Somemethodstoimprovemiddleschoolstudents'oralEnglish

 

　　TheadvantagesofimprovingoralEnglisharefarmorethantheabove.ForEnglishteachersandstudents,itisessentialtoworkoutthemethodstoimproveoralEnglish.

 

　　1.OralEnglishisadifficultpartofEnglishteachingandlearning

 

　　Difficultlytomasterordevelop,oralEnglishhasitsowncharacteristic.

 

　　2.ThecharacteristicoforalEnglish

 

　　AccordingtoBygate(1987:69),therearefourcommonfeaturesofspokenEnglish:

 

　　usinglesscomplexsyntax;

 

　　takingshortcuts,e.g.incompletesentences;

 

　　usingfixedconventionalphrases／chunks;

 

　　usingdevicessuchasfillers,hesitationdevicetogivetimetothinkbeforespeaking.

 

　　3.TheproblemsoccurwhenmiddleschoolstudentsspeakEnglish

 

　　Itisreasonablethatstudentsworryabouttheirdissiliency,unidiomaticityandotheraspectsoflanguageuse.RecenttalkswithagroupofstudentslearningEnglishprovethatthefollowingareamongtheirdifficulties:

 

　　lackofinterestinlearningEnglishmakesitimpossibleforstudentstospeakwiththeinstructorandpeersactivelyintheEnglishasaSecondLanguageclassroom;

 

　　anxietiesrelatingtoEnglishspeakingnegativelyperformanceinEnglishspeaking.Inreviewingresearchexaminingtheeffectsofanxietyonlanguagelearning,MacintyreandGardnerconcludethatworryingtoomuchaboutlearningandperformanceisbothunnecessaryandharmful.ItmaypreventlearnersfrompractisingEnglish-speakingskills;

 

　　inappropriateandunfairassessmentsmadebyteachersmakestudentshesitatetospeak.

 

　　4.Theconcretemethodstoimprovemiddleschoolstudents'oralEnglish

 

　　Aftertheintroducesabove,itcomestheconcretemethodstoimprovemiddleschoolstudents'oralEnglishinthefollowingcontext.

 

　　4.1ThemethodsforGrade7-8students

 

　　Ifpossible,studentsinGrade7-8mayreadsomeEnglishtonguetwistersloudlyandquicklywithoneortwocakesofcandyintheirmouth(justastheChinesecross-talkactorsdo.)totraintheiroralcavitymuscleandtonguessuitableforEnglishpronunciation.

 

　　ThestudentscanretellsomearticlesorEnglishstoriesintheirownwordstoimproveoralEnglish.

 

　　ToimproveoralEnglish,middlescholarscanrecitesomefamoussentences,interestingstoriesorusefulcompositions.

 

　　StudentsinGrade7-8canmakedutyreporteveryclasstopractiseEnglish.Everyclasstheteachercaninvite2-4studentstomakethereportaccordingtotheseats.

 

　　SpeakingtooneselfmethodisawaywhichonespeaksEnglishtohimself／herselfandthetopicisonelikesoroneisinterestedin.Studentscanjoininthisactivityfreelyandenjoyablynomatterthetimeortheplace.

 

　　Inmodel-basedmethod,studentsareencouragedtomakeacreativeimitationlikethemodelsentences,themodeldialoguesorarticles.

 

　　StudentsareveryfamiliarwithEnglishcorneractivity,throughwhichstudentscanspeakoutwhattheyhavelearned,theyhaverecitedortheyhavecreatedaccordingtothemodel.Itisausefulwaytoincreasestudents'confidencetospeakEnglishsoastoimproveEnglish.

 

　　4.2ThemethodsforGrade9studentsorsomehavegoodoralEnglish

 

　　Performanceactivity

 

　　ForGrade9studentsorsomehavegoodoralEnglish,agroupofthemcantogetherperformaplayinthetextbookorsomethinglikethistopractiseoralEnglish.

 

　　Interpretingwhatyouhear-changingroles

 

　　Threepeoplemakeagroup:onespeaksChinese,onespeaksEnglishactingasaforeigner,andoneactsasaninterpreter.Thentheychangeroles.Thisisagoodinterpretingtrainingmethodandisgoodforstudyingfromoneanother.Inaddition,itmayimprovetherespondingabilityandthespeedofstudents.Theadvancedstageofthismethodissimultaneousinterpretation.

 

　　Oralcompositionand3-minutetrainingmethod

 

　　Thismethodissuitableforintensetraining.Makinganoralcompositionaboutacertaintopicforoneminutethefirsttimeandrecordingthecompositionontapeatthesametime.Thenlisteningtothecompositionandfindingouttheroomforimprovement.Thenmakingthesamecompositionfortwominutesforthesecondtimeandalsorecordingit.Andatlastrepeatingtheabove-mentionedforthreeminutes.

 

　　ToimproveoralEnglish,itisnotenoughforstudentstoadoptthemethodsabove.Itneedsthehelpofboththeparentsandteachers.