how to improve students oral english ability如何提高学生的英语口语能力大学论文.docx

how to improve students oral english ability如何提高学生的英语口语能力大学论文.docx

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howtoimprovestudentsoralenglishability如何提高学生的英语口语能力大学论文

HowtoImproveStudents’OralEnglishAbility

1.Introduction

WithChina’entryintotheWTOandsuccessfulbidfortheOlympicGamesin2008,Chinesepeoplewillinevitablyhavemuchmorecontactswithpeopleallovertheworld.Therefore,thereisclearlyaneedforlearnerstospeakandinteractinvarioussituationsthroughEnglish.Asweallknow,eversince,orevenbeforetheopening-uppolicyandthereformofChina,ChinesestudentshavestudiedEnglishlanguageforaconsiderablelongtime,andgreatachievementsforteachingandlearningEnglishhavebeenseeneverywhereinschools,butforsomereasonoranother,theoralEnglishabilityoftheChinesestudentsisalwaysaninferioritytotheirotherabilitiesandskills.Frommanyteachers’practice,wehavediscoveredthatthemajorityofstudents,equippedwithlargevocabularyandadequategrammaticalknowledge,stillcannotcommunicateappropriatelyandfluentlywithnativeEnglishspeakersornon-nativeEnglishspeakers.Therefore,howcanwehelpstudentsenhancetheiroralEnglishabilitytoahigherdegree?

InwhichwaycanweachieveabettereffectivenessinoralEnglishcourseforstudents?

InmodernsocietyEnglishteachinginChinausuallystartsinthejuniormiddleschool;inmanylargecitiesitbeginsintheupperelementaryschool,evenearlierinthenursery.However,eventhemostdiligentstudentswiththemostresponsibleteachersoftencan’tachievecorrectpronunciation,stressandintonation,letalonetheabilitytospeakandunderstandEnglishintheirlifeandthings.Whyisthesituationthatserious?

Thatisbecause:

first,mostteachersintheclassroomusetheirmothertonguetoexplaingrammarandvocabularyinthetextandthentranslatethewholetextinChinese;second,thestudentsareaskedtospendalotoftimelisteningtodetailedexplanationsofthestructureoflanguageinthetext,andengagingindullandde-contextualizedpatterndrills.Mostofthemareratherpassiveintheirstudyandhavingbeenusedtobeingfedwithvariouskindsoflanguageknowledge,andfewofthemhaveeverhadanopportunitytopracticeoralEnglish.Furthermore,mostofthestudentsknowlittleaboutwesterncultures.EnglishlanguagelearninginChineseenvironmentbecomesaratherdauntingandtedioustask.Thiskindofteachingmethodisveryusefulforpassingwrittenexamsandtranslationwork,butinalongrunitislessusefulforstudentstospeakitindailylife.Theold-fashionedtranslationandgrammar-rulemethodsareextremelywastefulandinefficient,forstudentsareactuallyencouragedtomakemistakes:

theyareaskedtoperformskillsbeforetheyareadequatelyprepared.Teacherswhousesuchmethodsunwittinglycreatetheveryproblemstheyseektoavoid.Atsomepointinthecoursetheirstudentsinevitablybecomeincapableofgoingon:

theyhavetogoback.Theyhavebecomeremedialstudentsandteachersarefacedwiththeproblemofremedyingwhathasbeenincorrectlylearnt.Noapproachcouldbemoreineffective,wastefulandinefficient.

InordertoknowbetterabouttheconditionoforalEnglishabilitiesusingbyschoolstudents,thewriterperformedaninvestigationonthat.Thesurveywascarriedoutinamiddleschool.Alltogether60studentsansweredthequestionsandallthequestionnairesweretakenbacksuccessfully.

Table:

self-evaluationofthestrongestandpoorestEnglishskills

Strongest

Listening

Speaking

Reading

Writing

30.1%

11%

47.6%

11.3%

Poorest

14.5%

61.7%

8.1%

14.5%

Itdisplaysthatnearlyhalfofthestudentsthinktheirreadingcompetenceisthestrongestamongthefouraspectsand30%ofthemevaluatetheirskills,andspeakingandwritingareconsideredasproductiveskills.Studentsdon’thaveanoptimisticattitudetowardstheirproductiveskills.Anditreflectstheteachingfocusisstillputonreadingability.

Fromthequestionnaire,wecandrawconclusionsasfollows:

First,studentsshouldpaymoreattentiontotheiroralEnglishability.Amajorityofthemhaveapoorspeakingability.TheymustrecognizethatspokenEnglishisessentialforcommunication.

Second,studentshaveastrongabilityofreading.Sotheteachingfocusshouldbeputonspeakingability.

Aboveall,teachersarerequirednotonlytohelpstudentsbecomeefficientreadersbutalsotoimprovetheiroralEnglishability.Sothefirststepistogetsomeideasabouthowstudentsstudyitandfindputtheproblemstheymeet.

2.DeficienciesintheStudents’OralEnglishLearning

2.1ProblemsontheTeachers

2.1.1Teachers’LackofStrategies

WiththegrowingimportanceofEnglishasaninternationallanguageofcommunication,Englishteaching,esp.oralEnglishteachinghasdrawnmoreandmoreattentionfromthesociety.ButformanyyearsinChina,mostmiddleschoolstudentdesiretogototheuniversity.Soinmanyclassroomcoursesmostteachersemphasizewhollyonthestudents’readingandwritingability,lotsofstudentscannotevenachievecorrectpronunciation,stressandintonation,letaloneexpressthemselvesclearlyandfluentlyinEnglishafterspendingthreeyearsinEnglishclassroom.“DeafandmuteEnglish”hasbecomethepopularphenomenoninChina’sEnglishlanguageteaching.Thetraditionalteacher-centered,examination-oriented,grammar-based,vocabulary-basedclassroomteachingandlearningcanbeseeneverywhereinChina.Teachersareveryskillfulinexplaininggrammarrules,sentencestructuresandwordsindetails,whilethestudentsareverypassiveintakingdownnotesandmemorizingwhattheirteachersaskthemtorecite.Fewopportunitieshavebeengiventothestudentsformeaningfulpractice.Asaresult,studentsareclearwiththeusageofgrammarrulesandwordsisolatingly,butareweakinusingtheninrealcommunication,whichisdeviatedfarawayfromthegoaloflearningEnglish.

Sofar,mostChinesestudentslearnEnglishfromtheirteachersintheclassroom.Thatistosay,theteachersandtheclassroomplayaveryimportantroleintheprocessofEnglishteaching-and-learning.SoinordertochangethepresentsituationoflearningEnglishinschool,theteachersmustapplysomeeffectiveteachingstrategiesintotheirclassroominordertoencouragethestudentstotalk.

Herearesomeusefulstrategiestheteacherscanuseintheclassroom:

Advice-offeringteachingstrategy:

whichmeans,teachersdon’tcriticizestudents’incomplete,awkwardorevenincorrectanswers,butgivegoodadvicewhiletheyarespeaking.

Discussionteachingstrategy:

whichmeanstoasksomestudentstotalkatopicinorafterclasstofosterthepersonalityofchallengeandadventureandprecisethinking.

Question-askingteachingstrategy:

whichisinevitableandfrequentlyusedbyteachersintheprocessofteaching.

Aboveall,themajorreasonwhythestudents’oralEnglishabilityispoorisbecausethelanguageteacherslackteachingstrategies.Ifteacherscanuseatleastoneortwostrategiesnotedabove,thestudents’oralEnglishabilitywouldbeimprovedalot.

2.1.2Teacher-centeredClassroom

Weallknowthatteacher-centeredactivitiesusedtodominatemostoftheclasstimeintheoralEnglishteachingandlearningclass.Duringthewholeclass,theteachersoccupiedmostoftheclasstimewhodidmostoftheworkfortheirstudents:

thestudentsfollowedwhatevertheteachersread,copiedwhatevertheteacherswrite,andrecitedwhatevertheywererequiredto.Thisputthestudentsinaverypassiveconditionandtheywerenotgivenanychancetoperformorallywhattheyhadlearntfromtheirteachersandthetextbookintheclass.Sotheteachersjustfocusedonwhattheyshouldteachaccordingtotheschoolcurriculumwithoutpayingattentiontotheneedsofthestudents.Asaresult,thestudentscouldonlyrememberwhatevertheteachersaidintheclass,butcouldn’tusethemproperlyinrealconditions.

2.1.3Teachers’RoughlyTunedTalk

Roughlytunedtalkislanguage,whichtheteacherexposestothestudents,andthestudentscanmoreorlessunderstandeventhoughitisabovetheirownproductivelevel.ThestudentscannotreceivesufficientinputsincetheydonotliveinEnglish-speakingenvironmentandmostofthemattendschoolswhereEnglishistaughtasacurricularsubject.Sotheteacherisamajorsourceofroughlytunedinput.TheEnglishteachershouldprovidealargeamountofroughly-tunedinformationforthestudentsaccordingtothecontentofteachinginordertoenlargetheamountofinput,e.g.whenteachingthetextaboutshopping,theteachershouldsupplementsomemorewordsthestudentsneedintheirdailylifeexceptthewordsinthetext.Suchasmicrowaveovens,VCDmachines,digitalcameras,tennisshoes,MP3players,CDplayers,microradios,mini-discs,computers,etc.WhenteachingthelessonaboutChristmas.E.g.howtodecoratetheChristmastree,howtogetreadyforChristmas,whoisJesusChristandwhoisSantaClaus.Thesupplementarylanguageandculturalknowledgewillmaketheclassmoreinterestingandlively.Butitisworthpointingoutthatroughlytunedtalkcanonlybepresentedatslightlybeyondthestudents’currentlevelandcannotleadtothestudents’frustration.

2.2ProblemsontheStudentsThemselves

Thestudentsandtheteacheraretwoveryimportantfactorsintheorganizer.Theteachingcannotsuccesswithouttheirgreateffortsandtheproblemscannotarousefromoneside.Sothestudentsalsohavesomeproblemsneedtobesolved.HereIjustlisttwoproblems:

2.2.1Students’LackofMotivation

Manyfactorsneedtobetakenintoaccount,whenweconsiderthequalitiesofagoodlearner,suchasattitude,motivation,personality,anxiety,empathyandconfidence.Amo