An Action Research On The Effects Of Using Native Speakers To Improve Students' Oral Competence In High School

Beginning in the 1980s, teachers began to be encouraged to participate in teaching research, and action research was one type. In the course of action research, being designers, implementers, evaluators, teachers should do systematic observation, continual self-reflection, and discovery of problems amongst teachers to determine the proper means of resolving problems occurring in the classroom. During the process of solving these problems, teachers are able to examine data, to analyze outcomes, to discover new problems, and to allow for the logical development of action research, which in turn leads to improvements in teaching methods, enhancement of teaching results, and expansion of teachers' knowledge.This action research is based on the program in which four American college students work as English teaching assistants to interact with the students. The research subjects are 40 students in Senior Grade Three in Huairou Hongluosi High School. After an interview the writer finds that in oral class more emphasis is laid on teaching language knowledge. Besides, accuracy is emphasized and students' speeches are often interrupted by teachers' correction of their mistakes, which make students feel nervous. What's more, large class size cannot provide enough chances for each student to practice oral English in class, so that students gradually lose their interest in speaking. The writer designs a series of real life tasks in an international program between her school where she is working and an American university, which aims at motivating students to speak English and feel more interested by providing them with a safe and real life environment. After a 12-week action research, the writer analyzes the result of interviews, pre-test and post- test and the teacher's log, then she find the answers to the two questions:1. Chinese students can be more motivated and interested in English if provided with real life tasks to practice English both in and out of class.2. Chinese students can be more likely to be engaged in meaningful communication in the target language, thereby, to acquire the language in a safe and real life environment.The writer hopes that this action research will be able to assist other teachers who are interested in conducting this type of research.