Essential Ways Essential Ways to Improve Oral English Teaching in China’s Middle Schools改进中学英语口语教学的基本途径.doc

改进中学英语口语教学的基本途径 Essential Ways Essential Ways to Improve Oral English Teaching in Chinas Middle Schools Acknowledgements I owe a deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Zhao , who patiently went over the various drafts of this paper. I wish to thank him for being very critical and demanding and yet caring and supportive. If not for his guidance and helpful advice, this paper would not have been materialized. I am deeply indebted to my school and university, which sffered me convenient and immense resources for writing this thesis. I would like to acknowledge my respected teachers who have taught me and helped me in the past more than four years. They are Mr. Hu , Ms Hao , Mr. Zhao etc. I would like to acknowledge my classmates, Wang Qigang, Yang Haohong etc. Finally, I want to acknowledge those people who always love me, especially my husband, help me and support me. 改进中学英语口语教学的基本途径内容摘要本文针对中国中学英语口语教学中存在的问题，旨在提出一些解决这些问题的基本途径。在过去几十年里，中国中学英语教学已经经历了持续的变革，英语教学水平有了明显的提高，但仍有不少问题还待解决。一般来说，现在的学生从小就开始学习英语，但许多初中毕业生却还不能恰当地使用英语，更不要说很好地用英语来表达自己了。这种现象主要是由于中学英语教学中不恰当的英语口语教学实践。鉴于这种情况，作者认为有必要找出英语口语教学中存在的问题，然后提出一些基本的途径去改变这种现状，并且提供另外一些可供参考的有效且合理的中学英语口语教学法。 Hymes（1971）的交际能力理论表明外语学习是一个发展的，以培养语言知识和掌握使用语言能力的过程。因此十分有必要建立一个良好的学习环境以提高中学生的英语交际能力。本文首先介绍了一些关于外语教学和口语教学的基本理论，然后指出了中学英语口语教学存在的基本问题及其原因所在。作者最后提出了一些基本途径去解决问题同时也提供了一些教学技巧以便更好地提高中学英语口语教学。 关键词：英语口语教学，问题，解决方法，交际能力。Essential Ways to Improve Oral English Teachingin China,s Middle SchoolsAbstractThis paper,analying the problems existing in oral English teaching in China,s middle schools,aims at offering some essential ways to solve those problems.In the past two decades, English language teaching (CET) in China has undergone continuous but not well coordinated changes. Still some problems are left to be solved. Generally speaking, now students begin to learn English in their primary school, but many students who have graduated from middle middle schools cannot use that language appropriately, le alone use it to express themselves efficiently . This phenomenon is mainly due to the inappropriate oral English teaching in middle school English classroom settings. As a resule, it is quite necessary to identify the exact problems in oral English teaching and then work out some essential ways to improve the situation, including presenting some more effective and appropriate teaching methods for middle school oral English oral English teaching in China.Hymes, theory (1972) of communicative xompetence indiates that foreign language learning is a developmental process of both knowledge about the target language and the knowledge and ability to use that language appropriately. It is thus necessary to estabish a better environment for oral proficiency development in order to improve the middle school students communicative xompetence in English .The present paper first introduces some basic findings in theoretical research of foreign language learning., which are directly related to oral English teaching. Then ,some essential problems existing in oral English teaching in China,smiddle schools are pointed out, with their root causes analyzed. And the author then suggests some essential solutions to the problems, while pressing some teaching skills in order to improve the middle school students, oral English teaching.Key words: oral English teaching; problems; countermeasure; communicative competence Contents Abstract内容摘要.1 Introduction.2 Problems in oral English teaching in China,s middle schools2.1 Neglect in oral English teaching.2.2 Obscurity in the aim of oral English teaching2.3 Teacher-centeredness2.4 Inappropriate teaching methods.2.5 Students, lack of interest in oral English.3 Theoretial finding on oral English teaching 3.1 The goals of oral English teaching. 3.2 The evaluation principle-fluency vs. accuracy. 3.3 The teachers, role 3.4 The cultivation of students, is, rnterest4 Countermeasures to the problems. 4.1 Essential changes in the basic ideas of oral English teaching 4.2 Great importance attached to oral English teaching 4.3 Necessary shift in the teacher,s role. 4.4 Characteristics of the design of effective oral English teaching.5 Conclusion .References.Essential Ways to Improve Oral English Teachingin China,s Middle Schools1. IntroductionIn the past two decades,communicative approach to foreign language teaching has become a most frequently citd term in syllabus design and discussion about the methodology of foreign language teaching in China. English language teaching(CET) in China has thus undergone continuous changes. Many of the changes have been applauded and the teaching and learning of English has been greatly improved. However, some problems are still left to be solved. In particular,many students who have gratulated from middle schools cannot use that language appropriately, let alone use it to express themselves efficiently. This phenomenon is mainly due to the inappropriate oral English teaching in middle school English classroom settings. As a result , it is quite necessary to identify the exact problems in oral English teaching and then work out some seeential ways to improve the situation, including presenting some more effective and appropriate teaching methods for middle school oral English teaching in China. Hymes, theory(1971) of communicative competence indicates that foreign language learning is a developmental process of both knowledge about the target language and the knowledge and ability to use that language appropriately. It is thus necessary to establish a better enviroment for oral proficiency development in order to improve the middle school students, communicative competence in English. The present paper first introduces some basic findings in theoretical research of foreign language learning, which are directly related to oral English teaching. Then, some essential problems existing in oral English teaching in China,s middle schools are pointed out. And the author then suggests some essential solutions to the problems, while pressting some teaching skills in order to improve and develop the middle school students, oral English teaching. The paper consists of five parts, with the Introduction as the first past. Part Two starts with a theoretical background for the research. It includes the theory of communicative competence and its application to ELT. Part Three concerns some essentical problems in current oral English teaching in China,s middle schools, with Part Four dedicated to the countermeasures to those problems. And the last part serves as a conclusion, in which the whole paper is summarized.2 Problems in oral English teaching in China,s middle schools With reference to the above-mentioned theoretical findings on oral English teaching, at least five basic problems can be identified as follows. 2.1 Negtect in oral English teaching In the latest English teaching syllabus issued by the relevant deparment of the Ministry of Education, there are requests of oral English teaching in middle school. Based on the communicative approach. The syllabus requires that English teaching shoule include the content of oral English teaching. And in the latest middle school English textbooks, in every unit there is a part focusing on speaking.These clearly indicate the importance of oral English teaching in middle school , But in current situation of middle schools English teaching, many middle school teachers neglect the oral English teaching in the teaching process, For one thing,minddle school English teaching is to a great extent examinationoriented, and speaking is not included in all important English exanmiations . In fact, many teachers have the idea that oral English is useless because it is not tested. For another, many middle schoole English teachers are not well qualified in English porticency and thus choose to neglect oral English teaching. They usually use chinese to teach the students in English lessons. According to our observation into the practice of middle school English teaching , it is quite common that the Englisn teacher, in using the textboot, goes straing to the part of listening without ginving any words to the speaking part. Many of them hold that oral English is not important because most of the middle school students have no chance to use oral English in our Chinese society. As a result, every year, thousands of middle school students succeed in passing college entrance examinations, but few of them can cope with real situation and express themselvs effectively and appropriately in English for genuine conmmunicative purposes, although they are expected to be effective and appropriate in speaking and can communicate in English.2.2 Obscurity in the aim of oral English teaching Accroding to the latest English teaching syllabus, the aims of English teaching are to train the students speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, So far as the speaking skill is concerned, the aim is that students can use clear accent to ex press themselves in short terms and can tell an easy story in English with the help of teachers, ect.( In order to achieve these aims, the teacher should give more room bo the students to practive their oral English practice. According to task-based learning methods should be centered on the communicative activities. But in fact , in current Chinese examination system, the middle shool teachers pay more attention to the accuracy of the language, which is in line with the college entrance examination that has always been treated as the real guidline of middle school teaching and learing, Since, there is no room for oral English in the college examination of English, middle school English teachers, consequently, are at loss for clear aims in oral English teaching . 2.3 Teacher-centeredness Though ELT has undergone changes , theacher-centered approach is till widely employed in middle school English teaching in China. In this case, the teacher is thought to be omniscient and his/her authority should not be challenged by students, These teachers is viewed as the main source of knowledge and information; he/she pays little attention to students responses . The “teaching” methodology of teaching neglects the very important fact that a language is not knowledge but compectence. Students have to learn under the instruction of their teacher, The students are put into a passive position. The interaction between the teacher and sudents are far from sufficient in classroom. It takes the teacher most of most of the time to transmit the knowledge in class. The teacher always dominates the topic, content and process of discussion often through mechanical procedures, neglecting the learn process, The students are deprived of chances to communicate and have not enough time to think over and give response to what is tanght. Their devclopment of crcativity to target language is greatly obstructed. This obviously holds back students active learing. As a result, it may lead to the students incapability of expressing themselves fluently in communication. According to the feedback from English techers of first-year college English majors, most high school graduatessss proficiency in oral English is far from satisfactory(Huang,1998).2.4 Inappropriate teaching methods In current English teaching in Chinas middle school, the teaching of grammar has always been overemphasized, though the degree has been decreasing as a result of the increasing impact of the communicative approach. The teachers students the tense, passive voice and phrases in each lesson, The grammar-oriented teaching method dominates the classroom teaching, and oral English has never received is due attention. Moreover, the grammar-oriented teaching method emphasizes on the form. Which goes opposite to the communicative approach. That means the teaching practice is designed without any communicative activities. Even when some teachers do the oral English practice in his classes, he will give more attention to the accurate use of language, The teacher leads students to concentrate on the grammatical construction. This would undermine the communicative purpose of the teaching. The product-oriented methodology also plays an important role in chinas middle school English teaching. The productoriented methodology is result-oriented, that is , it emphsizes knowledge acquisition, not the learing process, Here, what seems important is whether the middle school learners can pass the college entrance examinations, and the multiple-choice items cannot effcetively test and cultivate the learners ability (Jia ,2000). Obviously ,much attention is paid to the test resule, rather than to the learning procedure, indivedual differences(including motivation, learning style, time spend on study, etc.),the development of individuals, and the ability to use knowledge for communication purpose.2.5 Students lack of interest in oral English Mainly due to the above-mentioned four problems existing in middle school English teaching, most middle school English learners lack interset in oral English. For one thing, they, just like their teachers, belibve oral English is meaningless because it is not tested in the college entrance examination of English and they see no need to use that langugae in their daily life. For another, many students fear mistakes and derision which they think can make fools of themselves in front of their classmates. In addition, there is a cultural factor that functions in number of Asian cultures inhibiting sudents form speaking up in front of their peers. Those factors undermine the students interest of speaking the English language. In Chinas middle schools, there are so many students in one class. Teaching design cannot fit for everyone. So some students who do not agree with the teaching methods will feel unintererting to the class. Last but not least; oral English teaching requires the authentic and comprehensible teaching materials which can arouse sudents.3. Theoretical findings on oral English teaching 3.1 The goals of oral English teachingThe ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to enable the students to use the foreign language in work life when necessary (Yalden,1983). Thus we should focus on the training of students, ability to use the target languag