Register Theory And Oral English Teaching To Graduate Students

This thesis covers an empirical study on the application of Register Theory in oral English teaching to graduate students. Taking into account the current incompetence in oral communication, this study is carried out in search of a feasible and effective approach to improve students'communicative competence.Learning to speak a foreign language is considered especially difficult for EFL learners because oral communicative competence requires the ability to use the target language fluently and appropriately. By investigating the graduate students, we cannot help but regard the average product of English learning as being sadly and grossly deficient. It is even worse concerning the oral English teaching, for most of the graduate students who are definitely experienced learners, are actually still weak in effective communications. A reform is therefore urgent.The theory of register throws new light on oral English teaching and learning. The notion of register refers to the fact that the language we speak or write varies according to the situation. What the theory of register does is to attempt to uncover the general principles, which govern this variation, so that we can begin to understand what situational factors determine what linguistic features, then accordingly, what kind of language can be appropriately employed in what situation. Obviously, the concept caters to what oral English teaching aims to achieve. Therefore, it is proposed that by applying Register Theory, oral English teaching can be more efficient.After a theoretical exploration of the theory, an experiment is conducted with a model designed for graduate students. The results are obtained through valid questionnaires, oral proficiency test and individual interviews. And the results suggest that it is quite significant and practical to introduce the register theory to oral English teaching to the graduate students; register-theory-based oral English teaching helps to improve learners'oral English achievement, and meanwhile to build up learner's learning qualities. What's more, the survey brings some implications for oral English teaching to graduate students. The conclusion is then drawn that education by applying the theory of register to the development of oral communicative competence, i.e. to help the learners speak appropriately in the real situation is strongly recommended.