【摘 要】针对当前小学英语课堂教学中过分注重教学形式、忽视教学难点实质性突破的问题，教师应从整体感知文本、聚焦人物形象、解析文本难句、丰富人物形象等方面突破教学难点，提升课堂教学的实效。
【关键词】教学难点；人物形象；难句分解
说起小学英语课堂教学，很多教师不免会想起主题的切入、新知的呈现、思路的理清、活动的设计等几个传统教学环节；在设计教学过程时，思考较多的是教学过程的流畅和活动形式的新颖等元素。然而，我们发现有时那些貌似流畅、生动的教学过程似乎并没有给学生带来比较理想的学习效果。也常有老师们发出如此感叹：好的教学质量似乎与课堂教学没有必然的联系，即教师讲课是一回事，学生学习又是另外一回事。造成这种现象很重要的一个因素在于教师过分注重教学过程表面的流畅，而忽视了对学生学习难点的深度关注和实质性的突破，导致学生对学习难点处于一知半解的层面。
在设计教学时，教师应站在学生的立场上，想一想学生在学习过程中的难点在哪儿，想一想该怎样基于学生的学习难点设计教学过程，从而使学生的语言能力和学习兴趣在教学难点取得实质性突破的过程中得到提升。本文主要结合译林版《英语》四年级上册Unit 8 Dolls中Story Time这一板块教学活动中的几个主要环节，阐述笔者对突破教学难点的一些思考，旨在说明教学难点的突破是激发学生学习兴趣和发展学生语言运用能力的重要前提。
一、整体感知文本，勾画人物形象
四年级上册Unit 8 Dolls的Story Time板块（教材文本见附录）主要是围绕两个洋娃娃展开的两组对话，教学用于描述人体五官的英语词句。对话虽然不长，涵盖的内容却比较丰富、琐碎。若是对文本的解读仅停留在对文本信息提取的层面，那么学生很容易对文本所描述的两个洋娃娃的诸多信息产生混淆。因此，对于这个对话文本，学生学习的难点首先不在于对话内容本身的思路，而在于对话中关于两个洋娃娃形象的描述，具体体现在以下三个方面：一是对话中表示人物头部及五官的名词，如hair、eye、nose、mouth和ear；二是对五官长相进行描述的形容词，如long、short、big、small等；三是对话中描述两个洋娃娃的一些长句，如：Her nose and mouth are small. His eyes and nose are small.
要突破这些难点，教师应把重点放在对话中两个洋娃娃的人物形象上，通过聚焦对话文本中两个洋娃娃的形象，引导学生深入学习关于五官的名称和描述五官的语言。笔者在教学中首先引导学生通过观看文本动画在整体上初步感知对话内容，并通过简笔画的形式逐步勾画出两个洋娃娃的人物形象。教学片段如下：
T: Boys and girls, today we're going to learn Unit 8 Dolls. Now let's watch the cartoon. Please try to find the answer to the question: Whose dolls are they?
（学生观看文本动画，找出问题的答案。）
T: Whose dolls are they?
S1: The girl doll is Su Hai and Yang Ling's.
T: What about the boy doll?
S2: It is Liu Tao and Wang Bing's.
T: Are they lovely?
Ss: Yes.
T: What do they look like? Now I'd like to draw the two dolls on the blackboard. Please look at the dolls carefully and try to tell me what they look like.
Ss: OK.
（教师在黑板上用简笔画逐步勾画出文本中两个洋娃娃的形象。）
T: Look! This is the girl doll. Look! These are her eyes.（画出大眼睛）Look at her eyes! They are very big. Look! This is her nose.（画出小鼻子）Is it big?
Ss: No.
T: You're right. Her nose is very small. What about her mouth?（画出小嘴）Big or small?
Ss: Small.
T: So is the doll beautiful?
Ss: Yes.
T: Look! This is the boy doll. His eyes are small.（画出小眼睛）Right?
Ss: Yes. Small.
T: What about his nose?（画出小鼻子）Is it big?
Ss: No.
T: Is it small?
Ss: Yes. Small.
T: Look! This is his mouth.（画出大嘴）Big or small?
Ss: Big.
随着师生的对话，笔者在黑板上用简笔画勾画出了文本中两个洋娃娃的形象（见图1）。
教师通过简笔画逐渐呈现的直观画面，让学生对文本中两个洋娃娃的形象有了初步的感知，同时促进了学生对文本中两个洋娃娃形象特点的聚焦，为进一步具体、重点学习用以描述洋娃娃形象特点的英语词句做好了前期的准备。
二、聚焦人物形象，呈现新授单词
词汇是英语语言学习的重要组成部分。对于英语语言基础处于较低层面的小学生而言，更是如此。在本课的对话文本内容中，用以描述人物形象的语言看似简单，但对于初学英语的四年级小学生而言却非易事。
笔者采用了直观教学法，将教学聚焦于两个洋娃娃的形象上，通过引导学生在进一步观察两个洋娃娃形象特征的基础上比较它们不同的五官特征，促进学生对相关词义的理解；画面、读音和词汇意义的高度融合更是加强了学生对这些词汇的记忆效果，教学思路也更加清晰起来。教学片段如下：
T: Now you know there are two dolls in the story. The girl doll is Su Hai and Yang Ling's. The boy doll is Liu Tao and Wang Bing's. Now let's look at the dolls carefully and try to say more about them. First, please look at the girl doll's hair. Is it long?
Ss: Yes. It's long.
T: Let's try to say: Her hair is long.（引导学生描述女娃娃的长头发。）
Ss: Her hair is long.
T: Now please look at the boy doll. Is his hair long?
S1: No.
T: It's short. Let's try to say: His hair is short.（引导学生描述男娃娃的短头发。）
Ss: His hair is short.
T: Now let's look at their eyes.
（教师领读单词eyes，并适度操练。）
T: Please look at the girl doll's eyes. Are they big or small?
S2: Big.
T: Yes, you are careful. Her eyes are big. Let's try to say: Her eyes are big.（指着女娃娃的大眼睛引导学生用句子进行描述。）
Ss: Her eyes are big.
T: Look at the boy doll. What about his eyes? Are they big too?
S3: No, they aren't.
T: So what can we say?（板书单词small，并引导学生根据small的读音规则朗读该词。）
Ss: Small.
T: Yes. His eyes are small.（指着男娃娃引导学生描述他的小眼睛。）
Ss: His eyes are small.
接着，笔者用同样的方式根据黑板上两个娃娃的五官形象教学单词nose、mouth和ear，让学生根据直观的画面，在男娃娃和女娃娃五官特点的对比中学习新的单词。
随着教学过程的展开，笔者根据黑板上勾画的人物形象呈现了相关的英语单词，如图2所示。
直观的画面不仅促进了学生对新单词的理解，更加深了学生对新单词的记忆效果。作为本课时难点之一的词汇，在直观的画面中得以逐步突破。
三、解析文本难句，分解语言难点
在英语课堂教学中，新的语篇文本必然涵盖了一些新的难句，对这些难句的突破是理解语篇内容的关键。在这个主题为Dolls的对话文本里，有两句描述两个洋娃娃外表形象的长句是学生学习的难点，难句1为：Her nose and mouth are small. 难句2为：His eyes and nose are small. 若是按照常规的教学方式进行教学，学生对这些难句的理解和掌握往往只是处于表层。
笔者在教学中仍然利用板书勾画的人物形象，引导学生依据直观的画面，通过解析这两个难句，将其分别分解成两个简单的单句。其中，将难句1分解成如下两个相对简单的句子：① Her nose is small. ② Her mouth is small too. 将难句2分解成如下两个简单句：① His eyes are small. ② His nose is small too.
在对两个洋娃娃进行描述之前，笔者先引导学生从简单的单句开始，再将两个简单的句子合并，从而逐步接近文本中较复杂的难句，有效降低了学生的学习难度，使文本中的难句学习得以突破。教学片段如下：
T: Now boys and girls, you know something about the boy doll and the girl doll. And we have also learned some new words to describe them. First, let's try to say something about the girl doll.
S1: Her nose is small.
T: What about her mouth? Is it big or small?
S2: Her mouth is small too.
T: So we can say her nose and mouth are small.
. . .
T: Now let's try to say something about the boy doll.
S3: His eyes are small.
T: What about his nose? Is it big or small?
S4: His nose is small too.
T: So we can say his eyes and nose are small.
. . .
此环节的板书如图3所示。
难句的分解使较为复杂的语言结构以比较简单的形式呈现在学生面前，使语言的难度得以有效降低，这不仅有助于学生更清楚地了解到这些难句的形成过程，而且可以促进学生积极参与相关的语言实践活动，并在实践语言的过程中逐步发展自身的英语语言能力。
四、丰富人物形象，生成新的语言
在小学英语课堂教学中，我们不仅要引导学生学会教材中的语言，还要引导学生在学习教材内容的基础上，结合自己的生活经验逐步生成新的语言，从而促使语言能力和思维能力得到更好的发展。
在本课的对话文本中，对话内容还包含了对男娃娃耳朵的描述，即：His ears are big. 但是对话中并没有对文本中女娃娃的耳朵进行描述。仔细观察文本插图中女娃娃的形象我们就能发现，因为女娃娃的头发比较长，垂下的长发遮住了女娃娃的耳朵。这正好是引导学生运用语言进行表达的机会。
笔者在教学中引导学生根据女娃娃的整体形象及其五官的特点，对女娃娃的耳朵特点进行猜测，在进一步丰富人物形象的过程中，引导学生运用学到的语言进行表达。这不仅丰富了文本内容，还巩固了教学难点。教学片段如下：
T: Please look at the girl doll. Her hair is long. So we can't see her ears. What about her ears? Can you imagine her ears? Are they big or small?
S1: I think her ears are small.
T: Why?
S1: Her mouth is small.
T: Maybe.
S2: I think her ears are big.
T: Why?
S2: Her eyes are big.
T: Maybe you are right.
S3: I think her ears are not big, and not small.
T: Maybe her ears are not too big, and not too small. They are just right. They are very beautiful.
在对话文本中，教材插图③呈现了Wang Bing描述男娃娃的话语：But his mouth is big. His ears are big too. Wang Bing的话语中包含了两个信息：信息一是对男娃娃嘴巴的描述；信息二是对男娃娃耳朵的描述。它们的共同点是：男娃娃的嘴巴和耳朵都是大的。在教学中，笔者在充分操练这两个单句的基础上，引导学生在板书中男娃娃图像的辅助下，运用学过的知识将这两个简单的句子合并成为一句，从而使学生在突破上文中难句1和难句2的过程中取得的成效得到了巩固与深化，教学活动也逐步走向丰满。教学片段如下：
T: Please look at the picture. The boy doll's mouth is big. And his ears are big too. Can you use one sentence to say something about the boy doll?
S1: His mouth and ears are big.
T: That's good. Let's try to say it together.
. . .
当学生能够在教师的引导下根据文本对话内容提示的信息，通过观察和思考，对文本内隐的信息生成新的语言的时候，我们不仅看到了教学难点得到较好的突破，更看到了学生正在尝试着运用学到的语言知识进行真正的意义表达。
本文作者声明：未经本人及北京师范大学中小学外语教学编辑部书面同意，任何媒体不得转载或摘编本文。
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参考文献
译林出版社. 2013. 义务教育教科书·英语（三年级起点）四年级上册［T］. 南京：译林出版社.
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附教材文本：
Yang Ling: Look at our doll.
Liu Tao: She's beautiful!
Su Hai: Her hair is long. Her eyes are big.
Yang Ling: Her nose and mouth are small.
Liu Tao: This is our doll. His hair is short. His eyes and nose are small.
Wang Bing: But his mouth is big. His ears are big too.
Wang Bing: Look! He's a king now.
Yang Ling: Cool!
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附作者信息：钱希洁 江苏省无锡市锡山教师进修学校