A Research On Improving The Spoken English Of Vocational School Students Through Social Practice

With global economic integration, China is gradually converging with the world. As the main language for international communication, English is playing an increasingly important role. If China wants to integrate into the world, it must make a breakthrough in English education. However, though English has been taught in China for many years, many students are still at a relatively low level of spoken English. A higher requirement of spoken English is set for students in vocational schools in particular, because their future employment is directly related to their English proficiency. Therefore, it is of vital significance to improve the spoken English of these students. For this reason, this paper conducts a research in improving the spoken English of vocational school students through social practice. First of all, it makes a survey of the students'level of spoken English through questionnaires and on-the-spot testing, in an effort to find the problems in their learning of spoken English and the reasons behind these problems. Then, it conducts an investigation and empirical study of the current methods of spoken English teaching by comparing and contrasting two groups of students. Lastly, it arrives at the conclusion that it is feasible to improve the spoken English of vocational school students through social practice.This thesis consists of 6 chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, pointing out the purpose and significance of the research, the research methods and thesis framework. Chapter two is the literature review, going over the relevant researches both at home and abroad and revealing their shortcomings. Chapter three is the theoretical basis, in which the definition of the term "social practice" is introduced at first, and then the group dynamics theory and the cooperative learning theory are introduced and discussed to improve the quality of oral teaching theory. Chapter four is an investigation of the status quo of the spoken English of vocational school students based on the cabin and secretarial service major offered in Shanghai Business & Tourism School, pointing out the problems and their reasons. Chapter five is an empirical study, illuminating further the improvement of the spoken English of vocational school students through social practice. The last chapter is the conclusion, summarizing the main content of the thesis, pinning down its limitations, and putting forward suggestions for further research.