On Improving Students’Speaking Ability ( 题 目 ）
Abstract
With the opening-up of China, English teaching has been getting more and more attention, especially since Beijing won the bid to hold the 2008 Olympic Games. People are enthusiastic about learning English .As a result, English teaching and reform are coming to a turning point, which predicts a bright future in English education in China. Now, a 9-year voluntary education program is put forward in China. A Standard English course is being used to replace the former teaching outline. The new standard adopts the international system according to which English language education is divided into 9 levels. This has changed the old style of teaching, which attaches importance to grammar and vocabulary. Adopting the new standard helps to develop the students’ ability to use English in their daily life, by focusing on arousing their interest, and encouraging their participation. The new method will place less stress on “reading and writing”, in favor of “listening” and “speaking”. So now, speaking is getting more and more important in middle school English teaching.①This paper discuss how to improve students’ speaking ability and expound the theme through three aspects as follows:⒈The importance of speaking.⒉Some barriers in the process of speaking communication.⒊Essential methods for improving students’ speaking ability. The issue will be discussed from the perspective of a teacher of English in junior middle school and a possible conclusion will be reached with the help of some theoretical and practical support.
Key words: speaking、communication、ability、middle school、English teaching.
摘 要
随着改革开放深入，英语教学越来越引起人们的重视，尤其北京成功深奥。人们都热中于英语学习。所以英语教改进入一个转折点，面临着美好的未来。现在，在九年制义务教育中，标准英语课程以取代以前的教学模式。根据英语语言教育分成九个等级，新课标采用了国际体制，改变了旧的方法。新的教学方式通过引起学生的兴趣，鼓励他们参与去培养学生日常生活中运用英语的能力。新的方法重在听力和口语，因此现在口语在中学英语教学中越来越重要。本文主要讨论如何提高学生的口语能力，从下面三个大的方面阐述：1. 说的重要性。2. 口语交流过程中的一些障碍。3. 提高口语能力的基本方法。 本文从初中英语教师的观点，并且从理论和实际结合中得出结论。
关键词：口语 交流 能力 中学 英语教学
I. Introduction
1. Brief Introduction to the Plot English is a popular language --especially in the new century. As is known to us all, it is the most widely used language in the developing world and it’s getting more and more important nowadays. Recent estimates suggest that more than 400 million people speak it as their first language, with more than 1800 million people speaking it as second language. It is an official language in a large number of countries and is widely used in air traffic control and academic gatherings. Nowadays, with the opening-up of China, English teaching has been getting more and more attention, especially since Beijing won the bid to hold the 2008 Olympic Games. People are enthusiastic about learning English. Most of our students begin to learn English from Grade 3 in primary schools. However, classroom teaching has long been the only way to learn English in China, and the method has usually involved cramming grammar-translation knowledge into learning a language. But this approach of teaching and learning English is evidentially passive, because it goes against the principle of English teaching, which requires that listening and speaking take the lead in English teaching, and on the basis of these two skills, reading and writing will be cultivated. So speaking as one of the four language skills has played a very important role in English teaching in middle schools. All the communications are established on the basis of speaking. To be able to have a good pronunciation and tone, that is, speaking well can give you confidence in communication. In daily life speaking is the best way which make the communication of information become more quickly, especially in the present society with such quick development of people ’s life pace .so it is necessary for the students to develop the ability of speaking. What’s more, with the reformation of new process of teaching, it requires that the students will have the expressing ability to receive and pass information in English in real occasions. But many students often can speak well in class or in relaxed occasions, and when they are put in a real condition, they can’t. Why does it appear? Well, it is affected by many elements One of the elements is their English speaking ability.. So it demands the English teachers in junior schools to develop the student's speaking ability. So also it is necessary for the teachers to help the students develop the ability of speaking. I have observed the students’ speaking English since I became a teacher. I find many students often can speak well in class or in a relaxed occasion. But when I invite some foreign teachers to talk to them, they become very good audiences. Some students would like to say something, but often the foreign teacher can’t understand what they say. Why? Because they have no good phonetics or correct grammars. Then why don’t some of them say anything? Their answers are that they are afraid to make mistakes. And also some of the students say that they have no enough vocabularies to express. They want to say something, but suddenly they can’t remember the words r they don’t know the available words. And on the other hand, by analyzed the students’ book, I find the speaking English is getting more and more, but both some teachers and students don’t find it yet. So they aren’t able to emphasize the speaking English during the teaching. Little by little, the students’ speaking ability can’t be improved effectively. So facing with the series of problems, I attempt my teaching method to teach the present two small classes, including sixty students. I hope they can make a larger progress from the vocabulary, mental, phonetics until next year when they will graduate.
2.The importance of speaking 2.1 The importance of speaking existing in the language of human beings “Language is vocal ,this means that speech is the primary medium of language. While writing is secondary. Firstly, for any language speech existed long before the writing system came into being. Even today languages which have lonely a spoken form outnumber language which have a well-developed writing system. Secondly, normal children always learn to speak first. They begin to read and write only when they have reached the school age. Thirdly, speech is more important than writing for people’s daily life. A person who can't read and write is only an ‘illiterate’. However, a person who can't speak is normally regarded as‘disabled’.②So speech is very important in the development of human beings. 2.2 The position of speaking in the four language skills Of the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, &writing), listening takes the first step. However, communication is a two-way activity. When you can understand what is said to you, because of some reasons, you can't speak out what you mean, then the communication can’t be continued. So this communication will become a fall. During the learning of a language, listening and reading are a process of understanding and absorption, speaking and writing are a process of expression and use. Understanding and absorption are foundation while expression and use are improvement. That is, the former is a process of input; the latter is a process of output. Without the latter, the development of the language practical ability to understand and absorption will be meaningless. It is impossible to master the English and to form the ability to use English comprehensively only relying on the input of language. The expression of spoken and written should also be used to check and improve the language absorption and the thinking ability. While the language input is increased, the favorable practical activities of output will also be done constantly on the basis of understanding. And the final aim of language teaching is to develop the students’ ability to communicate in the form of spoken and written. And often the spoken English is more than the written English in language using. Especially in modern society with so quickstep, undoubtly, speaking communication is the quickest way. Although in the modern Internet world, E-mail also give people more convenient, when they write and read the E-mail, they will spend more time than speaking directly. What’s more, writing can't express the writer ’s feelings, quickly and directly, and the reader can't understand the writer's feeling .For example, one person is angry now. And he wants to tell his friend his present feeling .So he writes to his friend who can't understand his feeling just by reading his letter or E-mail better. But if he can speak to his friend directly, then his friend can know his feeling by his tone or expression. And he can also know how much his anger is .So this is a quick and direct speaking effect. Meanwhile, reading and writing have no this effect. On the other hand, it is only our tongue that builds a communication bridge between the listener and the speaker. Thereby, the listening ability must rely on the speaking in a way. Moreover, it is proved that if the speaking is trained best, it will be helpful for students’ confidence to learn English. 2.3 The importance of speaking existing in the teaching syllabus The aims of teaching syllabus stipulates that “ English teaching in middle schools are mainly to train students to have a definite foundation of listening and speaking so as to attain the aim to communicate comprehensively with others in English.”③It requires the teachers of English to organize their 45-minute class in English to create a living and lively English environment of English learning. Thus the students’ listening and speaking will be spontaneously trained and be practiced.
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