Study on the Activation of Communication in Spoken English Class of Vocational C

Abstract. In order to improve the efficiency of teaching in spoken English course and students’ spontaneous communication in college English learning， this thesis focuses on the factors that influence the vocational college students and analyze students’ motivation in spoken English learning. Try to find activation approaches to promote students’ autonomy and proficiency in spoken English class.

Key words： Activation， communication， spoken english， Vocational college

1. Introduction

In China， curriculums of vocational College requirements give priority to the practical English application. In order to improve the quality of higher vocational English teaching and cultivate students' English application competence， the reform of English teaching is imperative. In the reform， the appropriate teaching modes， teaching design， students' learning state control， and creating a relaxed language learning environment is the key to the success of English teaching. How to create a fun learning environment， cultivate students' interest in learning English， realize the goal of higher vocational English teaching？ These questions leave teachers consideration. The thesis is on the basis of constructivism theory which is the result of cognitive processing. Constructivism teaching view points out that strive to create a learning environment， in this environment， learners can construct their own knowledge voluntarily and be active in learning， while teachers play the role of aiding. Constructivism teaching view claims to cultivate students’ creative thinking ability in active learning opportunities， and pay attention to analyze and solve problems in teaching.

English teaching is a very complex intellectual activity. It involves in not only the English language knowledge and skills， but also the pedagogy， the psychology， the linguistics， etc. As for English teachers， having flexible ability in Chinese-English cultures is necessary and the teaching effect plays an important role in English teaching， which helps to improve the quality of English teaching. For students， the factors such as cognitive style， learning motivation， learning attitude， learning interest， emotion will determine their learning effect. We find that， in the language teaching process， students are better at reading after the systematic training， but worse at oral communicative competence. During the spoken English class students are more often lack of initiative， due to various reasons. And their oral expression ability is not a corresponding increase. Therefore improve the students' oral English communicative competence is not only a linguistic issue， but also a psychological one.

On reflection of the feedbacks from my students’ usual notes， oral expression and homework， I collected and summarized some problems which needs for resolution. The main problems vocational college students care about are： I don’t know how to learn English， I’m not interested in. I wish I could learn it in a more active atmosphere； I expect more interesting games and fresh news or sorts in English class； I found it difficult to learn word by heart and overnight I easily forget them； I really don’t know how to change my present English learning state ….It seems that all this involves the attitude.

I realized that the most valuable way to promote a change of attitude alongside the acquisition of skills is to encourage learners to reflect on what they are doing and why （Edge and Wharton， 1998：296）. That is the activation of students’ autonomy.

2. Analysis on Individual Factors in

Spoken English Class

American psychologist Christopher once put out personality performance plays an important role in SLA. Among these factors learners' affective is particularly prominent. According to his investigation， we put the students in oral English class and classified them according to their personality performance： classroom dare for， classroom discomfort， motivation and attitude to language etc.

2.1 Main Factors that influence on Vocational college students

There exist many cognitive style “factors”， which might prevent vocational college students from reaching their highest potential in spoken English learning. The following I mainly listed some factors English teachers may often face in the teaching process.

（1） The “Overly Anxious” and “excessive caution” Problem

Due to their less proficiency in English or previous unsuccessful language-learning experiences， vocational college students usually seem lack of confidence when are required to answer questions in English. They dare not speak out or they worry about their imperfect pronunciation and expressions in English.

Another problem is that vocational students are unwilling to take risks for their less proficiency in English learning； they may have an uneasily catching pronunciation which causes misunderstanding so that prevent efficient communication. They often pause too long before giving responses to teachers’ questions； they want to get everything right before they attempt to speak， which slow the speed of expression.

（2） The “Engagement” Problem and

The teachers are not fully committed teaching English as interaction and will not fully engage in interactive with students or arranging activities for them to use spoken English as a means of communication in the classroom.

In traditional teaching and learning process， teachers are the center， while students experienced one fact that they are taught to obey teachers from childhood. Teachers have the authority over students. In classroom， most of the time students are busy taking notes and focusing on the teachers’ instructions. Students will not interrupt the teachers in class. So that students gradually form the habit of thinking carefully when encountering a problem. In fact they are mostly lack of confidence in Expressing in second language.

Therefore， to understand the factors influencing students’ participation pattern in class may help English teachers find the more appropriate teaching approaches to activate the communication.

3. Strategies to activate communication in

Spoken English Class

3.1 Interactive Teaching Strategy

Language teaching should be interesting， and learning should be fun. But actually we still find in classroom， language learning is a tedious， dry-as dust process， devoid of contact with the real world in which language use is as natural as breathing. （Rivers， 1987） So language teachers should make full use of the class time and provide more opportunities for students to interact in English. Let them know they are the center of learning. Apart from classroom teaching， more options can be provided for students to choose， e.g. English clubs， English movies， Internet.

In the spoken English course （classroom teaching） I take the following measures：

（1）. Try to encourage students’ autonomy in English learning， they are divided into several learning groups. Each group will choose one topic for class presentation. They are free to choose the related materials and arrange the time to rehearse.

The function of the group discussion is to share and communicate among group members. In each group， students may discuss， share and support each other. Finally， one of them gives us the report. We call this activity brainstorming. After their presentation （morning report）， I would give a score for their performances in their autonomous learning.

（2）. Try to lower the inhibitions of vocational students by playing some games such as communication games； or do some role plays and even sing English songs； laugh with them and share their fears in small groups.

（3）. Try to build vocational students’ self-confidence， I constantly tell them that I do believe in them. Encourage them to ask questions. Praise them for good guesses， and do not always explain their errors， whereas get them to identify errors， and encourage them to catch and correct with each other or have them make lists of their common errors and then work on them. Correct only selected errors that may interfere with students’ learning. Occasionally I can resort to translation into our native language to clarify a word or meaning.

（4）. Try to promote students’ right brain processing. Make good use of multimedia devices， e.g. use movies and tapes in class. Have them read passages rapidly， do skimming exercises， rapid free writes and retelling stories， etc.

（5）. Try to get students set their own learning goals， direct them to go beyond the it； have them summarize what they got in a particular week， and set lists of what they will accomplish on their on next.

These measures arouse students’ interest and made them more independent. While as teachers， we need to show emotional maturity， sensitivity to the students’ feelings， a perceptiveness and commitment. As Rivers puts it， “When a teacher demonstrates such qualities， students lose their fear of embarrassment and are willing to try to express themselves.”（Rivers， 1987）

3.2 Task-Based Teaching Strategy and Process Comment

Long （1985：89， cited in Nunan， 1989） defines task in the context of a “real world” as a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others， freely or for some reward. According to Nunan （1989：11） a task contains goal， input， activity， teachers’ role， learners’ role and teaching environment setting. In a word， a task usually asks teachers to arrange the class from the communicative point. Task-based language teaching can improve the learner’s accuracy in the language， which has obvious advantages compared with the traditional foreign teaching approach.

TBLT mode designed by Willis， which divide the teaching process into three phases： pre-task， while-task （task cycle） and post-task. We can design the effective teaching procedures refer to the mode.

（1）. In-put procedure： Teachers firstly demonstrate students some background information which may help students to understand and then create tasks by activities. For instance， offer them some topics such as hotel， bank， railway and some useful expressions， sentence structures， meanwhile require them to work in pairs or groups to prepare the topics for several minutes.

（2）. Language skills acquisition process includes three parts： task， plan and report.

In this process， Teachers can draw students’ attention to a certain video clip， and do some practice to imitate it. The practice of having students imitate before exercise， then teachers invite students to present or role play.

（3）. To provide opportunity for students to do the tasks once again and promote them to reconsider the process of carrying out tasks. While teachers guide them to self examine and reconstruct the language expression.

4. Take a process assessment

Traditional test methods tend to grammatical rules， morphological variation and usages of words and expressions. This test usually takes the form of written test. While in spoken English class， it seems that this old method lacks in reliability， and it is hard to collect and process relevant data. So it is necessary to take a new method to test students’ practical capability in applying what they have learned into practice. Teachers can give students prompt correction so as to get rid of bad learning habits. Students are urged to speak out in this test system.

5. Conclusion

Taking the task-based and communicative measures， the author find that students are willing to be involved in displaying their knowledge in spoken English class. And they become more voluntarily in after-class learning. The result indicates that the application of task-based English teaching is necessary and effective in proficiency of students’ English learning. Meanwhile a new test assessment may help the activation of communication.

However task-based language teaching needs high quality of teachers. How to improve the qualification of teachers is still a task.

References

[1] Brown， H. D. Teaching by Principles： An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Foreign Languages Teaching and Research Press.

[2] Brinton， D. M. 1991. “The use of media in language teaching” “In Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language”

[3] Guy Cook & Barbara Seidlhofer. Principles & Practice in Applied Linguistics， Shanghai Foreign Education Publishing House

[4] Prodromou， L. 1991. “The good language teacher”， English Teaching Forum， 24（2）

[5] Stevick 1978， 1980 “Discusses the concept of teacher control and student initiative”