Observational Study Of English Public Speaking Classes In American High Schools

This thesis intends to show the benefits of Public Speaking Education, which helps the students to gain more confidence to speak English in public, and to develop the students' organizational skills, critical thinking skills, listening skills, writing skills and oral English. The author collected class videos of four students, interviews of two Public Speaking class teachers, and questionnaires of twenty-five students in Public Speaking classes for evidence.In the first part the author gives the brief explanation of Public Speaking Education in American secondary schools and the purpose and significance of this observational study.The second part reports some studies from empirical researchers, who explained the Public Speaking according to some theories, such as metacognition and reflection. Also, This part gives the definition of public speaking and the relationships between public speaking and communication.The third part discusses and analyzes the model and the course of Public Speaking classes in American secondary schools.The fourth part reports and discusses the data, through which it illustrates the benefits of Public Speaking Education. At last, the author gets the implication: whether the model of teaching Public Speaking class is applicable to Chinese classrooms in the secondary schools will be a next study topic.