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2. Literature Review
Firstly, constructivist theory arisen as a philosophy of learning. The main point is that human can understand what they have constructed only, namely, learning is a dynamic process that learners construct meaning actively and initiatively through the negotiation with the environment. Their cognition competence is restricted by personal experience, cultural backgrounds and inpidual habits. Students are not empty pot which teachers can fill in whatever they want. As for English learning, we know that Chinese is different from English in many aspects, no matter in structure, grammar, or vocabulary, etc. In Skinner’s Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH), it is expected that students’ first language habit will unavoidably make great influence on their foreign language acquisition. For example, in Chinese, there are no different verb forms for different tenses, so students are confused about that when they learn English. Such habits, cultural backgrounds and cognition levels are need to be considered when teachers make their teaching designs or plans. Only in this way, can teachers jump out self-centered modes and respect students’ personalities. Many philosophers and educationalists made their contributions to the development of the constructivist theory, such as Jean Piaget, Bruner, and Lev Vygotsky.
In Piaget’s theory, he points out learning is based on discovery. To understand is to discover, or reconstruct by rediscovery, and such conditions must be complied with if in the future inpiduals are to be formed who are capable of production and creativity and not simply repetition (Piaget 1954：212).
In Bruner’s framework of constructivist theory, the major theme is that learners are tend to remember the concepts solidly which they obtain through exploring and discovering. He wrote, “Emphasis on discovery in learning has precisely the effect on the learner of leading him to be a constructionist, to organize and relatedness, but also to avoid the kind of information drift that fails to keep account of the uses to which information might have to be put” (Bruner J.S 1961：31). According to this theory, we can find that Bruner attach more importance to the learning process than the knowledge itself. Discovery learning set up theoretical basis for today’s task-based or problem-based language teaching.
Vygotsky came up with a hypothesis that is the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which had been defined as the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky 1978： 186). In other words, a student’s potential is accordance with his or her cognitive level. Since the potential is limited by the age or growth, teachers should make suitable teaching design to realize students’ maximum potential.