The Communicative Teaching Of Spoken English In Senior Middle Schools In China

Since 1980 when the Chinese government introduced the open-door policy, and especially since China's entry to the WTO, English, being the international language for communication, consequently has gained its special position in education, science and technology, as well as many other fields in China. Being able to communicate directly with foreigners by means of English becomes increasingly important for the Chinese students.In order to satisfy this increasingly urgent need, the English teaching in senior middle school in China has begun to focus attention on the oral English training. The teachers teach in English, so the students have more chances than before to practise their spoken English in class.While it is true that the average level of oral English among Chinese senior school students has been remarkably improved, their communicativeability in spoken English is very low in comparison with their ability to listen,read and write. Many students believe that their speaking skills need to beimproved most. This reveals the fact that the teaching of spoken English in most senior middle schools in China is not effective enough to meet the communicative needs of the students.This dissertation will look at the existing problems in the teaching of spoken English in the light of the findings of linguists and applied linguists and the observations the author has made during six year's teaching experience in a senior middle school. Through the discussion of the existing problems and review of the literature on the teaching of spoken English, solutions are suggested, which have been proved to be efficient by comparing the exam results of the students in the experimental class with those of the other classes.The solutions have been proved to be both sound in theory and applicable inpractice.In chapter I, the theory of teaching spoken English will be reviewed in order to lay a broad and solid theoretical foundation for the solutions to the problems revealed in chapter II. The properties of speaking will be examined;the efficient foreign speaker of English will be defined in respect to the four aspect of competence in real life communication; and the communicative approach together with the characteristics of communicative teaching of spoken English will also be discussed.In chapter II, the current state of oral English teaching in Chinese senior middle schools will be reviewed. The history of English language teaching in China will be introduced so as to give a general background to the issues with which this dissertation is concerned. Based on this background, the existing problems will be revealed and discussed.In chapter III, based on the above two chapters, the use of appropriate speaking activities and the integrated teaching of spoken English are to be discussed. At the same time, the roles of the teacher in the newly suggested teaching framework will also be analyzed. The author will present sample teaching materials and activities, with the purpose of exemplifying the types, range and variety of activities that can be used in oral English teaching in Chinese senior middle schools.In chapter IV, the solutions mentioned above will be estimated . Then the author will draw the conclusion.