[網站介紹]Open English World

免費的國外英語學習網站，主要著重在慣用語和會話上，會話附有聲音檔。網站還有論壇，可和世界各地的英語學習者交流哦！

A long road

剛看完了這一則「好苦的洋墨水」及回應文章(推)，心中雜感交集，雖然本人並沒喝過洋墨水。

沒錯，當我情緒低落時常會覺得我真的爬不上去了，原來還有好大一截。

本來要「精通」一個語言就是不容易，自己又不是長期處在英語環境之下，再來真正用英文對話的機會真的少之又少，英文程度怎可能一日千里。況且本人也並非勤勞的學習者，日日夜夜啃食著，儘管我還是喜歡學習英語。

學習外語是一漫漫長路，我想我還是會一路走下去。

[文法網站]English grammar

已脫離研讀文法的時代很久了，關於過去簡單式和過去完成式的差別也忘的差不多，這裡稍微提供了一些解釋，好像又有了些概念了。今天和外師們討論這兩個時態外加現在完成式的不同，光是"I forget,""I forgot,""I had forgotten,""I have forgotten"就可以花上五分鐘理解。

讓我們來複習一下這些時態吧。

Taiwanese light up 8.1-mile long firecracker string in world record bid

Taiwanese light up 8.1-mile long firecracker string in world record bid

Canadian Press

Monday, March 05, 2007

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Organizers lit up a 8.1-mile string of explosives in a southern Taiwanese county Sunday, hoping to create the world's longest firecracker in a record-setting attempt expected to last two hours.

TV footage of the Chinese New Year celebration in Tainan County, dubbed "Legend of the Fire Dragon," showed rapid flashes of bright red explosions that created huge wafts of white smoke.

Throngs that had gathered to witness the spectacle wore masks, goggles, and even motorcycle helmets to protect themselves from the pollution.

The firecracker was expected to take two hours to finish burning.

The record-breaking attempt needs to be verified by Guinness World Records.

Taiwanese newspaper United Daily News reported that Spain holds the current world record for the longest continuously burning firecracker at 7 miles.

The record wasn't listed on the Guinness World Records official Web site, which only contains partial listings.

The festivities in Taiwan Sunday marked the last day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration. Other locals set aloft lanterns in the sky.

To teach or not to teach English grammar

這個問題想必是很多英文老師最想問的問題，對較年幼的學生來說，不用太著重於文法上的解釋，而對成人學生來說，文法就是個重要課題了。但不管答案為何，任何一位英文學習者，都該儘量讓自己多接觸英文並創造使用英文的機會。

By Shih-Fan Kao 高士凡

Sunday, Mar 04, 2007, Page 8

About three months ago, a colleague told me that she just spent two hours teaching students the different usages of the English word "as."

I then asked her if she thought, after her dedicated efforts, her students could then use the word accurately in day-to-day conversations. Her answer, interestingly, was that she didn't think so, because it all depended on how much exposure to English the students would get outside the classroom.

I began to wonder if it is worth spending so much time teaching English grammar to students because a number of empirical studies have demonstrated that the critical factor for students' proper use of English grammar is more the result of real-life exposure than learning in the classroom. Only if grammatical structures are used in an authentic context do they have meaning.

For this reason, EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers have to create situations in which the students feel a need to utilize grammar in order to communicate properly in English. In other words, the students learn grammar more effectively when grammar is contextualized -- not singled out as a separate "skill" or "course."

From the 1950s through the 1980s, the manner in which grammar was taught in countries like Taiwan was not put into question, owing to a grammar-centric teaching of the language.

During this period, teaching English and teaching grammar were virtually synonymous. Questions on whether and how to teach grammar arose during the mid-1980s, as communicative language teaching, which emphasized the use of English as a means to communicate, came into fashion.

Today, only a few researchers and teachers advocate "no grammar at all" in the teaching of English, while most experts think that appropriate attention to grammar can speed up learning.

Research has shown that variables such as age, proficiency level, language skills, needs and goals can help teachers determine the role of grammar in teaching.

Note that grammar is important to some extent in all variables, depending on the continuum of each. In terms of abstraction capabilities and levels of cognition, the focus on grammar is more important to adults, whereas it is less important to young children and somewhere in between to teenagers.

Thus, to teach or not to teach English grammar may not be a question anymore; how to teach it is now the real issue and this is where teaching professionals can't seem to agree.

One of the most frequently asked questions is: should English grammar be taught explicitly or implicitly? Many of those who were born before the early 1980s in Taiwan had to experience the explicit (or deductive) method of grammar instruction, with direct teacher explanations followed by related exercises tailored to reflect entrance exams.

By contrast, implicit (or inductive) teaching occurs when students are exposed to various language forms and are left to discover grammar rules on their own. Advocates of this approach argue that students can acquire English naturally if they are provided with an adequate amount of comprehensible input.

Most students prefer the explicit approach because it requires less mental effort.

Many researchers think that in most contexts, the implicit approach is more appropriate because it goes with natural language acquisition. For this reason, one of the most important homework assignments for EFL learners is to get English input outside the classroom.

It is language use -- not the conscious focus on grammar -- that accounts for effective communication and interaction between human beings.

Shih-Fan Kao is an assistant professor at Jin-wen University of Science and Technology.