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1、TO SPEAK OR NOT TO SPEAK:THE ORAL ENGLISH PRACTICE开口还是不开口：英语口语练习课内容摘要：在中国的很多学校都开设有英语口语课，但是老师却是中国人。虽然每个老师都有自己的口语教学法，但不幸的是，不是每个学生都能在口语课上学到知识。本文将就此现象进行分析，总结学生和教师两方面的原因。以图能对口语教学有所帮助。关键词：口语教学 角色分析 有效性Outline1.INTRODUCTION 2THE NATURE OF THE PROBL EM S3RESOLVING THE PROBL EM S4CONCLUSION1.INTRODUCTION The
2、 process of learning to speak effective English is long and requires constant practice. Native English speakers are employed by some Chinese middle schools and many colleges and universities to improve studentsEnglish speak in ability. How ever, I have deep concerns about the effectiveness of curren
3、t oral English teaching in this country. There is no established o r recognized method of teaching oral English and neither foreign teachers no r schools seem to be concerned with this situation. It is compounded by the fact that m any, if no t most, foreign teachers are in experienced and or are la
4、cking in ESL training. T here is a plethora of textual materials and listening tapes for learning spoken English. How ever, m any of them are aim ed at the early learner and are no t suitable for university students, and most importantly they do no t provide useful exercises for practicing oral Engl
5、ish. As associated listening tapes often contain dialogue that is too fast for students to follow and vocabulary that is in appropriate. Because of these shortcomings in the teaching material and the educational system , Chinese students do not receive a consistent and w ell - developed program of o
6、ral English training. There is a pressing need to imp rove oral English program s around China and to establish a standard teach in methodic logy, textual materials and assessment procedures that w ill provide all students with the opportunity to significantly improve their level of spoken English a
7、nd to properly measure that improvement.2THE NATURE OF THE PROBL EM SFor the past three and one- half years I have taught oral English at several Chinese colleges and universities, and I have spoken with many other foreign teachers about their classroom experiences and teaching methods. The only con
8、sistent aspect of teaching oral English in China is the lack of any common teaching method logy. Every foreign teach Rapp roaches the subject in a different way and stresses different aspects of English speaking and expression. The result is that while some students benefit from their instruction, o
9、thers learn little and lo se interest in continuing with their English language education; they lo se confidence in their ability to m aster the languages he absence of a teaching methodology for oral English causes additional problem s in the classroom as m any of the foreign teachers who are asked
10、 to teach oral English are recent university graduates with no ESL background and are not Education or English majors. They lack practical teaching experience; their major could be anything from art history to zoo logy. W hen they arrive at their college or university in China they are, most often,
11、given a textbook and to ld that their classes start next w eek. Often this is the extent of their o orientations and assistance from the school. There are no lesson plans, no statement of teaching objectives, and no prescribed method of assessment. Thus, they are no t as effective in the classroom a
12、s they should or could be. The textual materials and oral tapes for teaching oral English that I have found in Wuhan, although plentiful, have no t been very useful. M any of the textbook s are too basic for teaching at the college or university level; students complain that they are boring and they
13、 have already covered the lessons in Middle School. The texts do no t contain exercises or drills that give the students practice in actually speaking English. There is written dialogue but limited activities that provide the student an opportunity to speak in the classroom. Many times the dialogue
14、seem s to be contrived and often words or names are used that are no t commonly found in English speech. T he tapes I have listened to have also no t been very helpful. Often the conversations are too fast for the students to follow and in some tapes the use of non- English personal names is confusi
15、ng. M any of the textual materials that I have found are published in the United Kingdom and use British English, while most of the foreign teachers are American and, of course, speak American English. Improving a students oral English requires a student to actually speak English as much and as ofte
16、n as they possibly can. Thus, it is important that each student be given as much opportunity as possible to speak in the classroom. I have known of some oral English classes to number 50 o r more students. This is far to high a number to allow for everyone to speak, on a regular basis, in class. Ove
17、r a term of 18w eek s each student would have a chance to speak in class for approximately thirty minutes. How can anyone improve his or her oral English with 30 minutes of speaking time? The obvious answer is that they can not. Students all have different English speaking levels of skill and abilit
18、y. T h is can make teaching difficult when there are some in the class with excellent speaking skills and others in the same class whose speaking skills are very poor. This is the usual classroom situation. In the absence of good textbook s, it is very difficult, especially for new teachers, to stru
19、cture lessons and activities that the students with lower level skills can understand and participate in while at the same time not bore o r alienate the higher level students. Classroom participation in discussions and debates is important for learning conversation sk ills, but it is no t easy to a
20、chieve. Girls seem to have a igher level of English-speaking proficiency. They are attentive and some times participate, with a little encouragement, in classroom discussion. Boys, on the other hand, sit in the back of the classroom and often talk with each other, read a newspaper, listen to music o
21、n M P- 3 p layers, stare out the window and are generally reluctant to take part in anything that requires them to speak in English. Because you must speak English to imp rove, it is important that all students attend oral English classes. Some students with poor English- speaking skills are relucta
22、nt to attend classes. They do not understand w hat is being said in class and become bored, or they fear making mistakes and losing face if they are called upon to speak in class. They attend the initial class, and then disappear until it is time to administer the final exam; and they invariably fai
23、l. Thus, attendance at every class is important for all students. Attention also should be given to the physical layout of the classroom. Often an oral English lesson requires that students form into separate group s o r team s to work on an exercise o r activity. In m any classroom s the seats are
24、fixed to the floor and cannot be moved which makes these activities difficult to organize and consequently they m ay no t be very successful. It can be effective to occasionally show a movie to the class to compare o r contrast an aspect of culture or to explain an event or a meaning. Thus, the clas
25、sroom should contain facilities to allow DVD movies to be shown. The last problem is perhaps the most difficult. That is: how to assess the students improvement in speaking English over an 18- w eek term. Like teaching methodology, foreign teachers use many different ways and means to test speaking
26、ability and, for the most part, none of them are effective, as they do no t accurately measure the students improvement over the term. What generally happens is that the students who enter the class speaking relatively good English receive a good grade, even though they may have achieved little or n
27、o improvement, while the student w ho spoke inferior English, but showed some improvement, receives a low grade because they still speak poor English. This is not a good situation as the lower level student, w ho has tried to imp rove is not rewarded for his or her effort. Such situations may cause
28、students to lose interest in continuing to imp rove.3RESOL V ING THE PROBL EM SThe lack of an effective oral English methodology is the most difficult, but probably the most important issue to be resolved. It is difficult because it must apply to all levels of English speaking ability and to classes
29、 of various sizes. I believe that the methodology problem can be best addressed at the national level to help ensure that, w hen completed, it is made available and distributed to all colleges and universities in China that offer oral English courses. The most effective w ay to develop an oral Engli
30、sh methodology would be for the national Ministry of Education to invite four to six oral English teachers with several years of experience in China to work together to write an oral English textbook along with associated supporting materials; to employ them for up to one year to accomplish this tas
31、k. In addition, this teachers group should also develop a practical examination procedure to measure student progress in learning oral English. Experienced oral English teachers know from trial and error what lessons and activities work and what do not work. They know how to involve and how to motiv
32、ate all of the students in the class. With this knowledge they are the most qualified to establish an oral English teaching grogram for Chinas college and university students. A decision should be made to teach either American or British English style in colleges and universities and all teaching ma
33、terials provided by the schools should conform to the style chosen. Oral English classes need to be smaller in size to allow all of the students an opportunity to participate in discussions, presentations and activities during each class. My experience indicates that the optimal size for an oral Eng
34、lish class is 15 - 20 students. This number of students usually allow s sufficient time for the teacher to explain the activity and for all the students to become involved. Speaking English as much and as often as they can in class is the only way students w ill improve, and the smaller the class si
35、ze the more time and opportunity each student w ill have to practice. It would be easier for the foreign teacher if all of the students in the oral English class were at the same level of English speaking ability. Before classes start in the fall term ,students should take an oral English proficienc
36、y test. Students with good speaking skills should be placed in the same class, while average and poor speaking students should be p laced together in their respective classes. Lessons can then be specifically modified to a students speaking ability. Students would feel mo re comfortable in this envi
37、ronment and will greatly benefit from activities they are capable of understanding and performing. English - speaking dormitories are another way to encourage students to speak English. In the dormitories, all conversations should be in English as well as notices and posters. A television room shoul
38、d show only English speaking programs and movies. A native English - speaking teacher should reside in the dormitory and organize activities for the students as w ell as being able to offer students advice and assistance with their English. Before the start of the term , all foreign teachers with no
39、 teaching experience in China should be given a short training course. The course can be taught by one of the experienced foreign teachers with in the school. New teachers should be made aw are of basic oral English teaching techniques so they know what lessons and activities are effective in the cl
40、assroom and how to motivate the students to speak English. They should be given a brief introduction to the difference in teaching methods used in China and their home country as well as the cultural differences between Chinese and foreign students and the process by which Chinese students learn. Fo
41、reign teachers should be encouraged to develop their hobbies and share them with their students, whether they are sports, music or other interests. For example, I have helped to organize a softball association at m y university and several foreign teachers now give instructions in English on how top
42、 lay softball each Saturday to over one hundred interested students. We hold competitions as w ell as have games with another university in yunnan On the practice field and during a game, students are instructed to speak only in English. Foreign teachers interested in music have helped to organize s
43、tage productions for students while others have initiated dancing lessons. Most foreign teachers have interests o r hobbies that can be used to encourage students to practice their oral English. 4CONCL USIONThere is no need to list the benefits to be gained by speaking effective, fluent English. Mos
44、t realize that well-developed English language skills open up m any possibilities: greater opportunities for employment after graduation, a better chance at scoring high marks on IEL T S a greater confidence in speaking with foreigners and opportunities to study in foreign colleges and universities.
