Teaching Spoken English in Classroom Under Cultural Context in China.docx

Teaching Spoken English in Classroom Under Cultural Context in China.docx

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TeachingSpokenEnglishinClassroomUnderCulturalContextinChina

TeachingSpokenEnglishinClassroomUnderCulturalContextinChina

　　Abstract

　　Duringtheprocessofglobalization，Englishplaysanindispensableroleinthecommunicationofpeople.AsforChinesecollegestudents，howtoimprovetheirspokenEnglishproficiencyisatroublesomeproblem.Thispaperanalyzesseveralreasonswhystudents’speakingcompetenceishardtoimproveandreviewsvariousspokenEnglishteachingmethodsinthedevelopmentofforeignlanguageteachingprocessandproposesthatteachingspokenEnglishinclassroomunderculturalcontextisaneffectivemethodtopromotespokenEnglishproficiencyofnon-Englishmajors.Fosterculturalawarenessistheessentialpart.Somepracticalclassroomteachingproceduresarepresented，togetherwithsomepuzzles.Withoutdoubt，interculturalexchangesbecomemoreandmorefrequent.Comprehensionoftheculturally-loadedwordsplaysanimportantroleinavoidingcommunicativefailuresandimprovinginterculturalcommunication.

　　Keywords：

SpokenEnglishproficiency；Culturalawareness；Culturalcontext；Classroomteaching

　　Wang，L.（2015）.TeachingSpokenEnglishinClassroomUnderCulturalContextinChina.CanadianSocialScience，11（4），-0.Availablefrom：

http：

//

　　DOI：

http：

//dx.doi.org/10.3968/6881

　　INTRODUCTION

　　Withtherapidgrowthofeconomyandinteractionwiththeoutsideworld，thereisagrowingneedamongChinesestudentstolearnEnglish.Throughhundredsofpapertests，mostofthemperformexcellentinEnglishpassage-reading，grammars，andcompositions.However，aftereightormoreyearsofEnglishstudy，moreoftenthannot，manyChinesestudentsstillfeelithardtocommunicatewithforeignersinEnglish.Intherealworldinteraction，theyappearawkward.Whatarethereasons？

Howtoimprovethecurrentsituation？

AsaChinesecollegeEnglishteacher，it’sanunavoidabletask.IfthereisanapproachwhichcanhelpstudentspromotetheproficiencyofspokenEnglish，atthesametime，itaidsthemtocrossculturaldifferencesamongnationssuccessfully，theapproachisworthpracticing.

　　1.WHATARETHEREASONS？

　　Accordingtomysurveytoabout400collegestudentsinmyuniversity，over20%ofthemdon’twanttojoinspeakingactivities.Onlyabout30%participateintheoralpractice.Onethirdofthembelievetheydon’tgraspenoughwordsandphrasestoexpressthemselvesfreelyandclearlyinEnglish.DifficultyinspokenEnglishforChinesestudentscomesfromthereasonsforvariousaspects.　　1.1LackofCommunicativeEnvironment

　　Inthecurrentteachingenvironment，especiallyinmyhometown-Qiqihar，anon-provincialcityinthenortheastpartofChina，studentsseldomhavetheopportunitiestocontactEnglishinarealcommunicativesituation.TheiracquisitionofEnglishknowledgemainlycomesfromtheclassroom.Attheverybeginning，youngstarterswillacquiretheirspeakingcompetencesoonandtheirspeakingskillsareconsiderablyhigherthanotherskills，suchaslistening，readingandwriting.Unfortunately，fromtheirelementaryschooltotheirmiddleschoolandhighschool，timeleftforspeakingEnglishinclassislessandless.Insufficientvocabulary，littleaccumulationofcommonlyusedsentencepatternsandmodelsentences，togetherwithlow-levellisteningcompetenceallleadtotheresultthatstudentscannotevengetthemeaningofEnglishspeakers，nottomentionthecommunicationwiththem.Smoothinteractionacrossculturalgapsisbeyondreach.InfluencedbyChinesegreatly，Chinglishemergesoneafteranother.Tothoseshystudents，thecaseisworse.ManyrestrainedChinesestudentschoosetokeepquieteventhoughtheyclearlyknowwhattosayandhowtosayinEnglish.Theyareusedtoremainsilentandtheyprefertobeasidelinerandpassivereceiverthananactiveparticipant.Consequentlymorechancestoexpressthemselvesaremissed.

　　1.2LackofEnoughAttention

　　UnderthepressureofNationalMatriculationEnglishTest，grammaticalstructureofthelanguageisthemainconcerninjuniorandseniormiddleschoolEnglishsyllabusforChinesestudents.Therefore，students’motivationofimmediateneedforpracticingthelanguageisoftennotbroughtintofullplay.Theinstructionmaterialsusuallyconsistofnewvocabulary，readingmaterialsandagreatamountofcorrespondingexercises.Teacherspaymoreattentiontotheexplanationofgrammaticalandvocabularypoints，andstudentsspendmoretimeongrammarexercisesinordertogethighermarks.Oralactivitiesonthetextbookareneglected.

　　Afterenteringcollege，studentshavenotgreatpressurefromexaminations，butlarge-scaleclasslecturingiscommonincollegesanduniversitiesinChina.Thiscurrentsituationhindersthedevelopmentofcollegestudents’spokencompetence.InQiqiharUniversity，，theaveragenumberincollegeEnglishclassesisabout50.Timeleftforeachsinglestudenttospeakisquitelimited.Eventhoughstudentshavemasteredadequatevocabularyandgrammar，theyhavefewerchancestopracticethemvialisteningandspeakinginclassroom.Theinternalizedknowledgecannotbemotivatedactively，norcanbeconvertedintooralcommunicationeffectively.　　1.3LackofUnderstandingofCultureinEnglish-SpeakingCountries

　　Foralongtime，students’pronunciation，spellingandgrammaticalruleshavebeentrainedinvariousclassroomactivities.Students’readingandwritingskillsdevelopsignificantly，whereastherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculturehasnotbeengivenenoughattention.Consequently，relevantculturalbackgroundknowledgeisdiscussedlessinclassroomteaching.Inaddition，mostteachershavenochanceofvisitingforeigncountriesinperson.Theirknowledgeaboutculturaldifferencesmainlycomesfromtextbook.It’sreallyhardforthemtocreateanauthenticsituationforstudentstoknowandtounderstandthetargetculture.Whichpartisfeasibleandwhichpartisunpractical？

Teachersthemselvesarehelpless.

　　1.4LackofCreativeSituation

　　Inrecentyears，theimportanceoforalcompetencehasbeenemphasizedinschoolatalllevels.StudentsdohavetheopportunitiestoopentheirmouthtoexpresstheirownfeelingsandthoughtsinEnglishinclass.However，mostoftheoralpracticetendstobesomemechanicalimitation.Apparently，thiskindofactivityishardtomotivatestudents’interestinlearningandit’sdifficulttomobilizestudents’subjectiveinitiative.Futhermore，asthesituationcreatedduringtheprocessofclassroomteachingistotallydifferentfromthatinreallife，thepracticeseemslackofguidance.

　　1.5LackofResearchintheField

　　AsurveyofmajorlanguageteachingjournalsinChinashows，from2000to2009，thenumberofpublishedarticlesonoralEnglishis3，351；whilefrom2010to2014，thenumberrisesto3，981.Teachersandresearchersseemstopaymoreattentiontothestudyonspokencompetence.However，comparedwiththetotalnumberofpublishedarticlesonlanguageteachinginthejournals，111，870，articlesontheteachingofspokenlanguagearestilllessthan7%.Articlesconcerningcultureandspokenlanguageteachingarelessthan100from2000to2014.Furtherresearchesareneededurgentlytoprobetheeffectofspokenlanguageteachingunderculturalcontext.

　　2.HOWTOIMPROVETHECURRENTSITUATION？

　　Forlearners，languagelearningisarisk-takingprocess.Beebe（1983）says，“Intheclassroom，learners’mayhaveexperiencedabadgradeinthecourse，afailontheexam，areproachfromtheteacher，asmirkfromaclassmate，punishmentorembarrassmentimposedbyoneself.”Whataboutthesituationoutsidetheclassroom？

Somelearnerssufferfromthenegativeconsequencesduetoinappropriatechoiceofwords.SomemakethemselvessoundridiculouswiththeirawkwardChinglish.Somearefrustratedbythelistener’sblanklook.Andothersgothroughalienationofnotbeingabletocommunicate.Allthesefailuresbuilduptheirfearsandstumblethembadly.Tosolvealltheseproblemsinanactionisimpossiblethough，somesuccessfulattemptshavebeendone.　　2.1ReviewofSomeEffectiveMethods

　　Insomeprivatelanguageschools，DirectMethodachievesgreatsuccess.Thetargetlanguageisexclusivelytheonlymediumtoconductclassroominstruction.Alargeamountofquestion-and-answerexchangesbetweenteachersandstudentsarecarefullyorganizedandaccuratelygraded.Oralcommunicationskillsaredevelopedgradually.Studentstherehavehighmotivationtolearnaforeignlanguageandonlynative-speakingteachersarequalified.SituationalLanguageTeachingmethodwasintroducedintoChinainthe1970s.Theunderlyingtheoryofthemethodisbehaviorism.ItcanbefoundinmanypopularEnglishtextbooksinChina.Multi-mediateachingequipmentscontributealottothesuccess.Combinedwithdevelopmentalpsychology，learningtheory，andhumanisticpedagogy，TotalPhysicalResponseindeedreducesthestresspeoplefeelwhenstudyingforeignlanguages.Krashen’saffectivefilterhypothesissupposesthatunderthehappy，relaxedlearningatmosphere，highlymotivatedlearners’affectivefilterisdownandtheeffectivelearninggoalscanbeachieved.Inagivensocialcontext，teachersaskstudentstocommunicateinameaningfulway.Thetopicisameaningfulone.Participantsshouldconsiderboththelinguisticcontextandthesocialcontextbesidesthesyntacticstructure.Therefore，studentsarebroughtintoaclosercontactwithauthenticlanguageexamplesandthecommunicativecompetenceispromoted.

　　Alongwiththeprocessofglobalization，cooperationbetweencountriesmakesinterculturalcontactmultiply.Theparticipantswhocan