trust towards their teacher. Secondly, strengthen student interaction, fostering cooperative and competitive life relations.
3.3 Great Importance to Situational Teaching in Traditional Teaching
Situational teaching emphasizes the role of context and that learning cannot be independent of situations; learning results can naturally migrate to various real-life situations. However, the result is not only that students find it difficult to construct the meaning of knowledge, but also often struggle to use the knowledge learned to solve real-world problems. In fact, situations are always specific and ever-changing; there is no knowledge applicable to all specific situations. Therefore, constructivists emphasize that learning in school cannot be separated from specific real-world situations. English teachers should integrate teaching content into learning contexts and present real learning scenarios for students. This requires English teachers to design teaching and learning activities as closely related to real materials and real life as possible, linking them with students' own background experiences and realities. Use dialogue instead of injection teaching to provide students with opportunities for independent study and exchange, encourage students to boldly use the target language, adopt a tolerant attitude towards errors and mistakes in their learning process, and promote the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing comprehensive language skills through practice, experience, discussion, cooperation, and exploration.
At the same time, constructivist teaching can take advantage of advanced multimedia network technology to create authentic scenarios for students to construct knowledge. The friendly interface and intuitive imagery of multimedia scenarios in the teaching and learning environment not only likely arouse students' interest and enthusiasm for learning but also enable students to construct their own knowledge to solve real problems.