Solutions to the Problems of Oral English Teaching in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College

王文彥

【Abstract】On the basis of investigation and questionnaire， some feasible solutions are put forward to solve the problems of oral English teaching in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College.

【Key words】oral English teaching； questionnaire； vocational and technical college

Introduction

English has become an international language in the world.Oral English is evidently becoming more important for those educated at technical colleges. They are required to have a better command of English language and the ability in communication across culture. But as is known to all， oral English teaching is really weak in our English teaching in middle schools.For many years， English teachers have been busy with helping their students to get high scores to pass various examinations.As a result， students taught by traditional methods just learn grammatical rules， study a few examples， do grammatical exercises， study， analyze and translate the text and do more exercises.They rarely have spoken English course.When they come across everyday English， they tend to find nothing to express themselves orally even if they have studied English for three or six years. The author did her teaching practice in Chizhou Vocational and Technical college， a key technical college in Anhui Province， which is the object of the questionnaire.

Ⅰ. The present situation of oral English teaching in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College

1. The aim of designing the questionnaire

In order to know the present situation of oral English teaching and learning in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College， a questionnaire was handed to 100 students of Grade 1 during the teaching practice of the author.The questionnaire consists of 10 questions， which are designed to investigate the students in the following aspects：individual and group attitude towards oral English teaching， major problems existed in their study， the situation of in-class teaching and after-class English practice， and students requirements.

2. Overall analysis of findings from the questionnaire

The findings from the answers show that students have strong motivation in oral English learning.Nearly all the students hope to improve their oral ability. But they do not think their parents and schools lay enough emphasis on their oral English ability. An overwhelming majority of students feel that the lacking of confidence and the incapacity of speaking are the obstacles of speaking out.

Ⅱ. Solutions to these problems in oral English teaching in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College

1. The activation of the teaching idea

The first and foremost concern is the teaching idea towards oral English teaching.

The goal of oral English teaching is not only producing specialized talents who are able to speak and interpret English， but also cultivating experts of communication who can understand and speak English in various professional situations.

Nowadays， oral English teaching in China is experiencing an inevitable change due to social progress， in which new concepts and teaching idea continuously come into being. So， what is new idea of oral English teaching in Chinese education indeed？ It is important to be clear about the kind of oral English class this thesis is talking. It is not going to look at controlled oral English practice where students say a lot of sentences using a particular piece of grammar or a particular function. The oral English lesson promoted here is almost a positive exercise. In other words， the students are using the language at their command to perform some kind of oral task. The most important thing in an oral English lesson is that there should be a task to complete and that the students should desire to complete it. Right here， the task in oral English teaching refers to the different kinds of language practice activities beneficial to the students English.

2. The development of teachers teaching capacity

Based on the investigation， these problems still exist in the oral English teaching process.Firstly， influenced by traditional teaching demands and exam-oriented education， most teachers usually neglected the oral communication expression. Under exam-oriented education， written tests are more important than oral tests， so teachers usually neglect the training of students' oral English ability， especially in the developing areas.Secondly， teachers pay more attention to language knowledge teaching because of the power of traditional teaching system.In traditional teacher-centered class， students just listen to the lessons and take notes passively， then memorize the knowledge mechanically.This kind of teaching form makes few chances even no chance for students to practice oral English. Thirdly， different qualifications and abilities of certain teachers result in the success or failure of oral English teaching.Nowadays， because of the shortage of English teachers in some developing areas， some of them are non-English major teachers， even some have not received academic training. In addition， many teachers lay no emphasis on the application of teaching methodologies and could not organize class activities effectively.

While all these are in prior condition of teachers high qualification， the further development of their teaching methods should be positively improved. One of the most common problems is how to correct mistakes during speaking activities. When students are repeating sentences trying to get their pronunciation exactly right， then the teacher will often correct students every time there is a problem. But if the same teacher did the same thing while students were involved in a passionate discussion about whether smoking should be banned on tourist beaches， for example， the effect might destroy the conversational flow. If， just at the moment one of the students is making an important point， the teacher corrects it， the point will quickly be lost. Constant interruption from the teacher will destroy the purpose of the speaking activity. Many teachers watch and listen while speaking activities are taking place. They note down things that seem to go well and times when students couldnt make themselves understood or make important mistakes. When the speaking has finished， teachers then ask the students how they thought it went before giving feedback. The best principle of watching and listening to give feedback later is usually much more appropriate and shows more personal capability of oral English teaching.

3. The stimulation of students interest in English

The last but the most significant solution is the stimulation of the students interest. Oral English is often considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of language learning for the teacher to help students. To a large extent， it is because teachers are attempting to teach in the classroom what is normally learned outside. The classroom is regarded as a convenient place for imparting information and for developing educational skills and spending a lot of time teaching the students grammar， usage of vocabulary or sentence structures instead of emphasizing the use of the language for various communicative purposes. Games， role-play and discussions are most frequently used to stimulate students interest in English.

From the questionnaire in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College， speaking activities like games， role-plays can arouse students interest effectively.

Conclusion

Nowadays， oral English is evidently becoming more important at middle schools. Students are required to have a better command of English language and the ability of communication in the trend of globalization. But in the reality， oral English teaching is really weak. Based on the investigation and questionnaire in Chizhou Vocational and Technical College， the author finds the following major problems in oral English teaching there， which show the generality across many middle schools today： ①the lag of the teaching idea ②the staleness of the teaching materials ③the weakness of the teachers teaching capacity of oral English ④the lack of the students interest. Furthermore， the author finds out some relevant solutions to confront these difficulties. Teachers teaching idea， spoken English， teaching method and teaching aids are supposed to be improved. Various in-class and after-class activities would stimulate students interests. No matter inner motivations or outer conditions， no matter national environment or personal experience， affective factors should be worked in all directions in order to solve existed problems and make further development.

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