An Empirical Study On The Application Of Transcript-aided Task-based Activity In English Speaking Class

Speaking is a vital component of English learning. Large numbers of teachers and researchers have attached great importance to the issue of how to improve EFL learners' speaking ability. Experimental studies abroad have proved that the application of transcripts of learners'oral performance as a kind of support facilitates learners'speaking proficiency. However, most research is done by foreign researchers rather than in China. Therefore, this case study aims to explore the possibility of introducing the transcripts of learners'speaking task in English speaking class for the purpose of alerting students'awareness of mistakes they have made in their speech thereafter. The process may in turn bring some potisitve effect on learners'speaking proficiency.The study was a semi-experiment, with 51 first year English major undergraduates from two classes in Hunan University taking part in a test-posttest research process. Their English proficiencies were similar as the class member were initially assigned randomly and they were taught by the same teacher. During the semi-experiment, students used the transcripts of their own speech with the mistakes being highlighted in two different procedures, with one class using transcripts produced by themselves, and the other using the extracts transcribed by the author. They were asked to fulfill a questionnaire at the end of the experiment to gather data relating to their attitudes towards the teaching procedure.Learners'performance in the test and post-test were recorded and transcribed, and mistakes were then identified and categorized for analysis. The major findings were as follows:Firstly, this transcript-aided task-based language teaching method is manageable under ordinary classroom conditions;Second, most of the elements in this teaching approach are proved to be absorbing and helpful among learners;Third, the post-task self-transcribing procedure has a positive effect on learners' long-term progress in spoken English, especially in the aspect of grammatical accuracy.In a word, findings of the study show that both procedures are manageable under normal classroom conditions. However, the self-transcribing procedure would be more effective in helping the learners to maintain higher rates of accuracy. The findings offered a couple of implications for English speaking class. Though there are limitations in this study, it has provided practical data about speaking English teaching in specific context in China.