How to Improve Middle School Students' Ability to Tell Chinese Stories Well in English in the New Era

: As a widely used language in economic, political, technological, cultural, and other activities in the world today, English is an important communication tool for international communication and cooperation, as well as one of the carriers for disseminating the achievements of human civilization. It plays an important role in moving China towards the world and letting the world understand China. As economic globalization continues to strengthen, China's position on the world stage is increasingly prominent, and its voice is also heard by more and more people. It is increasingly important to tell China's story well in foreign languages. However, there are still a series of problems in English teaching in China, which contradict the requirements for improving middle school students' English language proficiency and comprehensive quality, and are not conducive to implementing the requirements of English teaching in the new era. This article briefly analyzes the current situation of English teaching for middle school students in China, and puts forward some personal suggestions on “how to improve the ability of middle school students to tell Chinese stories well in English”, with a view to providing new ideas for English teaching under the conditions of the new era, better improving the English expression ability of middle school students in China, cultivating their national feelings and international perspective, and better implementing the overall goal of “cultivating morality and cultivating people”.


Lack of Language and Cultural Literacy among Middle School Students
This cultural literacy is divided into Chinese language and English language. On the one hand, the idea of "learning to be an excellent scholar is an official" runs through the history of Chinese education. This concept forces many high school students to choose to study for exams and adhere to the "scope of exams" as the standard. However, their understanding of China's excellent traditional culture is relatively superficial, making it difficult to fully and clearly describe the specific content of traditional cultures such as the "Twelve Hairpin of Jinling" and the "Three Emperors and Five Emperors"; On the other hand, in English teaching in the Chinese environment, emphasis is placed on French texts rather than pronunciation and intonation, and the importance of getting the test paper right is far greater than having a fluent spoken English, leading to insufficient accumulation of students' English culture and difficulty in outputting high-quality Chinese stories in English in a short time [1], which has been very detrimental to improving students' language output ability; In addition, the vast majority of middle school students in China only use English for communication in the English classroom, while many English teachers' pronunciation itself is not authentic, which not only makes it difficult for students to form good oral English, but also makes them lack confidence in speaking English and gradually embark on the path of "dumb English".

The Traditional Exam Taking Concept of Middle School English Teachers is Deeply Rooted
Many middle school English teachers still regard English learning achievements as the only criterion for measuring and evaluating students due to the pressure of entering a higher school and the limitations of traditional exam-oriented concepts; With the continuous reform of education in China, most middle schools have begun to carry out classroom reform. Although some outstanding achievements have been achieved, such as the increasingly strong classroom learning atmosphere and closer teacher-student relationship, there are still problems such as backward teaching ideas and lack of innovative teaching strategies. The adoption of teaching models such as "cramming" and "indoctrination" [2] and the teaching method of "only learning what is to be tested in an exam, and not learning what is not to be tested" seriously constrain students' thinking, which is not only detrimental to the teaching of the English language discipline, but also endangers their future development.

Single English Teaching Resources in Middle Schools
Due to the limitations of traditional concepts, current middle school English teachers do not make good use of English teaching resources. The teaching resources used are relatively single, overly reliant on multimedia, and textbooks and exercise books that directly affect exams are used frequently. English reading materials (such as English newspapers, model articles, magazines, etc.) and English reference books are rarely used [3]. Few students have the habit of reading foreign journals or original English books during middle school. At the same time, middle school English teachers attach special importance to students' vocabulary and grammar mastery, while ignoring students' expressive and cross-cultural communication skills, resulting in students' mastery of English only from the classroom and books, which is very detrimental to expanding students' knowledge and international perspective.

Students Read Extensively and Accumulate Language and Cultural Knowledge
To tell a good Chinese story, one must first understand the Chinese story. Middle school students should weaken their utilitarian thinking and widely engage in extracurricular reading, such as Yu Qiuyu's "Chinese Culture Lessons for Teenagers", "Chinese Stories Jumping from Famous Paintings", and so on. You can also watch excellent cultural programs, such as CCTV's "Chinese Poetry Conference", Oriental Entertainment's "Poetry and Books in China" and other language programs; There are also artistic programs such as the dance poem drama "The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting" with the theme of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and the Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous riceflour for Lantern Festival) Evening Party "Shangyuan Qiandeng Party" in Station B. At the same time, there are many oral English learning resources in the online media. It only takes 10 minutes to practice oral English every day by using Station B or WeChat official account, and it will be beneficial to accumulate authentic expressions for a long time. As Teacher Gwen, the founder of one of the largest spoken English learning platforms in China, said, "A little effect every day, one can make big difference. Cultivating crosscultural communication skills and improving the ability to tell Chinese stories well in English requires multiple joint efforts, and long-term accumulation can be achieved.".

Teachers Change Their Concepts and Innovate Educational and Teaching Models
In the process of English curriculum education, it is recommended that teachers incorporate "telling Chinese stories in English" into their formative assessment of learners. The assessment methods of formative assessment include: English reading records, records of various learning situations, teacher records of various behaviors in the English classroom, and students' periodic understanding or judgment of their own proficiency levels in English listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Teachers should pay special attention to the accumulation of students' historical knowledge (Table 1), regularly or irregularly communicate with students on their own reflection on knowledge archives, to help students truly recognize their progress and shortcomings -Locate the best in their abilities and put it to work. Help students establish a high degree of self-confidence and determine their goals. At the same time, teachers should be good at innovation, change their educational and teaching concepts according to changes in historical conditions, explore various classroom models, implement the dominant position of students in learning, reduce the teaching time of teachers in the classroom, leave more free communication time for students, strengthen language output training for students, and lay a good classroom foundation for improving students' ability to tell Chinese stories well in English.

Schools Optimizes Teaching Materials and Enriches English Teaching Resources
Based on the background of the new era and the requirements of the new curriculum reform, relying solely on traditional textbooks cannot meet the growth needs of students. On the one hand, schools should implement China's current high school English curriculum standards and the requirements of primary and secondary school textbooks construction documents, improve English teaching resources, enrich English school-based courses, strengthen the presentation and dissemination of Chinese culture (taking into account the diverse cultures of the world) in the media of textbooks, add Chinese customs, Chinese food, Chinese characters, Chinese spirit, and Chinese achievements, and fundamentally eliminate "Chinese cultural aphasia"; In addition, the "Chinese Western culture" comparison section should be appropriately added as a supplementary teaching material to enhance students' perception of cultural differences between China and foreign countries, thereby effectively improving cross-cultural communication skills. On the other hand, the degree to which teachers utilize teaching resources directly affects classroom efficiency and students' learning and development. Therefore, teachers should change their traditional concepts, play a good role as developers and builders of curriculum resources, adapt to the current educational situation in the "Internet+" environment, broaden access to educational resources, such as using modern teaching methods such as micro classes and China Moke, enrich classroom teaching resources, establish good teacher-student relationships, and improve teaching quality [4].

Adapt to the Changes of the Times and Improve the Comprehensive Quality of Students.
The new curriculum standard points out that attention should be paid to the cultivation of students' various abilities, the training of students' communicative skills, and the strengthening of students' understanding of English culture, so that students can become comprehensive talents [5]. Using digital teaching resources for cultural accumulation and practicing cross-cultural output can greatly enhance students' interest and enthusiasm in learning, and promote their greater thirst for knowledge [6][7], making them willing to learn relevant knowledge more widely. This can objectively not only improve students' English proficiency and English scores, but also enhance their comprehensive strength, help them better adapt to the changes of the times, and improve their competitiveness.

Stimulate the Vitality of the English Classroom and Improve Students' Sense of Autonomy
English teaching is not about imparting grammar knowledge into students' minds, nor transferring knowledge to students. Rather, it should be about communicating with teachers and students together, cultivating students' sense of autonomy under the guidance of teachers, and helping students develop good habits of using their mouths and brains. Through a series of measures such as innovative teaching models, strengthening language output, and improving formative evaluation, students can enhance their enthusiasm and initiative in learning, enable them to fully exert their sense of initiative in learning, and thereby truly become the masters of learning. Students will have a more objective understanding of their learning situation and better control of their learning situation, thereby cultivating their learning ability and promoting their English learning efficiency.

Strengthen the Ideological Nature of the English Language Discipline and Promote Excellent Traditional Culture
The Chinese nation has a long history and excellent traditions. National culture is the foundation for the prosperity of a country and the "root" and "soul" of a nation. Inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture and cultivating and promoting the national spirit can greatly enhance national self-esteem, self-confidence, and pride. Optimizing the setting of middle school English textbooks and reasonably presenting the excellent traditional Chinese culture in English textbooks are conducive to enhancing the ideological nature of English teaching, leading students to perceive the similarities and differences between Chinese culture and foreign culture, and cultivating the feelings of family and country. Only in this way can we help students better absorb the essence of culture, gradually form the awareness and ability of cross-cultural communication and exchange, and lay the foundation for students to carry forward the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, It is of great significance for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Conclusion
As economic globalization continues to strengthen, China's position on the world stage is increasingly prominent, and its voice is also heard by more and more people. It is increasingly important to tell China's story well in foreign languages. As the fresh blood of China's development, middle school students should establish firm cultural self-confidence, shoulder the banner of telling the world about China, enhance the influence of the spread of Chinese civilization, and adhere to the position of Chinese culture. However, this process is not overnight, and requires the cooperation and long-term contributions of schools, teachers, and students.