Empirical Study On PPFA Learning Model For Improving Junior EFL Learners' Speaking Competence

As communicative approach was introduced in the early 1980s,the tenet of English teaching was adjusted to promoting learners' language skills;students' speaking ability becomes better.But the questionnaire among 222 junior three students in Haidian District conducted by the author shows 40.1%junior students have no ability to form a "coherent monologue".They usually rush to the end without expanding while confronted with a topic.To seek the reason,the author did 49 classroom observations among 17 middle schools in Haidian District,which shows 93%speaking activities are lacking in spoken discourse practice.An analysis of the concerning topics between the current Junior English textbook Go for It and English Curriculum Standard(2003) proves that there is a gap between the textbook input and required output in both the lack of topic items and their profundities.Based on the findings,the author put forward the PPFA leaning model(preparation, presentation,formative assessment) to improve students' speaking ability.Through intensive review of formative assessment theory concerning its definition and distinction from summative assessment and review of performance assessment on its elements, functions,assessment criteria and scoring rubric,the author constructed a 3-D assessment instrument,which is comprised of three items:formative assessment for the purpose of improving as the principle,performance assessment as the tool,circumstances,process and product as the assessment contents.3-D assessment instrument is characterized by formative assessment(FA),as the core of PPFA learning model,PPFA involves three necessary elements:systematic instruction on speaking, student-centered teaching style and sufficient oral input on various topic items.The hypothesis:students' conducting spoken discourse preparation and presentation scaffolding on a formative 3-D model of assessment leads to speaking competence promotion.This research attempts to answer the following three questions:1.Is there any significant difference between the performances of the three rounds of free talks?2.Does the PPFA model promote students' speaking competence in forming coherent monologues on more topics and with more profound insights?3.What speaking skills can be enhanced through PPFA learning model?Results of the research project show that:1.Three rounds of free talk(in abbreviation of FT1,FT2,FT3) were conducted along the experiment respectively from September,2006 to December,2006;February,2007 to May,2007;September,2007 to April,2008(Phase 2),along with which,three free talk scores are collected according to the criteria and they are used for quantitative analysis-paired samples T test via the Statistical Package for Social Scientist(SPSS 13.0).Paired samples test proves that there is no significant difference between FT1 and FT2.While concerning difference between FT1 and FT3,mean is -0.28182, standard deviation is 0.64602,standard error mean is 0.09739,and 95%confidence interval of the difference is between -0.47822 and -0.08541,in which there is no zero.It indicates that there is significant difference between FT1 and FT3.T is -2.894,the significance(2-tailed) being 0.006(p＜0.05).It also proves that the third score of free talk is higher than that of the first score and the difference is significant,which draw a conclusion that the subjects acquired obvious improvement in doing oral presentation.2.In the learning model PPFA,students did 220 presentations covering 23 topics,three more than Go For It and one more than ECS,accompanied with more profound insights. So,the PPFA learning model promotes students' speaking competence in forming coherent monologues on more topics and with more profound insights3.Through practicing in the learning model PPFA,students developed learner autonomy, which was mainly manifested as self-setting of task goals,self-monitoring of required time and self-application of a set of speaking strategies such as rehearsing and writing strategies including surfing the internet for reference,looking up the dictionary,doing investigation and discussion,asking the teacher and classmates for help and revising. The learning context was transformed from teacher-centered to student-centered. Teachers performed more sharing roles.In this learning model,the students were exposed to abundant speaking experience,developed the motivation of learning for communication,becoming easier and more comfortable in speaking with improvement in fluency,pronunciation,speech volume,body language and facial expression as well as ways of thinking and expansion of vocabulary after having suffered from feeling at a loss and reciting instead of talking.The research results verify the hypothesis and also show PPFA is a comprehensive learning mechanism steering at speaking while involving writing,reading and listening skills development.What is more,the author constructed a series of effective tools that help teachers with feasible future implementation of the learning model P PFA,including a language testing sheet for free talk with assessment criteria,scoring rubric and assessment report,a checklist of PPFA operating elements and strategies of providing effective feedback.