Liu Lin，Associate professor at the Institute of Comparative Literature and World Literature, School of Literature and Journalism, Shandong University。Goed to the University of California, USA as a visiting scholar twice in 2003 and 2008。
In recent years，I have the opportunity to serve as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of San Diego，Actually participate in classroom teaching from undergraduate to graduate students，Experience personally the characteristics and advantages of literature teaching in American colleges and universities，I feel that some of the methods are quite creative，Enough for us to learn from。
The current teaching model in the United States can be traced back to the 1920s，Development and evolution to date，Going through the initial stages of disciplines、Non-professional stage、New Criticism Stage、Institutionalization and theorizing stage。Each stage has its own different characteristics。The "non-professional stage" is also called the "scholar stage"，The scholars here mainly refer to language scholars，Literature teachers are basically language teachers，Teaching focuses on teaching ancient languages，emphasis on ancient Latin，Modern writers speak very little，The purpose of teaching is basically to develop and train a language skill。At that time，Most literature teachers do not have enough understanding of the characteristics of literature itself，I even think that literature does not need to be taught，The popular saying is，“Literature teaches itself。”（Literature teaches itself.)As you can imagine，The classroom teaching atmosphere during this period was dull and boring，Recite language rules、Excerpts from ancient works have become the main content of the class，No wonder students will complain: "Learning Latin will only make me hate Latin。”The period from the 1930s to the 1950s was the most active period of American New Criticism、The most creative period。A group of new critics have been employed by major universities，Eliminate and transform the original teaching team，Introducing text close reading into classroom teaching，Transform classroom Bet365 gamesteaching from the "scholar stage" to the "critic stage"。"Understanding Poetry" (published in 1938) and "Understanding Fiction" (published in 1943) edited by Brooks and Warren have become widely popular basic textbooks，Adopted by more than 60% of colleges and universities。Later researchers admitted，These two textbooks "taught the orthodox ideas of New Criticism to an entire generation of American literature students"。The literary concepts and teaching methods of New Criticism are unique，Established the basic pattern and philosophy of literature teaching in American colleges and universities from now on，And has had a major international impact，Becoming a literature teaching practice recognized by the international academic community。Although this model was also questioned by some in the second half of the 20th century，But it is still the most popular in American colleges and universities、The most representative teaching model。Generally believed，New Criticism looks dead，But in fact, its power extends to all aspects of teaching activities，So much so that we ourselves can no longer feel its existence。Like Paul·De Man in his deconstructive interpretation of Rousseau's "Nouveau Héloïse"，Still using close reading methods to analyze the symbolic and allegorical meanings of the text。Another major contribution of New Criticism is to help American literature establish its own disciplinary status，Make literature teaching have obvious professional characteristics。
After the changes in the academic orientation of the American literary research community，Literature professors did not simply dismiss the close reading approach advocated by New Criticism as "formalism" or "textualism" and shelve it，Thrown into the remnants of history。In today’s American college classroom，This way is still very obvious，But usually it depends on the recipient，There has always been a distinction between "simplified" and "traditional"。The former is used for "Introduction" courses for lower-grade undergraduate students in the Department of English Literature，The latter is mainly used for senior undergraduate and graduate students。Either way，It includes several stages such as reading-question and answer-discussion-assessment。At the beginning of the semester，The professor will give the course outline、Reading list、Class requirements and assessment methods，A more detailed course schedule will also be given，Make students aware of it，What works will be taught at what time，bet365 online casinoBut it will also be noted that the professor has the right to adjust the course progress at any time。There are also some American students who cannot complete reading at the pace，Especially in the lower grades，Academic interests are not yet fully determined，It is difficult to ensure that students will read the works exactly as required，But at the graduate level，This situation is basically very rare。
Students’ reading is only preparation for classroom teaching，To enable students to complete reading，Specific methods must be used to stimulate students’ consciousness。If the teacher completely teaches ready-made knowledge，According to the script，It is difficult to test students’ reading status。Students will also feel it，Taking notes is equal to learning knowledge。Experienced professors often use the "Seminar" format to teach in class，Keep asking questions，To guide students，Close to the correct answer。When the teacher asks a question，Anyone who has completed the reading assignment，You can usually find the answer quickly in class through personal thinking，Those who failed to complete the reading assignment due to various reasons，There is a lack of original materials for thinking about the problem，You will soon find that you will gain nothing from learning，Unsustainable。A lot of teachers’ work is actually done after class，Prepare related questions，Classroom teaching is actually guided discussion。The biggest advantage of this method is，Students get answers in personal reflection，Or get the answer in a class discussion with the teacher，In this way, students will get an "illusion"，Seems like I found the answer myself，It will undoubtedly greatly stimulate interest or creativity，The more you learn, the more willing you are to learn，Form a virtuous cycle。Sometimes，Students start discussing issues with professors as soon as class begins，Get important inspiration from answers from professors or other students。In this case，Those who have not finished reading，Or finish reading without thinking about the problem，Or students who have no questions to ask are basically wasting their time，I don’t understand the question，Can’t even understand the answer，Completely turned into someone else’s foil，Complete a lesson as if on pins and needles，If you want to continue taking this course in the future，You will naturally change your learning methods。
It is in this kind of classroom training day after day，Students develop bet365 best casino gamesthe habit of thinking about problems。The premise of this method is，No one thinks automatically，Students are even less capable，Because thinking ability is a high-level rational ability，Not a sensory ability like vision or hearing，Just like a person is born，As long as there is no disability，You can see it with your eyes，You can hear it with your ears；But even so，There must also be some mechanism to inspire or force him to think，This is the responsibility of teachers。But this method also places higher demands on teachers，Heavy workload，Not only need to be familiar with the work，And you must master the research history and current situation of the work；Not only must grasp the meaning of the work，And the intention of the work must be expressed in the form of questions，Formation from easy to difficult，A coherent whole，Be aware of questions students may ask，Answer easily。Therefore，Literature professors often warn doctoral students，These future literature teachers，“Don’t let your students ask questions that make you sweaty。”（Don’t let your students sweat you.）
This method is used both for undergraduate teaching，Also used for postgraduate teaching，There is only a quantitative difference between the two，There is no qualitative difference。University of California Literature Major，includes English literature、Comparative literature and other majors，There are few master’s degree programs，Most graduate students pursue PhDs，These graduate students attend classes regardless of grade，In the three-year training phase，Students can choose any course，But full credits are required。Professors start courses based on their own research expertise，Especially after completing a project，Convert project research results directly into teaching content，This will kill two birds with one stone，Can test project results，It also allows students to more easily approach academic frontiers or current hot topics。This kind of class，Often fierce arguments，Open up academic dialogue between teachers and students。In this openness and freedom、In discussions that frequently touch on contemporary sensitive topics，Students are likely to be inspired，Determine your doctoral thesis topic。If we rank the doctoral theses of a department over the past twenty or thirty years，You can find the trajectory of the evolution of ideas，Pass on the fire to others，The feeling of continuity from generation to generation。
bet365 online gamesFinal assessment is undoubtedly an important part of teaching work，Also assessing students，Also assess teachers。Most undergraduate students take closed-book exams，The content taught by the teacher only accounts for a small part of the test questions，Not more than 30%，A lot of content is not covered in classroom teaching。Focus on assessing students’ practical ability，The ability to interpret works，Instead of the ability to memorize class notes。This assessment method，The purpose is to tell students，You cannot pass the exam just by memorizing notes。This method is easier for some students，No need to memorize a lot of content，Just use the abilities you develop in class on the spot again，But students who don’t learn much will have a hard time passing，Basically nothing to say when faced with a new text。The assessment of graduate students is relatively complicated，All short papers，But it also needs to go through several class discussions before finalizing it，Final changes were made during discussions or even arguments。The quality of the homework was actually very clear during the discussion，Every student knows his/her performance，Also know how others behave。To ensure fairness，The final results are public。Except for fractions，The professor also needs to write a comment，This part cannot be made public，The original is stored in the student file，The copy will be sealed in an envelope by the teacher and handed directly to the student。The function of comments is to make up for the shortcomings of a simple score，Focus on evaluating students’ classroom performance，That is, students’ contribution to classroom teaching。Sometimes the number of places with excellent test scores is limited，The teacher will give high evaluation through comments。So，When evaluating scholarships，The professor’s comments are highly valued。
What you get on paper will eventually make you feel shallow，Be aware of this and must act on it。Teaching activities themselves are highly practical work。No matter teachers or students，In the end, we face specific courses one by one。No matter how effective the teaching method is，This method alone cannot cure all diseases，Really make good use of this method in teaching，Use it well even in one class，You also need to be down-to-earth、Persevere and practice seriously，So as to effectively grasp the operating rules and operating points，Form a high-level teaching model。
In front of the UC San Diego Central Library
Taking photos with UC San Diego faculty