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Abstract：The dissertation argues that grammar teaching should be included in teaching objectives， and Cognitive Method can be used in addition to Communicative Approaches in teaching method used. Evaluation should include both formative and summative form.
Key words：Method；Approach；English language teaching
1. Introduction
In the long history of English language teaching， many methods and approaches took their own
places for a period one after another.
Among them， some are very influential and have great significance in China's English language teaching， such as Grammar Translation Method， Audiolingual Method and the Communicative Approach. Grammar Translation Method originated in the 17th century in Europe. At first， Roman used it to study Latin and Greek. Grammar Translation Method is called Old Method， Classical Method or Traditional Method. In this method， literary language is considered superior to spoken language. Language learning is an academic study and provides students with good mental exercises which helps to develop their minds. The first language is a means of reference. The objective is to train students the ability of reading literature written in the target language， literary， scholarly religious. Syllabus of Grammar Translation method is based on grammar and vocabulary. Teacher makes students do translation from the first language to the target language or vice versa； students study grammar deductively， memorizing rules and words. They do what teacher says passively. Teacher is the authority of the class， and their main task is to explain grammar. Textbooks and literary passages are arranged according to grammatical rules. At the early stage of China's English language teaching this method is very useful since it requires little on teacher's qualification and teaching conditions. Even today in some remote and comparatively backward areas in China， Grammar Translation method is still adopted.
Another method which also has a very great impact on China's English language teaching is Audiolingual Method. It came on the stage in 1960's. Based on Structuralism and Behaviorism， it regards language learning as habit formation； skills are learned more effectively if oral form precedes written form of the language. Language is a system of rule-governed structures hierarchically arranged. Teacher provides model， controls direction and pace in class. Students learn dialogues and drills and are directed by teacher to produce correct responses. The class is teacher oriented. Tapes and visuals， and language lab are often used. Starting with listening and speaking basic sentence structures， students have learned English better than they do in the grammar translation dominated class， especially in mastering listening and speaking skills. But it is still difficult for students to transfer the basic sentence structures learned in class to communicative competence in real life. So Audiolingual Method was doubted in teaching and declined gradually after 1970's. But its influence is very deep， and people today can still recall the once wide spread courses like English 900 and New Concept English.
In 1980's， when China began its opening to the outside world and reform， Communicative Approach prevailed in China's English language teaching. Under the circumstances wherein technological and socialistic exchanges were frequent， the introducing of foreign language books and the exchange of advanced teaching methods brought new tides of foreign language study. To develop communicative competence becomes the main objective of English language teaching. But in practice， teacher emphasizes too much the meaning of language， but pays little attention to grammar and practice of language form. Materials based on Communicative Approach break the grammatical system of a foreign language and make it difficult for students to learn. So， what is the most suitable method for China's English Language Teaching （ELT）? The dissertation will consider the problem from the perspective of teaching objective， teaching method and teaching evaluation.
2. Choosing ELT Method Suitable for the Present Situation in China
2.1 Teaching Objectives
When we set up teaching objectives， we should not forget that the ultimate aim for us to teach students English is to enable them to use it to communicate freely. Under this general objective， we set teaching objectives as：
1.to help students build English language system in order to guide and facilitate their learning；
2.to develop students' language skills of listening， speaking， reading and writing；
3.to motivate students in communicative language learning；
4.to help more students adopt learning strategies.
As we all know， English teaching should help learners build up a language system because learners are constrained within a uniform language environment， and they cannot acquire target language in a natural way. Grammar teaching， therefore， should not be avoided， and should be part of the teaching objective. To put it in specific term， students should observe the following aspects in their language study： As to pronunciation， they should know the importance of pronunciation in language study and that English pronunciation includes linking， stress， intonation， rhythm， etc. They should have correct， fluent and natural pronunciation and intonation in daily conversation. Their stress and intonation can vary to express different intentions and attitudes. They can spell out words according to their pronunciation. To the matter of vocabulary，they should know that English vocabulary include words， expressions， idioms and set phrases. They understand the basic meanings of words and their special meanings in special contexts. They can use these words to describe things， actions， features and illustrate concepts. As for grammar， they should know the basic structure and the notional function of some frequently-used language forms. They should understand and master the ways of describing things， people and events， the ways of describing time， location and direction， and how to make comparison.
While learners' language system is being built up， their communicative skills should also be developed. Thompson （1996） claims that "communication through language happens in both the written and spoken medium". For learners， in addition to speaking and listening， to achieve linguistic competence in reading and writing is also a part of the objectives of learning English. To put it in specific term， students should observe the following aspects： In listening， they can understand passages read at a speed close to daily talk， the teaching programs for beginners in radio or on TV， and accomplish tasks on instructions given continually. In speaking， they can draw out topics for conversation， use simple language to describe the experiences of themselves or other people with the help of teacher. They can participate in the activities such as role-play under the instructions of teacher. In reading， they can fluently read out texts， understand materials of practical writings such as expository articles. They can grasp the main idea of simple articles， guess the meanings of new words from the contexts， understand and explain the information offered in charts and graphs， understand simple personal letters and use dictionaries to help reading. In writing， they can use punctuation marks correctly， use expressions or simple sentences to write captions for the pictures produced by themselves， write simple and short passages， such as principle and instruction and write and correct compositions with the help of teacher.
To motivate students in language learning is also the goal we try to achieve in our language teaching. Teacher should make it clear to students that the ultimate aim of language learning is not examination but communication. Also， teacher should pay attention to the psychological factors of students in ELT and try to encourage them to take part in all kinds of activities of language teaching and learning.
As to learning strategies， teacher should encourage more students to use some cognitive strategies to help their language learning.
2.2 Teaching Methods
Since the teaching objectives are to help learners to build up the foundation of target language as well as to develop their communicative skills， teacher needs to make learners fully aware of both comprehension and correct use of target language in language teaching.
When teaching language system， grammar， pronunciation and vocabulary are the focuses. Because learners are most teenagers， they are comparatively mature both psychologically and physiologically. In addition， they have their own experience and knowledge structure. So it is possible to teach them the language by illustrating with grammar so that they can have easy access to a new language system. Since students have some cognitive abilities， teachers can use cognitive method to teach grammar deductively so as to meet students' need of learning grammar and structure. Considering the characteristic of the target language， which is totally different from Chinese， teacher may use every possible kind of audio-visual aid to lessen the learning difficulty for the students in introducing a new pronunciation system. To expose students to the target language is a way of helping them get standard pronunciation of the language. At mean time， teacher can also use cognitive ways of teaching to make students master phonetic symbols so they can learn pronunciation in a systematic way. Also， in vocabulary teaching， as students can learn vocabulary easier than children， more words and phrases close to their daily life are given to students and are required to master. In short， by creating as much as possible a language context in class and considering learner's factors， teacher can use cognitive approach satisfactorily in a class. Actually， for those teenager learners who lack a second language acquisition environment， grammar teaching may effectively help them to found a new language system； and in this way， students can learn the correct form of the foreign language and know how to use it in high accuracy.
Meanwhile， in order to develop students' communicative skills， teacher can employ Communicative Approach in ELT. When learners have grasped the language points they are required to know， teacher may give learners different tasks and let them use the language in class activities. Learners are supposed not only to know the correct form of the foreign language， but also to know when， where， what and to whom to talk in communication and understand correctly information from others. Listening and speaking skills may be in the first place to be trained， but reading and writing skills should not be ignored. Instead， reading and writing should be paid equal attention to as same as listening and speaking. Only one point teacher should notice： on the consideration of learners' language proficiency， teacher should let students just start from some small tasks at first such as writing journals， writing short paragraphs and giving brief explanations. Since learners lack foreign language context， teacher has to increase learners' possibilities of involving themselves in real communication of the target language. In the long run， learners' communicative competence will meet their needs in their future development.
On the whole， in English language teaching， teacher should adopt different ways according to different teaching needs. Besides， in language teaching teacher should motivate students by encouraging them in many activities in class. The psychological factor of students should be considered， and teacher should pay attention not to over correct their mistakes in activities.
2.3 Teaching Evaluation
Conventionally， English language teaching is regarded as the same as other courses in emphasizing knowledge transferring while ignoring cultivating ability. To pass examination is the final objective of language learners. However， examinations could not be and should not be the only way of evaluating language teaching. If we take examination as the aim and motivation of English language teaching， we will go against the nature of language learning.
When we use tests and examinations to evaluate our language teaching， we can do from three main parts： oral test， listening test and written test. In oral part， students are required to use the target language to fulfill the tasks given in the test. Teacher should evaluate students' communicative ability and validity of their oral expression. In listening part， students are supposed to get information such as time， place， speaker's attitude and intention in a conversation. Listening tests should not have those sound recognition questions in which no further context is provided. In written part， students should be given more subjective items or open-ended questions to solve by using their target language.
In addition to tests and examinations， many other ways can be applied to evaluating our English language teaching. Observation in the classroom， portfolios and conferences， journals， questionnaires， and interviews are all available in teaching evaluation.
No matter what kind of evaluation we use， we should know that successful evaluation requires the careful collection of relevant information or data， such as how fluently and correctly a learner can use certain grammatical structure in communication or the scores of learner's oral test， and a thoughtful interpretation of the collected information. We should also keep on our mind that the test， the observation or whatever， is a representative sample of what the learners have been taught and are expected to learn. Once the collected information is successfully and objectively interpreted， we need to decide what actions to take or what changes to make to instruction so that our evaluation can best serve our setting objectives for English language teaching.
3. Conclusion
In teaching process， English language teachers should take into account the impact that first language has upon foreign language study. English language teachers' job is to expose students to the target language so that students can have a better environment for learning English language. Teachers may try to balance the requirement of the course with the interests and desires of the learners and tailored language teaching to students' real-world needs. They need to consider learners' characteristics in language teaching too.
Since English language learners learn the target language in a limited condition， we should not expect them to be able to use English like natives but expect them to use it efficiently in their own level. Whatever the level of the students and however language study is organized， students are required to understand the meaning of the target language and its form， and practice it. Thus our English teaching will be more successful.
参考文献：
［1］Thompson， G. Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching ［J］. ELT Journal， 1996， 50（1）： 1-15.
［2］宋桂月， 金莺主编.英语课程标准教师读本［Z］.武汉：华中师范大学出版社， 2002.
［3］舒白梅，陈佑林主编.外语教学法［Z］.北京：高等教育出版社， 1999.
Key words：Method；Approach；English language teaching
1. Introduction
In the long history of English language teaching， many methods and approaches took their own
places for a period one after another.
Among them， some are very influential and have great significance in China's English language teaching， such as Grammar Translation Method， Audiolingual Method and the Communicative Approach. Grammar Translation Method originated in the 17th century in Europe. At first， Roman used it to study Latin and Greek. Grammar Translation Method is called Old Method， Classical Method or Traditional Method. In this method， literary language is considered superior to spoken language. Language learning is an academic study and provides students with good mental exercises which helps to develop their minds. The first language is a means of reference. The objective is to train students the ability of reading literature written in the target language， literary， scholarly religious. Syllabus of Grammar Translation method is based on grammar and vocabulary. Teacher makes students do translation from the first language to the target language or vice versa； students study grammar deductively， memorizing rules and words. They do what teacher says passively. Teacher is the authority of the class， and their main task is to explain grammar. Textbooks and literary passages are arranged according to grammatical rules. At the early stage of China's English language teaching this method is very useful since it requires little on teacher's qualification and teaching conditions. Even today in some remote and comparatively backward areas in China， Grammar Translation method is still adopted.
Another method which also has a very great impact on China's English language teaching is Audiolingual Method. It came on the stage in 1960's. Based on Structuralism and Behaviorism， it regards language learning as habit formation； skills are learned more effectively if oral form precedes written form of the language. Language is a system of rule-governed structures hierarchically arranged. Teacher provides model， controls direction and pace in class. Students learn dialogues and drills and are directed by teacher to produce correct responses. The class is teacher oriented. Tapes and visuals， and language lab are often used. Starting with listening and speaking basic sentence structures， students have learned English better than they do in the grammar translation dominated class， especially in mastering listening and speaking skills. But it is still difficult for students to transfer the basic sentence structures learned in class to communicative competence in real life. So Audiolingual Method was doubted in teaching and declined gradually after 1970's. But its influence is very deep， and people today can still recall the once wide spread courses like English 900 and New Concept English.
In 1980's， when China began its opening to the outside world and reform， Communicative Approach prevailed in China's English language teaching. Under the circumstances wherein technological and socialistic exchanges were frequent， the introducing of foreign language books and the exchange of advanced teaching methods brought new tides of foreign language study. To develop communicative competence becomes the main objective of English language teaching. But in practice， teacher emphasizes too much the meaning of language， but pays little attention to grammar and practice of language form. Materials based on Communicative Approach break the grammatical system of a foreign language and make it difficult for students to learn. So， what is the most suitable method for China's English Language Teaching （ELT）? The dissertation will consider the problem from the perspective of teaching objective， teaching method and teaching evaluation.
2. Choosing ELT Method Suitable for the Present Situation in China
2.1 Teaching Objectives
When we set up teaching objectives， we should not forget that the ultimate aim for us to teach students English is to enable them to use it to communicate freely. Under this general objective， we set teaching objectives as：
1.to help students build English language system in order to guide and facilitate their learning；
2.to develop students' language skills of listening， speaking， reading and writing；
3.to motivate students in communicative language learning；
4.to help more students adopt learning strategies.
As we all know， English teaching should help learners build up a language system because learners are constrained within a uniform language environment， and they cannot acquire target language in a natural way. Grammar teaching， therefore， should not be avoided， and should be part of the teaching objective. To put it in specific term， students should observe the following aspects in their language study： As to pronunciation， they should know the importance of pronunciation in language study and that English pronunciation includes linking， stress， intonation， rhythm， etc. They should have correct， fluent and natural pronunciation and intonation in daily conversation. Their stress and intonation can vary to express different intentions and attitudes. They can spell out words according to their pronunciation. To the matter of vocabulary，they should know that English vocabulary include words， expressions， idioms and set phrases. They understand the basic meanings of words and their special meanings in special contexts. They can use these words to describe things， actions， features and illustrate concepts. As for grammar， they should know the basic structure and the notional function of some frequently-used language forms. They should understand and master the ways of describing things， people and events， the ways of describing time， location and direction， and how to make comparison.
While learners' language system is being built up， their communicative skills should also be developed. Thompson （1996） claims that "communication through language happens in both the written and spoken medium". For learners， in addition to speaking and listening， to achieve linguistic competence in reading and writing is also a part of the objectives of learning English. To put it in specific term， students should observe the following aspects： In listening， they can understand passages read at a speed close to daily talk， the teaching programs for beginners in radio or on TV， and accomplish tasks on instructions given continually. In speaking， they can draw out topics for conversation， use simple language to describe the experiences of themselves or other people with the help of teacher. They can participate in the activities such as role-play under the instructions of teacher. In reading， they can fluently read out texts， understand materials of practical writings such as expository articles. They can grasp the main idea of simple articles， guess the meanings of new words from the contexts， understand and explain the information offered in charts and graphs， understand simple personal letters and use dictionaries to help reading. In writing， they can use punctuation marks correctly， use expressions or simple sentences to write captions for the pictures produced by themselves， write simple and short passages， such as principle and instruction and write and correct compositions with the help of teacher.
To motivate students in language learning is also the goal we try to achieve in our language teaching. Teacher should make it clear to students that the ultimate aim of language learning is not examination but communication. Also， teacher should pay attention to the psychological factors of students in ELT and try to encourage them to take part in all kinds of activities of language teaching and learning.
As to learning strategies， teacher should encourage more students to use some cognitive strategies to help their language learning.
2.2 Teaching Methods
Since the teaching objectives are to help learners to build up the foundation of target language as well as to develop their communicative skills， teacher needs to make learners fully aware of both comprehension and correct use of target language in language teaching.
When teaching language system， grammar， pronunciation and vocabulary are the focuses. Because learners are most teenagers， they are comparatively mature both psychologically and physiologically. In addition， they have their own experience and knowledge structure. So it is possible to teach them the language by illustrating with grammar so that they can have easy access to a new language system. Since students have some cognitive abilities， teachers can use cognitive method to teach grammar deductively so as to meet students' need of learning grammar and structure. Considering the characteristic of the target language， which is totally different from Chinese， teacher may use every possible kind of audio-visual aid to lessen the learning difficulty for the students in introducing a new pronunciation system. To expose students to the target language is a way of helping them get standard pronunciation of the language. At mean time， teacher can also use cognitive ways of teaching to make students master phonetic symbols so they can learn pronunciation in a systematic way. Also， in vocabulary teaching， as students can learn vocabulary easier than children， more words and phrases close to their daily life are given to students and are required to master. In short， by creating as much as possible a language context in class and considering learner's factors， teacher can use cognitive approach satisfactorily in a class. Actually， for those teenager learners who lack a second language acquisition environment， grammar teaching may effectively help them to found a new language system； and in this way， students can learn the correct form of the foreign language and know how to use it in high accuracy.
Meanwhile， in order to develop students' communicative skills， teacher can employ Communicative Approach in ELT. When learners have grasped the language points they are required to know， teacher may give learners different tasks and let them use the language in class activities. Learners are supposed not only to know the correct form of the foreign language， but also to know when， where， what and to whom to talk in communication and understand correctly information from others. Listening and speaking skills may be in the first place to be trained， but reading and writing skills should not be ignored. Instead， reading and writing should be paid equal attention to as same as listening and speaking. Only one point teacher should notice： on the consideration of learners' language proficiency， teacher should let students just start from some small tasks at first such as writing journals， writing short paragraphs and giving brief explanations. Since learners lack foreign language context， teacher has to increase learners' possibilities of involving themselves in real communication of the target language. In the long run， learners' communicative competence will meet their needs in their future development.
On the whole， in English language teaching， teacher should adopt different ways according to different teaching needs. Besides， in language teaching teacher should motivate students by encouraging them in many activities in class. The psychological factor of students should be considered， and teacher should pay attention not to over correct their mistakes in activities.
2.3 Teaching Evaluation
Conventionally， English language teaching is regarded as the same as other courses in emphasizing knowledge transferring while ignoring cultivating ability. To pass examination is the final objective of language learners. However， examinations could not be and should not be the only way of evaluating language teaching. If we take examination as the aim and motivation of English language teaching， we will go against the nature of language learning.
When we use tests and examinations to evaluate our language teaching， we can do from three main parts： oral test， listening test and written test. In oral part， students are required to use the target language to fulfill the tasks given in the test. Teacher should evaluate students' communicative ability and validity of their oral expression. In listening part， students are supposed to get information such as time， place， speaker's attitude and intention in a conversation. Listening tests should not have those sound recognition questions in which no further context is provided. In written part， students should be given more subjective items or open-ended questions to solve by using their target language.
In addition to tests and examinations， many other ways can be applied to evaluating our English language teaching. Observation in the classroom， portfolios and conferences， journals， questionnaires， and interviews are all available in teaching evaluation.
No matter what kind of evaluation we use， we should know that successful evaluation requires the careful collection of relevant information or data， such as how fluently and correctly a learner can use certain grammatical structure in communication or the scores of learner's oral test， and a thoughtful interpretation of the collected information. We should also keep on our mind that the test， the observation or whatever， is a representative sample of what the learners have been taught and are expected to learn. Once the collected information is successfully and objectively interpreted， we need to decide what actions to take or what changes to make to instruction so that our evaluation can best serve our setting objectives for English language teaching.
3. Conclusion
In teaching process， English language teachers should take into account the impact that first language has upon foreign language study. English language teachers' job is to expose students to the target language so that students can have a better environment for learning English language. Teachers may try to balance the requirement of the course with the interests and desires of the learners and tailored language teaching to students' real-world needs. They need to consider learners' characteristics in language teaching too.
Since English language learners learn the target language in a limited condition， we should not expect them to be able to use English like natives but expect them to use it efficiently in their own level. Whatever the level of the students and however language study is organized， students are required to understand the meaning of the target language and its form， and practice it. Thus our English teaching will be more successful.
参考文献：
［1］Thompson， G. Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching ［J］. ELT Journal， 1996， 50（1）： 1-15.
［2］宋桂月， 金莺主编.英语课程标准教师读本［Z］.武汉：华中师范大学出版社， 2002.
［3］舒白梅，陈佑林主编.外语教学法［Z］.北京：高等教育出版社， 1999.