Analyse the Deficiencies in Teaching English speaking in Secondary School in China

黃曉麗+董麗哲

【Abstract】Speaking is very essential for second language learners. The final aim of language teachers is to help learners use the language flexibly. The essay discusses the existing problems in teaching speaking.

【Key words】deficiencies, teaching English speaking, secondary school

Speaking is vitally important in second language learning. Despite the enormous importance of speaking, there are still some obvious problems in teaching speaking in secondary school in China. The English language teachers in secondary school have been taking speaking as a dispensable part in English teaching; we might say teaching speaking has already been undervalued by secondary school English language teachers for many years. It is mainly reflected in the proportion of the speaking in English class time. New senior English for China published by Peoples Education Press is the course book that used by most of the secondary schools in China. Taking Unit4 Earthquakes (Liu, 2007) for example, this unit consists of ten parts, which are warming up, pre-reading, reading, comprehending, learning about language, discovery useful structures, reading and speaking, listening, reading and writing, and summing up. English teachers usually spend 280 minutes on one unit, however, just 25 minutes on average on speaking section. Whats worse, English language teachers usually transfer the speaking section to the warming up section by asking students several oral questions related to the topic instead of taking it as a separate part seriously. Beyond that, when teaching speaking, English language teachers in secondary school have continued to adopt the tedious and unscientific teaching methods such as the repetition of drills or mechanical memorization of dialogues. In that kind of “teacher centred” classroom, they are unwilling to take time to explore some effective and meaningful activities, however, helping students remember language points is the most important thing for English language teachers in China.

The second problem that exists is the poor speaking skills of secondary English language teachers. It is well known that as English language teachers, speaking in English in class as much as possible is an effective way to encourage and stimulate your students to speak in English. But due to the lack of higher education in English, experience of living and studying in English-speaking countries or the ability of self-study, some of the English language teachers do mispronounce phonemes, stress and intonation patterns, speak less fluent English or unclear accent, and dare not speak in English in public. How can English language teachers help their students overcome the bashfulness of speaking English if they themselves fear about speaking in English in class?

No effective evaluation method for testing speaking skills is another problem that cannot be ignored. “University entrance examination”, the most vital test for secondary school students in China, determines if students can be enrolled by a university, what kinds of universities they can go to, and what subjects they can study. The following table is an analysis of the question types of Matriculation English Test (MET) of national volume from 2009 to 2013.

QT

Year Listening Multiple choice

Cloze Reading

comprehension Errorcorrection

In an essay Writing

2013 √ √ √ √ √ √

2012 √ √ √ √ √ √

2011 √ √ √ √ √

2010 √ √ √ √ √

2009 √ √ √ √ √

Table 1 an analysis of the question types of MET national volume (2009-2013)

As can be seen from the table above, there arent any part about speaking in national volume of MET, and all the question types are related to listening, grammar, reading and writing. MET does not emphasize oral skills, let alone other English tests in secondary schools. With an examination system like this, so how could we expect our teachers to pay serious attention to it? In China, English language teachers just teach what will be tested in MET. The teaching of English is totally examination-driven mode. Possibly this is the root of various problems of teaching speaking.

References：

[1]Liu,D.Y.(2007), New senior English for China,Beijing: Peoples Education Press.

endprint

【Abstract】Speaking is very essential for second language learners. The final aim of language teachers is to help learners use the language flexibly. The essay discusses the existing problems in teaching speaking.

【Key words】deficiencies, teaching English speaking, secondary school

Speaking is vitally important in second language learning. Despite the enormous importance of speaking, there are still some obvious problems in teaching speaking in secondary school in China. The English language teachers in secondary school have been taking speaking as a dispensable part in English teaching; we might say teaching speaking has already been undervalued by secondary school English language teachers for many years. It is mainly reflected in the proportion of the speaking in English class time. New senior English for China published by Peoples Education Press is the course book that used by most of the secondary schools in China. Taking Unit4 Earthquakes (Liu, 2007) for example, this unit consists of ten parts, which are warming up, pre-reading, reading, comprehending, learning about language, discovery useful structures, reading and speaking, listening, reading and writing, and summing up. English teachers usually spend 280 minutes on one unit, however, just 25 minutes on average on speaking section. Whats worse, English language teachers usually transfer the speaking section to the warming up section by asking students several oral questions related to the topic instead of taking it as a separate part seriously. Beyond that, when teaching speaking, English language teachers in secondary school have continued to adopt the tedious and unscientific teaching methods such as the repetition of drills or mechanical memorization of dialogues. In that kind of “teacher centred” classroom, they are unwilling to take time to explore some effective and meaningful activities, however, helping students remember language points is the most important thing for English language teachers in China.

The second problem that exists is the poor speaking skills of secondary English language teachers. It is well known that as English language teachers, speaking in English in class as much as possible is an effective way to encourage and stimulate your students to speak in English. But due to the lack of higher education in English, experience of living and studying in English-speaking countries or the ability of self-study, some of the English language teachers do mispronounce phonemes, stress and intonation patterns, speak less fluent English or unclear accent, and dare not speak in English in public. How can English language teachers help their students overcome the bashfulness of speaking English if they themselves fear about speaking in English in class?

No effective evaluation method for testing speaking skills is another problem that cannot be ignored. “University entrance examination”, the most vital test for secondary school students in China, determines if students can be enrolled by a university, what kinds of universities they can go to, and what subjects they can study. The following table is an analysis of the question types of Matriculation English Test (MET) of national volume from 2009 to 2013.

QT

Year Listening Multiple choice

Cloze Reading

comprehension Errorcorrection

In an essay Writing

2013 √ √ √ √ √ √

2012 √ √ √ √ √ √

2011 √ √ √ √ √

2010 √ √ √ √ √

2009 √ √ √ √ √

Table 1 an analysis of the question types of MET national volume (2009-2013)

As can be seen from the table above, there arent any part about speaking in national volume of MET, and all the question types are related to listening, grammar, reading and writing. MET does not emphasize oral skills, let alone other English tests in secondary schools. With an examination system like this, so how could we expect our teachers to pay serious attention to it? In China, English language teachers just teach what will be tested in MET. The teaching of English is totally examination-driven mode. Possibly this is the root of various problems of teaching speaking.

References：

[1]Liu,D.Y.(2007), New senior English for China,Beijing: Peoples Education Press.

endprint

【Abstract】Speaking is very essential for second language learners. The final aim of language teachers is to help learners use the language flexibly. The essay discusses the existing problems in teaching speaking.

【Key words】deficiencies, teaching English speaking, secondary school

Speaking is vitally important in second language learning. Despite the enormous importance of speaking, there are still some obvious problems in teaching speaking in secondary school in China. The English language teachers in secondary school have been taking speaking as a dispensable part in English teaching; we might say teaching speaking has already been undervalued by secondary school English language teachers for many years. It is mainly reflected in the proportion of the speaking in English class time. New senior English for China published by Peoples Education Press is the course book that used by most of the secondary schools in China. Taking Unit4 Earthquakes (Liu, 2007) for example, this unit consists of ten parts, which are warming up, pre-reading, reading, comprehending, learning about language, discovery useful structures, reading and speaking, listening, reading and writing, and summing up. English teachers usually spend 280 minutes on one unit, however, just 25 minutes on average on speaking section. Whats worse, English language teachers usually transfer the speaking section to the warming up section by asking students several oral questions related to the topic instead of taking it as a separate part seriously. Beyond that, when teaching speaking, English language teachers in secondary school have continued to adopt the tedious and unscientific teaching methods such as the repetition of drills or mechanical memorization of dialogues. In that kind of “teacher centred” classroom, they are unwilling to take time to explore some effective and meaningful activities, however, helping students remember language points is the most important thing for English language teachers in China.

The second problem that exists is the poor speaking skills of secondary English language teachers. It is well known that as English language teachers, speaking in English in class as much as possible is an effective way to encourage and stimulate your students to speak in English. But due to the lack of higher education in English, experience of living and studying in English-speaking countries or the ability of self-study, some of the English language teachers do mispronounce phonemes, stress and intonation patterns, speak less fluent English or unclear accent, and dare not speak in English in public. How can English language teachers help their students overcome the bashfulness of speaking English if they themselves fear about speaking in English in class?

No effective evaluation method for testing speaking skills is another problem that cannot be ignored. “University entrance examination”, the most vital test for secondary school students in China, determines if students can be enrolled by a university, what kinds of universities they can go to, and what subjects they can study. The following table is an analysis of the question types of Matriculation English Test (MET) of national volume from 2009 to 2013.

QT

Year Listening Multiple choice

Cloze Reading

comprehension Errorcorrection

In an essay Writing

2013 √ √ √ √ √ √

2012 √ √ √ √ √ √

2011 √ √ √ √ √

2010 √ √ √ √ √

2009 √ √ √ √ √

Table 1 an analysis of the question types of MET national volume (2009-2013)

As can be seen from the table above, there arent any part about speaking in national volume of MET, and all the question types are related to listening, grammar, reading and writing. MET does not emphasize oral skills, let alone other English tests in secondary schools. With an examination system like this, so how could we expect our teachers to pay serious attention to it? In China, English language teachers just teach what will be tested in MET. The teaching of English is totally examination-driven mode. Possibly this is the root of various problems of teaching speaking.

References：

[1]Liu,D.Y.(2007), New senior English for China,Beijing: Peoples Education Press.

endprint