Things Chinese in College Oral English Teaching

[Abstract] Foreign language students should always be trying to get their language skills honed， developed， and ever closer to the ideal： the way native speakers use the language. They’ll probably never reach that ideal， but they must constantly strive in that direction. We do， of course， acknowledge that there are variations and disagreements among native speakers about the “correct” way to use their own language， but those disagreements are few and insignificant compared to the commonly used “standard” corpus of the language.

[Key words] things Chinese， college oral English courses， speaking skills

Introduction

As teachers， we are directly involved in formally gaining and transmitting knowledge. This is our profession， and we are ethically required to do it well. Jackson （2012） notes that there are seven methods of gaining knowledge. Superstition is subjective interpretation of random event having nonrandom meaning. Intuition is defined as gaining knowledge without knowing consciously how you gained the information. Information can also be gained from authority figures， from the tenacity of repeated ideas， and through logical reasoning. Finally， information can be gained through observation （empiricism） and from science， which is the logical testing of observations （Jackson， 2012）. For most of our education， we rely on authority， tenacity and rationalism to gain and transmit information. The problem with this is that the knowledge gained and transmitted in this manner may not be reliable， empirical or logical.

While teachers learn about the value of the scientific method， they do not usually implement the scientific method themselves. This may be attributed to a variety of factors， including lack of time， lack of ideas， lack of understanding of how to design and conduct scientific studies， and lack of motivation. Reading research is an acceptable method of maintaining currency in scientific studies of one’s teaching areas， but this is requires time， access， and motivation.

Universities and colleges are historically and internationally considered institutions of higher learning. This means that hey are to develop and maintain a reputation for professionalism and effectiveness， the information they provide though authority figures must be reliable and preferably based on scientific inquiry.

When teaching Oral English， the goal is to improve the pronunciation， grammar and fluency in the student’s speech. It is generally believed that increased practice in speaking a language will improve these areas. A teacher of Oral English should evaluate which specific teaching methods produce the best results.

Conceptual Model of foreign Language Teaching

Because foreign language teaching – and indeed language in general – is such a huge thing， it is found useful to break it down into Concepts （also known as Elements）， skills， and materials. These three categories give language teachers not only the jargon to discuss various aspects of foreign language teaching， but also help us prioritize and analyze our use of class time and what we should test. The following lists are non-language and non-program specific. The concepts and skills circled are most relevant to the work in Oral English class at our college.

9 Language Concepts （Elements）

4 Language Skills

4 Main Materials for Foreign Language Students

1.Statements = A fact generally devoid of opinion；

2.Opinion = An owned belief；

3.Question = Eliciting a response；

4.Story = A real or imagined experience.

Types of Media

1.Realia = Props， pictures， the bandages on a student’s leg， etc.

2.Written = Textbook， flyer for upcoming activity， handout， newspaper， etc.

3.Audio/Visual = son， movie， video， etc.

It is hypothesized that students who participate in English Corner， which is an after-class activity opened to all students on campus， will have a significantly greater improvement in Oral English than those students who do not use this resource. Additionally， it’s also hypothesized that students who use an integrated learning approach will have a greater improvement in Oral English than those students who are taught Oral English using rote recitation or those students who are taught using only the textbooks. A 1 hypothesis and four alternate hypotheses will be evaluated in this research.

Hypotheses：

H0： there is no difference in improvement in the English skill level between the groups of students；

H1： there is a significant positive difference between students who attend English Corner every week and those who do not；

H2： students who are taught using the second teaching style will have significantly greater improvement in Oral English than students who are taught with the first teaching style；

H3： students who are taught using the third teaching style will have significantly greater improvement in Oral English than students who are taught with the first and second teaching style；

H4： students who are taught using the third teaching style will show significantly greater improvement than students who are taught using the first and the second teaching style；

Methodology

There will be 10 classes of between 20 and 25 students in each class for a total of 200 to 250 students. Each class will be randomly assigned to one of the three teaching styles. The first teaching style will use only the textbook materials to guide Oral English teaching. Students will be required to read the textbook and listen to the material in advance of the class， in keeping with traditional Western methods of textbook education. Classroom instruction will consist of reading and discussing the textbook with correction given as needed.

The second teaching style will use textbook materials and specific grammar drills. While students will be required to bring and use their textbook， emphasis will be placed on creating and reciting sentences that are grammatically accurate with correct pronunciation. A list of specific vocabulary words will emailed to students in the previous week， along with pronunciation drills and grammar reminders. Classroom instruction will consist of group recitation of the emailed material， textbook material until standard pronunciation is achieved. Questions from the students on the material will be answered and corrections will be made as needed.

The third teaching style will use textbook materials and student research into topics of interest. This will require students to actively think and create sentences for classroom use. Students will be emailed various topics of information in the week before along with some questions for consideration. The topics will include Chinese culture， Chinese history， and Chinese historical figures. Classroom instruction will consist of the teacher providing a quick review of the material before the students each give a weekly report on the topic. Corrections will be made as needed.

Each student， regardless of the class in which they are participating， will be advised to use English Corner at least once a week. All students assigned to the ten classes will be offered a chance to earn extra credit for the class， which will be applied to the participation portion of their grade. Students who choose to earn extra credit will be required to provide proof of attending English Corner using a standardized form which will be signed by the Foreign Teacher leading the English Corner session. These forms will be collected and verified weekly.

Every student will be evaluated in the first week of classes to determine their proficiency in English grammar， pronunciation， fluency and vocabulary. The evaluation will take the form of four open-ended questions. At the end of the term， students will once again be evaluated in grammar， pronunciation， fluency and vocabulary using four open-ended questions. The difference in the grades between the initial evaluation and the final exam will be categorized， compiled and analyzed to determine which hypotheses are supported.

Conclusion

Foreign teachers are employed at our college to achieve two main types of goals： emotional and linguistic.

The emotional goal is to help the students \"feel more comfortable\" interacting with someone from another country and culture. Most students have not had a foreign teacher before college， and may never have even spoken to someone from outside China before. Hopefully， students who have interacted with a foreigner before graduation will have an easier time interacting with foreigners after graduation. Achieving this goal depends largely on the interpersonal skills of the foreign teacher. Foreign teachers must be friendly， respectful， encouraging， etc. in their interactions with any students they encounter on or near campus.

The linguistic goal is much more difficult and depends largely on the teaching and linguistic skills. Foreign teachers are employed by the college because we bring something linguistic that Chinese teachers of English cannot. Certainly， Chinese English teachers bring many things we cannot （especially sympathy for the learner of English since we never technically “learned” our language）. So what are those unique skills that foreign teachers offer that Chinese teachers cannot？

1.Native pronunciation.

2.Native usage of grammar and vocabulary.

Foreign teachers may feel insecure about our ability to explain pronunciation， grammar， and vocabulary but there is no doubt that our ability to use them and speak in a native way is our primary advantage. Of course， the perfect combination is a native speaker who can also explain what’s going on with the language： i.e. a native speaker who is also a language teacher. the priorities for teaching Oral English should be on the following skills and concepts （in order of importance）：

1.Speaking

a.Pronunciation

b.Grammar

c.Vocabulary

2.Listening

Of course， teachers may deal with other skills （such as paraphrasing， monitoring， etc.） and concepts （such as culture， spelling， etc.） as they feel appropriate as long as the majority of the class time and energy is focused on speaking and listening， with students’ speaking skills taking priority. While practicing speaking skills， the students’ pronunciation and grammar should take precedence over their vocabulary. And always， the classes should be skill / production focused. The idea is not to tell them more things about pronunciation and grammar， but to get them using the pronunciation and grammar in a more native and standard way.

References

Jackson， S. L （2012）. Research Methods and Statistics： A critical Thinking Approach. （4th ed.）. Belmont， CA：Wadsworth Cengage Learning.