A research of factors influencing English speaking skills of middle school students

【Abstrat】English is a language， which has very important practicality. We learn English in order to speak and use it. However， for a long time， English teaching has focused on the teaching of knowledge， the translation of sentences， the analysis of grammar and the achievement of papers， while neglecting the cultivation of students’ ability， which leads to the low level of oral English of middle school students. This paper will summarize the reasons for the low level of English speaking skills of middle school students， and explores the teachers’ coping strategies.

【Key words】Middle school students； speaking skills

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】薛齡愛(ài)，綿陽(yáng)師范學(xué)院。

Ⅰ. Cause Analysis

1.1 Students’ own psychological barriers

Middle school students are a special group in adolescence， whose psychology is in the stage of semi-childish and semi-mature development. They are not independent enough to make decisions by themselves. Chinese， the only language used to communicate， has formed a certain habit of thinking， and has a fixed mentality， which is unwilling to change. In addition， middle school students have strong self-esteem， and their oral English foundation is rather weak. They are always afraid of making mistakes and are ashamed to speak out in case they would be laughed at by others. Therefore， they always lack self-confidence to speak. These psychological barriers， such as conformity， stereotyping and inferiority complex， have brought great difficulties to the oral English teaching of middle school students.

1.2 Lack of opportunities for listening and speaking

Most of our students live in the environment where their mother tongue is the sole language to communicate. Several English classes a week are the only opportunities for them to contact with English. English teachers are the only ones who communicate with them orally. But they are also almost limited to English classes， sometimes even this opportunity is not available. Because of the students’ foundation， in order to enable students to understand the theoretical knowledge quickly and clearly， English teachers have to change to Chinese teaching， which makes students have fewer opportunities to listen and speak， which leads to the stagnation of students’ speaking skills.

2. Teaching content is divorced from the reality of life

Task-based language teaching method is adopted in the new target English textbooks， which combines topic， communication function and language structure， and forms a step-by-step and life-based learning process. But after all， there is a gap between urban and rural life， which is difficult to reconcile for a while. Some topics are divorced from the reality of rural life.

Ⅱ. Coping Strategies

2.1. Improve error-correction skills and let students be willing to speak

On the basis of good pronunciation teaching， teachers should inspire， guide and encourage students to overcome psychological barriers. Students have a weak foundation and lack self-confidence when they speak. They are prone to anxiety and grammatical and syntactic errors. If teachers do not pay attention to error correction skills and severely criticize students， they will greatly frustrate students’ self-esteem and enthusiasm for learning. In dealing with students’ mistakes， teachers should be tolerant， give appropriate praise， dilute their mistakes， and give help and guidance in the way of guidance， encouragement， humor and courtesy. This can correct their errors in time， which can promote the improvement of middle school students’ oral English level.

2.2. Creating Language Situations for Students speaking practice

English teachers should use English to organize teaching. First， they can slow down the speed of speaking， reduce the difficulty and repeat sentences many times. Then they can gradually deepen and improve students’ listening ability. Meanwhile， they should ask students to use English as much as possible in class and give them opportunities to practice， because oral ability can be gradually cultivated only through speaking practice.

3. Conclusion

With the development of international economy， English speaking skills become an essential ability of modern people. As middle school students， they should improve their practical skills of English to enhance their core competitiveness in the future. Middle school students should pay attention to English speaking otherwise they will be surpassed in future’s competitiveness by those who are good at oral English.

References：

[1]Qiu Ping[裘平].淺談新課標(biāo)下提高初中生英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)能力的教學(xué)策略[J].當(dāng)代教育論壇（教學(xué)版），2011（2）：89-90.

[2]Huang Tao[黃濤].初中英語(yǔ)教學(xué)中提升學(xué)生口語(yǔ)表達(dá)能力策略淺談，新課程（下），2012（6）：22-23.