On the Activity Approach in Primary English Teaching
I. Introduction
   Activity Approach is the teaching method which the teacher organizes variety of interactive activities in class, such as English competition, English interview, reading English newspapers and magazines, recitation contests, forums, debates, or performances, etc. There are many activity approaches and methods in English teaching, such as Game-Teaching, which includes Communication Games, Cooperative Games, Competitive Games, Code-control Games, etc. Besides, Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is also an important activity approach, which helps develop pupils’ communicative competence that will enable them to communicate effectively in real communicating world and engage in interaction in order to fulfill a task. 24658
In the early days, to the Chinese, a child should have absolute obedience towards his teachers. He should sit properly inside the classroom without moving anywhere he likes. He should read and do his work quietly and answer questions when the teacher ever asked him. He would be called naughty if he remained restless in the classroom. No matter how eager he was he could not utter a word without the teacher’s permission. Creativity was forbidden. Passive learning was commonly accepted.
Moreover, there are unpleasant atmosphere in primary English classes. For example, exam-oriented education. It is very common to find that one teacher teaches many pupils in one class, little chance to practice oral English and boring class environment in the primary schools. These problems affect the learners to learn English well. Some teachers do not know the teaching purpose of primary English teaching. They know little about the child’s mentality, so they cannot improve the pupils’ interest. At the same time, they do not notice the personal characteristics of the pupils. As we all know, some pupils are introverted, analytic and reflective and some are extroverted, global and impulsive. According to the personal characteristics of the pupils, activity approach is a good choice for English teacher to improve the pupils’ interest.
The objective of English teaching is to improve of the learner’s communicative competence. It is very urgent for teachers to help their pupils to develop their communicative ability. So teachers should try their best to reform the traditional teaching approach and adopt a practical teaching method. As we all know, mastering a foreign language needs learning with practice, grasping, consolidating and using the language to meet the real needs. The Activity Approach with some interactive techniques in English class can help create a natural English speaking environment in class and establish a real communicative context to stimulate pupils’ interests in learning English.
Yet, as a primary English teacher, how to make pupils acquire the skills they need urgently? Whether the Activity Approach can help teacher to improve their pupil’s ability in primary English class? According to these questions, this paper will focus on the activity approach used in primary English teaching. The first chapter is a general introduction to the research questions and significance of the paper. Chapter two discusses the definition and features of activity approach, as well as the application of activity approach in primary English teaching. Chapter three present main ways of Activity Approach in primary English teaching. Chapter four focus on the enlightenments and suggestions on Activity Approach in primary English teaching. The fifth chapter makes a conclusion of the paper.

II. The Activity Approach and Its Features

2.1 Definition of the Activity Approach
    Activity Approach is the teaching method which the teacher organizes rich variety of interactive activities in class, such as English competition, English interview, reading English newspapers and magazines, recitation contests, forums, debates, or performances, and so on. Activity approach has long been formally put forward over a century. However, the theoretical base of activity pedagogy ideology can date from the ancient times. The modern activity approach has undergone a long period of development. Western scholars rarely define it with only a few emergences in some educational works. But we can vaguely catch the essence that activity approach is child-centered activities organized from the interests and basic needs of learners which break down the scope of certain subject knowledge and blend with the daily life of the learners. Chinese scholars have also tried to define it. Wang Cessna (6) gave his definition that activity approach is a series of activities organized by children. They gain the experience to solve problems and develop their ability through activities. Zhong Qiquan (18) defined that it is a course organized by child-centered experienced activities and differs from traditional subject course. Different definitions express the different understanding of different experts. However, from these definitions, we can find some in common, that is activity approach focuses the experience of the students and students gain it by doing some activities. So we can sum up that activity approach focuses on a set of child-centered activities and children’s learning experience.              英语论文小学英语教学中的活动教学法:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_18259.html