A Study Of The Application Of Constructivist Theory To Oral English Teaching For Non-English Majors

This study is undertaken to investigate whether the constructivist-based instruction is helpful and effective to improve college students'oral English, attempting to explore the improvements of the students taught with constructivist-based instruction have achieved and analyze the underlying factors contributing to the improvements. The research questions to be addressed in the study are as follows:1. Can constructivist-based instruction more effectively improve students'oral English achievements as compared with traditional oral English teaching approaches?2. If it can, in what ways has constructivist-based instruction more effectively improved students'oral proficiency?3. What are the underlying factors contributing to the higher achievements and significant improvements?The theoretical framework on which the study is based is constructivism, which emphasizes the learners'self-centeredness and the important role the contexts, interaction, dialogue plays in the process of meaning construction.Two research designs were employed in the present study---a quasi-experiment (pre-test and post-test) a questionnaire and an interview. The experiment was conducted between two classes, one was served as the experimental class of 28 students and the other was control class of 29 students. The two classes of accounting majors were sophomores from the Administration School of Yangzhou University. They have the same periods of English lessons per week and use the same textbook---Experiencing English. The College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET), one of the most authoritative oral English tests in China, was used in both pre-test and post-test. The students'achievements in the oral tests were rated strictly based on the assessment criteria of CET-SET by two teachers. The questionnaire was made up of 26 items covering three main aspects: investigation of students'interest in oral English learning, students'participation in oral English activities and the teacher's role in constructivist classroom. All the students from the two classes responded to the questionnaire. The statistics collected from the experiment and the questionnaire was both analyzed by the SPSS 14.0.Random sampling was used to select 6 students from the experimental class for the interview to find out the underlying factors responsible for the improvements in different aspects the students from experimental class have achieved.Based on the data collected from the study, the writer summarizes the following major findings:1 The Constructivist-based oral English instruction can more effectively improve the EFL learners'oral English achievements.2 Constructivist-based oral instruction can more effectively improve Accuracy & Range and Flexibility & Appropriacy of students'oral proficiency.3 The main factors contributing to the students'higher oral English achievements lie in students'increased interest, uplifted motivation in oral English learning and active participation in oral English activities. In constructivist classroom, the teacher sets goals before each lesson, establishes authentic context, and provides abundant opportunities for interactive and collaborative learning.Findings from this study have three pedagogical implications:1) Teachers should have a better understanding of their role shifting from a controller and information dispenser to a facilitator, helper and guide. The constructivist teacher is supposed to create authentic situations; provide enough opportunities for collaborative learning, to be specific, putting forward enlightening and open-ended questions to evoke active discussion and exploring, guiding the students to accommodate new knowledge to change their current cognitive structure.2) Motivation is a key factor to effective oral English learning. The teacher should turn the classroom into a place where students'interest in learning the target language is stimulated and maintained, students are maximally exposed to authentic communications in the target language, and their accomplishment of oral tasks.3) Full involvement and the access and exposure to the target language contribute a lot to students'oral proficiency. Therefore, teacher should help, encourage and supervise the students to accumulate more language knowledge and participate in various activities.4) The foreign language teacher is appealed to have a clear idea about the students'learning, giving encouraging comments on students'performance, providing timely and positive feedback to their progress and putting forward constructive and feasible suggestions for further improvement to build up their confidence and sense of fulfillment in oral English learning.