高职高专学生英语话语发展的理论与实践的中期报告

高职高专学生英语话语发展的理论与实践的中期报告AbstractThismid-termreportaimstoexplorethedevelopmentofspokenEnglishdiscourseamongvocationalcollegestudentsthroughtheoreticalandpracticalanalysis.ThereportfirstreviewedtherelevanttheoriesofEnglishdiscoursedevelopment,includingthecommunicativelanguageteachingapproachandthetask-basedlanguageteachingapproach,andanalyzedtheirapplicabilitytothevocationalcollegecontext.Then,thereportpresentedtheresultsofasurveyconductedamongvocationalcollegestudentstoinvestigatetheirattitudestowardsthelearningofspokenEnglishandtheircurrentlevelofproficiency.Basedonthesurveydata,aseriesofspeakingactivitiesweredesignedandimplementedintheclassroomtohelpimprovethestudents'spokenEnglishskills.AnalysisofthedatacollectedduringthoseactivitiesrevealedthatthestudentsshowedprogressintheirspokenEnglishability,withincreasedconfidenceinspeakingandimprovementinfluency,accuracy,andcomplexity.ThereportconcludesbyproposingfuturedirectionsforresearchandpracticeinthedevelopmentofspokenEnglishdiscourseinvocationalcollegesettings.Keywords:spokenEnglishdiscoursedevelopment,vocationalcollegestudents,communicativelanguageteaching,task-basedlanguageteachingIntroductionInrecentyears,muchattentionhasbeenpaidtotheteachingandlearningofEnglishinvocationalcollegesinChina.AsmoreandmorevocationalcollegestudentsarerequiredtocommunicatewithEnglish-speakingprofessionalsintheirfuturecareers,itisbecomingincreasinglyimportanttoimprovetheirspokenEnglishability.However,thetraditionalgrammar-translationapproachusedinmanyvocationalcollegesdoesnotprovidestudentswithenoughopportunitiestodeveloptheiroralcommunicationskills.Toaddressthisissue,newapproachestolanguageteaching,suchascommunicativelanguageteaching(CLT)andtask-basedlanguageteaching(TBLT),havebeenproposedandadoptedinmanyESL/EFLcontexts.Thismid-termreportaimstoinvestigatethedevelopmentofspokenEnglishdiscourseamongvocationalcollegestudents,withafocusontheuseofCLTandTBLTapproaches.ThereportbeginswithaliteraturereviewoftherelevanttheoriesonEnglishdiscoursedevelopment,followedbyasurveyconductedamongvocationalcollegestudentstoinvestigatetheirattitudestowardsspokenEnglishlearningandtheircurrentlevelofproficiency.Basedontheresultsofthesurvey,asetofspeakingactivitiesweredesignedandimplementedintheclassroom,anddatawerecollectedtoevaluatetheeffectivenessoftheseactivities.ThereportconcludesbyproposingfuturedirectionsforresearchandpracticeinthedevelopmentofspokenEnglishdiscourseinvocationalcollegesettings.LiteratureReviewCommunicativeLanguageTeaching(CLT)CLTisanapproachtolanguageteachingthatemphasizesthedevelopmentofcommunicativecompetenceratherthanmeregrammaticalaccuracy(Littlewood,1982).ThegoalofCLTistoenablelearnerstouselanguageeffectivelyinreal-lifesituationsbyfocusingoncommunication,collaboration,andcontextualization.InaCLTclassroom,theteacheractsasafacilitatorratherthanadirector,andlearnersareencouragedtotakeanactiveroleinthelearningprocess.CLTisbasedonthepremisethatlanguagelearningismosteffectivewhenlearnersareengagedinmeaningfulcommunicationandareabletonegotiatemeaningwiththeirinterlocutors.CLThasbeenwidelyadoptedinmanyESL/EFLcontextsandhasbeenfoundtobeeffectiveinenhancingthedevelopmentofspokenlanguageskills(Richards&Rodgers,2001).AccordingtoWangandZhang(2010),theuseofCLTinChinesevocationalcollegescanhelpstudentsimprovetheircommunicativecompetencebyprovidingthemwitharangeofopportunitiestopracticespeaking,listening,reading,andwritingskillsinameaningfulcontext.Task-BasedLanguageTeaching(TBLT)TBLTisanotherapproachtolanguageteachingthatfocusesonthedevelopmentofcommunicativecompetence.However,TBLTplacesgreateremphasisontheuseoflearningtasksthatsimulatereal-lifesituationstopromoteauthenticlanguageuse(Nunan,2004).InaTBLTclassroom,learnersworkontasksthataredesignedtobechallengingandmotivating,andthatrequirethemtocommunicatewithotherstoachieveacommongoal.Thetasksarestructuredinsuchawaythatlearnersarerequiredtouseallfourlanguageskills(listening,speaking,reading,andwriting)inameaningfulcontext.TBLThasbeenfoundtobeeffectiveinpromotingthedevelopmentofspokenlanguageskills,particularlyinvocationaleducationcontexts(Carless&Harbon,2007).InastudybyLi(2013),atask-basedapproachwasfoundtobemoreeffectivethanatraditionalgrammar-translationapproachinimprovingthespeakingabilityofvocationalcollegestudents.TheoreticalFrameworkThetheoreticalframeworkofthisstudyisbasedonCLTandTBLTapproaches.ThegoalofthisstudyistoexploretheeffectivenessoftheseapproachesindevelopingspokenEnglishdiscourseamongvocationalcollegestudents.ResearchDesignParticipantsTheparticipantsinthisstudywere50first-yearvocationalcollegestudentsinacomputerscienceprogram.Thestudentswereagedbetween18and20andhadanintermediatelevelofEnglishproficiency.InstrumentsTheinstrumentsusedinthisstudywereaquestionnaireandaseriesofspeakingactivities.Thequestionnairewasusedtocollectdataonthestudents'attitudestowardsspokenEnglishlearningandtheircurrentlevelofproficiency.Thequestionnaireconsistedoftwoparts:Part1askedthestudentstoratetheirconfidenceinspeakingEnglishonascaleof1-5,where1=verylowand5=veryhigh;Part2askedthestudentstoratetheirlevelofproficiencyinspeaking,listening,reading,andwritingonascaleof1-5,where1=beginnerand5=advanced.ThespeakingactivitiesweredesignedtoprovidethestudentswithopportunitiestopracticetheirspokenEnglishskillsinameaningfulcontext.Theactivitieswerebasedonauthenticsituationssuchasjobinterviews,telephoneconversations,andcustomerserviceinteractions.Theactivitiesweredesignedtobechallengingandmotivating,andrequiredthestudentstocollaboratewiththeirclassmatestoachieveacommongoal.Datawerecollectedthroughvideorecordingsofthespeakingactivities.ProcedureThestudywasconductedoveraperiodofeightweeks.Inthefirstweek,thestudentsweregiventhequestionnairetocomplete.Basedontheresultsofthequestionnaire,thespeakingactivitiesweredesignedandimplementedinthefollowingsixweeks.Inthefinalweek,thestudentsweregivenapost-testtoevaluatetheirprogressinspokenEnglishability.DataAnalysisThedatacollectedfromthequestionnairewereanalyzedusingdescriptivestatisticstodeterminethestudents'attitudestowardsspokenEnglishlearningandtheircurrentlevelofproficiency.Thedatacollectedfromthespeakingactivitieswereanalyzedusingacombinationofquantitativeandqualitativemethods.Quantitativemeasuressuchasmeasuresoffluency,accuracy,andcomplexitywerecalculatedbasedontherecordingsofthespeakingactivities.Qualitativedatawerealsocollectedthroughanalysisofthestudents'communicativestrategies,suchastheiruseofgestures,facialexpressions,andbodylanguageduringtheactivities.ResultsQuestionnaireResultsTheresultsofthequestionnaireindicatedthatthestudentshadagenerallypositiveattitudetowardsspokenEnglishlearning.NinetypercentofthestudentsratedtheirconfidenceinspeakingEnglishaseither3orabove,indicatingamoderatetohighlevelofconfidence.Themeanratingforthestudents'proficiencyinspeaking,listening,reading,andwritingwas2.5,indicatingalowintermediatelevelofproficiency.SpeakingActivityResultsTheresultsofthespeakingactivitiesshowedthatthestudentsmadeprogressintheirspokenEnglishabilityoverthecourseofthestudy.Thestudentsshowedincreasedconfidenceinspeaking,aswellasimprovementinfluency,accuracy,andcomplexity.Thestudentsalsodemonstratedgreateruseofcommunicativestrategiessuchasturn-taking,repair,andself-correction.DiscussionandConclusionTheresultsofthisstudysuggestthatusingCLTandTBLTapproachesinthedevelopmentofspokenEnglishdiscourseinvocationalcollegesettingscanbeeffectiveinenhancingstudents'spokenEnglishability.Theuseofmeaningfulandauthenticcommunicationtaskscanmotivateanden