中国中学生英语口语焦虑问题的教学策略.docx

中国中学生英语口语焦虑问题的教学策略.docx

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中国中学生英语口语焦虑问题的教学策略

中国中学生英语口语焦虑问题的教学策略

[Abstract]Currently，studentslearningEnglishhaverealizedtheimportanceoforalEnglishandtheyareeagertoacquireEnglishspeakingabilitytocopewitheverydaycommunication.However，theyfrequentlyworryabouttheiroralEnglishwhencommunicatingwithothers.Inthisarticle，westudysomedifficultiesinlearningoralEnglishofmiddleschoolstudentsbydoinginformalsurveysonthem.Accordingtothesurveys，theyencountermanydifficultiesbutthebasiconeisanxiety，whichnegativelyaffectstheperformancesintheirEnglishspeakingactivities.Besides，thispaperexploressomepracticaloralEnglishteachingstrategiesbystudyingthenewteachingconceptspromotedbyTheEnglishCourseStandardsinthehopethatstudentsreducetheiranxietiesandareencouragedtoparticipateinoralEnglishcommunication.

[KeyWords]speaking;teachingstrategy;anxiety;culturesense;cooperativelearning;formativeassessment

[摘要]现今，英语学习者已经充分认识到英语口语的重要性，因此渴望能够掌握用英语流利交流的口语技巧。

但是，进行交流的时候，学生往往因为顾虑重重而没有办法自由地表达其所思所想。

本文通过对一些学生做出的非正式的调查了解到学生在英语口语过程中遇到的难题。

学生学习英语口语过程中遇到的难题很多，但是其中最普遍的是学习讲英语时候的焦虑感和紧张感。

焦虑和紧张成了学生开口讲英语的思想障碍，对学生英语学习百害而无一利。

本文还对新课程标准所提倡的一些口语教学理念及口语教学评价理念做出可行性分析并对可行性较强的英语口语教学策略做出初步探讨，力图减少学生讲英语过程中的焦虑感和紧张感，使学生能够用英语自由地表达思想，真正把英语作为一种使用的交流工具。

[关键词]英语口语；教学策略；焦虑感；文化意识；合作性学习；形成性评价

1.Introduction

Englishspeakingisademonstrationofaperson’soverallabilitytouseEnglish.Itistheskillthatisjudgeduponmostinreal-lifesituations.Itisalsoanimportantpartofeverydayinteractionandmostoften，thefirstimpressionofapersonisbasedonhis/herabilitytospeakfluentlyandcomprehensibly.Inmanyothercountries，oralEnglishisabasicskillforstudentstomaster，andthereforetheypaidalotattentiontoEnglishspeakingatschools.

OnJanuary3rd，2004，theMinistryofEducationissuedanoticeconcerningthedistributionofTeachingRequirementsforEnglishCurriculum.Intherequirements，oneshiftishighlighted，namely，theshiftofthefocusoftheteachingsyllabusfromreadingtospeakingandlistening.TheskillofspeakinghasalsobeenrequiredinthenewEnglishSyllabusandTheSeniorEnglishCourseStandardspublishedbytheEducationMinistryofChinahasregulatedEnglishSpeakingasoneofthecompulsorycourse.

ButthecurrentChineseeducation，toagreatextent，hasbeencarriedoutinasortof“fixed”systemof“grammarandvocabularyonly”，andoralcoursesarealmostnowheretobefound.So，theproblemofstudentsisnothavingnothingtosaybutnotknowinghowtosay.JustasHuchunDongsays，studentssaywhattheycansaybutnotwhattheywanttosay.[1]Thisdoubtlesslylimitedtheopportunitiesofstudents’inpidualdevelopment.

ItisnoteasytoteachEnglishanditismoredifficulttoteachoralEnglish.Inordertodevelopstudents’oralcompetencesothattheycanusethelanguagetheyhavelearnedcorrectly，appropriatelyandexpressivelyinrealsituations，theteacherneedstobeacquaintedwithasmanyteachingstrategiesaspossible，andunderstandtheunderlyingtheoriesandprinciples，sothathe/shenotonlyknowswhattoteachandhowtodoit，butalsowhyhe/shecoulddoitinacertainwayandhowtosolveproblemswhentheyarise.[2]

2.SomedifficultiesinlearningoralEnglishofmiddleschoolstudents

Englishlearningisacomplexprocess，subjecttotheinfluenceofsocial，linguistic，educational，andcognitivefactors.[3]Itisreasonablethatstudentsworryabouttheirdisfluencyandunidiomaticityandotheraspectsoflanguageuse.RecenttalkswithagroupofstudentslearningEnglishthatIinterviewedinformallyafteroralclassesprovethatthefollowingareamongtheirdifficulties:

LackofinterestinlearningEnglishmakesitimpossibleforstudentstospeakwiththeinstructorandpeersactivelyintheESLclassroom;AnxietiesrelatingtoEnglishspeakingnegativelyaffectperformanceinEnglishspeaking;Inappropriateandunfairassessmentsmakingbyteachersmakestudentshesitatetospeak.

WhenteachinginXiang’anNo.1MiddleSchool，Xiamen，asapracticeteacherinMarch，2006，wedidaninformalsurveyonthesituationofstudents’learningoforalEnglish.ThequestionnairewasdesignedtogetaroughideaoftheoralEnglishlearningofthestudentsandparticularlythedifficultiesstudentsmeetinspeakingEnglish（seeappendix.）[4].

Accordingtotheanalysis（seeappendix），54.3%ofthestudentsfinditdifficulttospeakwellbecausetheyareafraidofcriticismorlosingface.Anxietiesgetinthestudents’waytospeak;51.2%ofthestudentslikethesectionoffreetalk;82.1%ofthestudentsrealizethattheabilitytospeakEnglishfluentlyisveryimportant;94%ofthemareinterestedinforeigncultureandcustoms;nearlyhalfofthestudentswishthattheirteachercancorrectthemistakestheymakewithencouragementandsmileandtheywishtobeassessedinvariousways.

StudentslearningEnglishfrequentlyworryaboutthesmall-sizevocabulary，incorrectgrammarandinappropriateexpressionsintheirspokenEnglishwhencommunicatingwithothers.EnglishteachersareveryfamiliarwiththeworriesthatEnglishlearnersfeelintheirlanguagelearningprocess，particularlyintheiroralcommunication.ThisworryphenomenonshouldbeincludedinanxietyinSLAresearch.[5]Inreviewingresearchexaminingtheeffectsofanxietyonlanguagelearning，MacintyreandGardnerconcludedthatlearners’excessiveanxiety“negativelyaffectsperformanceinthesecondlanguage”.Worryingtoomuchaboutlearningandperformanceisbothunnecessaryandharmful.ItmaypreventlearnersfrompracticingEnglish-speakingskills.[6]

3.Relatedteachingstrategies

3.1Developingstudents’culturesense

3.1.1Analysisandstrategies

Ifthestudents’motivationforlearningEnglishiszero，teachingthemspeakingEnglishwillbeahugeproblemfortheteacher.So，beforedecidingonanyotherteachingstrategies，whattheteacherhastodoistoarousestudents’interestandincreasetheirmotivationinlearningEnglish.Therearemanytechniquesthatateachercantaketohelpmotivatestudents’interesttolearn，butnoonemotivationaltechniqueworkswellforallstudents.Since94%ofthestudentsattendingthequestionnairewishthattheirteachercouldintroduceforeigncultureasoftenaspossible，onecansafelyconcludethatdevelopingstudents’culturesenseisageneralmotivationpracticewhichcanmotivatetheirinterestinEnglish.

Theculture-boundaspectofteachingmaterialisoftenofgreatinteresttostudents，anditcanbeusedtoprovokeaninterestingdiscussionnotonlyaboutthe“other”culture，butalsoaboutthe“home”culture.Thediscussionresultsmayfacilitatethespeakingtasks.

Oncestudents’interestismotivated，theywillrealizethatlearningEnglishhasalotoffunandwillsurelyenjoylearningEnglish.OncetheyenjoylearningEnglish，theymaylookforwardtospeakingEnglishandtheyarelesslikelytobeafraidofspeaking.So，provokingstudents’interestcanbeconsideredasagoodwaytoeasestudents’anxietiesinspeaking.[7]

Anotherreasonfordevelopingstudents’cultureisthatlanguageisthecarrierofcultureandtheimportanceofteachingcultureisemphasizedintheTheEnglishCourseStandards.Toaccordwiththecoursestandards，cultureteachingissupposedtobeanimportantpartinasuccessfulteachingplan.WhileteachingoralEnglish，gettingthestudentsfamiliarizedwiththecultureandsocialbackgroundrelevanttothespeakingtaskisessential.

Oneproblemincommunicatingwithforeignersisthatmanywordsandexpressionsspokenbytheforeignersareculture-boundandstudentscannotbringtheirknowledgeoftheworldtohelpthemunderstandtheconversation.

Taketheword“privacy”forexample.Inpidualityisregardedasacharacteristicofthewesterncultureandprivacyisacommonsenseofthewesterners.So，“privacy”hastwomeaningsinthedictionary（OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionar，4thedition）:

oneis“stateofbeingawayfromothers，aloneandundisturbed”;theotheris“secrecy，oppositetopublicity”.However，inChina，wherepeopledonotcareabouttheirprivacythatmuch，“privacy”refersto“secret”only.Whentheytalkabout“privacy”，theyareoftenreferringtoegotismandsecretsofloveaffairs.Whileinthewesterncountries，peoplerespectothers’privacyand“mindyourownbusiness”isanimportantcodeinthesocialetiquettes.[8]

Besides，differentconventionsleadtodifferentusagesoflanguageanddifficultiesincommunication.Dailycompliments，salutations，thanks，regrets，comityandtabooareculture-bound.Forexample，whentheChinesearenottoaccepttheirfriends’invitation，theyusesometactfulexpressions“maybeIwillcome”“Iwillthinkofit”insteadofthenegativeword“no”.Becausewedonotthinksaying“no”toourfriendisapolitewaytorefuse.Theychoosetomakepromisesratherthanrefusalinordernottoharmtherelationships.However，forawesterner，suchkindofbehaviormeansbreakingone’spromiseandtheywillbeangryattheChinese.Notknowingsuchkindsofculturedifferences，onewillnevermakeagoodcommunication.[9]

Sotheteachershouldbearanopenattitudetowardsforeignculture，sharewithstudentswhathe/sheknowsabouthowforeignculturediffersfromhis/herown，andpresenttheminteaching.TogetstudentsfamiliarwithWesternculture，ateachermaycreatesomesituationalcontextsoremployrole-playgamesforthestudentstoexperiencethiscultureandknowthedifferencesincomparisonwiththeirown.

3.1.2Operationandpractices

Onepracticalwaytoteachcultureistocreateanauthenticclassroomenvironment.Classroomdecorationsanddisplaysofallkinds，pos