A Study on the Different Approaches in Improving Oral English.doc

提高英语口语的不同方略研究a study on the different approaches in improving oral englishcontentsabstract.1key words .1i. introduction .2ii. pronunciation .21. situational conversation.32. imitation and retelling .51) imitation .52) retelling .63. international phonetic symbols.7iii. vocabulary .81. phonetic transcription .82. word formation .91) word roots .92) prefix .93) suffix .93. word groups 10iv. sentence patterns 101. basic patterns .102. proverbs .11v. the result of the analysis .12vi. conclusion 12references 12abstract: nowadays, english exists as a native language for 35 million people and as a second language for 20 million people. with chinas accession to the wto and carrying out further the open policy, a great many of chinas companies, enterprises and institutions are in urgent need of the talented who are able to use english, especially oral english to communicate with foreign people and companies in various international activities. english as an international language makes people communicate easier. but english as a language has lots of parts that are hard to grasp, vocabulary and grammar for example. these parts are important especially in oral english circle. how to improve oral english is a big problem. these years experts and teachers in china have different views on how to improve oral english. this essay will make a study on the different approaches in improving oral english.key words: oral english; conversation; word formation; sentence patterns摘 要：现在，英语被3500万人用作母语，还有2000万人把英语当作第二语言。随着中国加入世界贸易组织和实施更进一步的开放政策， 大多数中国公司， 企业和机构急需能使 用英语的人才， 特别是英语口语好的人才，让他们在各种各样的国际活动里与外国人和公司联系。 英语作为一种国际语言使人们更容易交流。那么，怎样提高英语口语是一个大的课题。这些年一些专家和教师关于怎样提高英语口语各执己见。本文将对提高英语口语的策略进行一些研究。关键词：英语口语；会话；构词法；句型i. introduction language is used as a tool for people from different countries to communicate, to share the same ideas and to argue about different thoughts. so communication is a basic skill that foreign language learners must acquire. english as an international language makes people communicate easier. nowadays, english exists as a native language for 35 million people and as a second language for 20 million. with the economic globalization and the development of english speaking countries, english has become a world language. with chinas accession to the wto and carrying out further the open policy, more and more international collaborations and exchanges have now been taking place. english, as a tool, is more and more widely used in the above activities. a great number of chinas companies, enterprises and institutions are in urgent need of talented people who are able to use english, especially oral english to communicate with foreign people and companies in various international activities. however, such increasing demand is not easy to meet because of the existing oral english level of the personnel concerned. as regards the english level, we may divide it into two parts, the productive english, which covers writing and reading, and oral english, which covers listening and speaking. although students enthusiasm for learning english runs high, that only can be seen from the high passing rate of band examinations which rarely includes oral english test. actually a lot of students have made little progress in their oral communication after their college life. their oral abilities are far from the requirement in college english syllabus although to some degree their vocabulary has been enlarged and their reading, listening and writing abilities have been improved. what they have learned is still a “silent language”.“silent language” means the ability of chinese to use english, to speak out and to communicate with foreigners is not so satisfactory. they cannot quite understand what foreigners have said. communication is blocked for chinese students poor listening and oral english. so the improvement of chinese students oral english is very important and urgent. good methods can give a hand to them. language experts and teachers have their own ideas how to improve oral english.ii. pronunciationsome experts and teachers say that the best approaches in improving oral english is to train for students pronunciation. students are trained to speak english clearly, fluently, orderly, logically and accurately. in their views, good pronunciation can let the listener have a good impression and make the conversation continuously. good pronunciation shows you have a good command of basic english skills. training course includes three parts: situational conversation, imitation and retelling and international phonetic symbols.1. situational conversationsince many courses and books focus on correct grammar, students may feel that they shouldnt say anything until they are sure they are saying it correctly. or they feel embarrassed to speak because the listener will notice their mistakes. this attitude hinders students from developing the kind of fluency that only comes from speaking. in order to speak, you need to be willing, to be outgoing, and to be talkative. this means you are not afraid of making mistakes and you are not afraid of what others might think of your language ability. instead, you take the initiative to answer questions in class and talk with any foreigners you have met. some students say they dont have opportunities to practice their english. they dont know any foreigners, and the people they know are at the same english level as they are. however, this situation should not stop you from finding ways to practice your oral english. your improvement is not based on being able to speak with a native english speaker. you can also improve it by speaking with other chinese who are also learning english. you can practice with daily language. get in the habit of using daily expressions in english to your roommates or classmates such as “good morning. lets go and have breakfast.”, “do you know where my keys are?”, “im really tired today.” etc. as you get in the habit of saying these daily sentences, they will become more and more familiar and easier for you to use. over time you can add more and more complex ones, for example: “i will recommend john. hes really good.” or “i love sports and amusements above everything else. i have no other hobbies.”also, you can practice by doing english discussions. set aside time to have english discussions with a small group of your friends or classmates or roommates. one person can choose a topic such as fashion trends, old age, childhood memories, and job interviews. each person writes a couple of questions about that topic. then read and discuss your answers to each persons questions. only talk about it, one topic each time so that you can have an in-depth discussion about that particular issue. choose topics that would be interesting to you and about which people have different expressions or opinions.for example, if you are talking about the topic of childhood memories, you can discuss questions as following:whats your earliest childhood memory?when you were a child, what did you think of your parents?do you remember what your favorite toy or favorite game was?describe a situation in which you were naughty?can you remember being afraid of any kind of animals?what activities did you do with your parents in your childhood?what kind of animals did you keep as pets?another example, if you are talking about the topics of job interviews, you can discuss questions such as:if you were an employer, what character qualities would you look for in an employee?in an interview, how could you tell if the interviewee has those qualities or not?think about what you like to do in your spare time, what does that tell you about what kind of work environment might be best for you?why is it that most people feel nervous at job interviews?what can you do in order not to feel so nervous?think about the strengths of the other people in the group, tell each person in the group why you would want to hire him?most foreigners living in china are happy to have conversations in english with chinese students they meet. if sam is a stranger, be sure to ask permission to have a conversation before you start asking questions. you may begin by stating directly that you are studying english and wonder if he would be willing to talk with you for a while. or, better yet, you can think about how you might start a conversation with a chinese who is a stranger to you. many of us talk with strangers about ourselves or the situation we are in, rather than immediately asking the stranger questions. for example, if you are doing some shopping, you might comment on how expensive or cheap it is. if it is especially cold outside, you might comment on what a cold winter it is. if sam responds to what you have said, this may indicate that he is willing to continue the conversation with you. if he does not respond, he probably has other things to do and would rather not talk. focus your conversation on the topics of work and school. these are the topics that foreigners mostly like to talk about with each other. we seldom ask “what do you like to do in your spare time?” or “what kind of music do you like to listen to?” instead, most of our conversations focus on what we do at work or school. for example, if sam is a businessman, you could ask questions like this “how long have you been with this company?” “what have you learned from working with this company” “what other skills or knowledge would you still like to learn?” “what kind of preparation is important in order to enter the kind of business you are in?” these questions might look like interview questions, but actually these focused and individualized questions show that you are interested in sam as an individual, not just as someone with whom you can practice your english. similarly, if you meet a student who is studying chinese, you can ask “which class has helped you the most in improving your chinese?” “when you study, do you prefer studying alone or with others?” “can you use what you have learned in class in your day-to-day interaction with people?” besides, talking about work or school, it is also appropriate to talk either in china or in other parts of the world. avoid very general questions such as “what do you think of china?”. this question is so broad that sam has no idea where to start. in addition, sam may feel that the purpose of the question is just to make conversation, rather than to find out what he really thinks. instead, try to focus your questions on a specific aspect of a topic. when talking with sam, keep in mind that the conversation should not simply be you asking questions. depending on how much contact he has with chinese people, he might appreciate the chance to ask you questions about current events in china, for example “what difficulties do chinese college graduates have in finding jobs.” each culture has different definitions of what is a “private matter”. to most foreigners, ones marital status, age, income, and the price of something they bought are private matters. if you want to know whether or not sam is married, simply look at his hand to see if he is wearing a wedding ring. concerning ones age, some people are less willing to reveal their age than others. therefore, only ask sam how old he is if you know him well, or if he is going to have a birthday.2. imitation and retelling1) imitationwhen you read after the tapes or other audio materials you should make your voice loudly. this point is very important. you should pay attention to details, for instance, when to make your tongue flat or when to make your tongue do a circle. you shouldnt make the cat-like noise; nobody would like to guess what you have really said. you should imitate carefully. english has its special tune that you can follow. so listen carefully, find the tune in each sentence or in each phrase. you couldnt acquire this ability in a short time. you must train your ears and your temper to listen to something. you should imitate with your emotion otherwise this training will make you dull. believe yourself you can repeat any difficult words and phrases. for example, you are listening to the following two conversations. you can imitate them sentence by sentence.conversation 1:a: excuse me. have you got an english-chinese dictionary? b: sorry, they have just been sold out.a: oh, what shall i do?b: we can order the book for you if you would like.a: how long can i get it?b: well let you know as soon as the book is avaliable.a: ok, then i order one. this is my name and the address. b: if you have time, you may come again in a few days. a: thank you. conversation 2:a: what shall we do tonight?b: how about the cinema?a: thats a good idea. we havent been to a cinema for a long time.b: what would you like to see?a: oh, i dont know. spy story?b: spy story? thats terrible, old film?a: but its got jame perevelle in it. im still trying to write a story about him, you know?b: but ive seen it before.a: never mind. perhaps you will like it better the second time you see it.2) retellingretelling is also a way to have a good pronunciation to communicate. you can first read a piece of article or a paragraph and then use your own words to describe the materials you have read. avoid reciting each word but the outline or the tree structure of the material. important words or sentence patterns can be referred to.the following is a passage for reading and retelling:there has always been a close cultural link, or tie between the british and the american, not only in literature but also in the popular arts, especially music. before the second world war the americans exported jazz and the blues. during the 1950s they exported rocknroll, and star singers like presley were idolized by young british and american alike. then in the early 1960s a new sound was heard, very different from anything that had so far come from the american side of the atlantic. this was the liverpool, or mersey side, beat situated on the river mersey in the north-western corner of the industrial black country. liverpool was not a place which anyone visited for fun. until the 1960s it was known only as one of britons largest ports. then, almost overnight, it became world famous as the birthplace of the new pop culture which, in a few years, swept across britain and america, and across most of the countries of the western world.you can first listen to the tapes and then retell. in this way you should retell each word you have heard. this is a good way to make a correction of your pronunciation and intonation. you can feel whats the exact way and accent made by english users and their local pronouncing way, avoiding making any grammar mistakes. when you can freely use this way to retell, you can change word order and use different patterns to retell. even more, you can use the new words or phrases you have just learned by heart.the following is a tape retelling example, you can retell the details as clearly as possible: name: bill gates date of birth: october 28, 1955 favorite subjects at school: science and math hobbies: reading, playing golf and playing bridge in 1968: he started to play with computers. in 1972: he worked out a software program and sold it. in 1973: he went to harvard university. in 1975: he began this company called microsoft with his friend pall allen.in 1994: he married melinda french.3. international phonetic symbolsa good command of the international phonetic symbols of english is essential and important in improving oral english.in english phonetics there are 12 vowels, 8 diphthongs and 28 consonants. the vowels are classified according to the position of the tongue. in producing a front vowel, the bulk of the tongue is moved to the front part of the mouth. in the same way, the bulk of the tongue is moved to the back of the mouth while forming a back vowel.generally speaking, the english language can be divided into two main regional dialects or varieties: british english and american english. though educated english speakers throughout the world can understand both of them with little difficulty, there are some obvious differences between them in pronunciation. for example: effective /ifektiv/ (b.e.), /efektiv/ (a.e).many english sounds are close to chinese sound in pronunciation. it can be seen by a comparison between the international phonetic symbols of english and the chinese pinyin system. but we should also remember that few chinese sounds are exactly the same as english sounds because of different places of articulation. for example, english i: is not the same as chinese yi(衣) and english ai is quite different from chinese ai(爱).another difficulty in english pronunciation is recognizing the distinction between long vowels and short vowels, for there is no such phenomenon in chinese pronunciation. as a result many chinese students fail to pronounce long vowels or diphthongs long enough, such as i: u: ei a: etc, and short vowels short enough, such as i u e etc. so when we really mean “chip” the listener may hear “cheap”, and this could result in great confusion in the conversation. last but not least is the influence of various chinese regional dialec