The Methods for Improving Middle School Students’ Oral English

　　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.