College English Listening And Speaking Strategies Research Based On Professional Interpreting Training Models

Over the past decades, chances have increased for college graduates to work inEnglish environment. Both the job market and College English CurriculumRequirements (2007) stress the importance of English oral proficiency. However, fewcollege students manged to meet those requirements (Cai Jigang,2002).The interpretation course in English department trains both language proficiencyand interpreting skills, with the aims of arousing interest, improving listeningcomprehension, cultivating logic and improving one’s oral proficiency. It helps tobreak off from fossilization in learners. Many scholars (Xiong Lijun, Luo Chuoxia,2006; Wang Jinbo,2009; Han Geling, Chen Lily,2011) have come to recognize thepositive role interpreting courses play in boosting learners’ listening and speaking.They have attempted to transplant interpreting courses into College English teaching.However, their attempts are limited to the discussion over the rationale and feasibilityof introducing optional courses, without actual course designs, let alone the attemptsto customize professional methods so as to fit in the current College English teaching.Therefore, on the basis of a thorough analysis of the Interpretive Theory, Gile’sEffort Model, and Xiada’s Model of interpreting teaching, with reference to thesyllabus, teaching modes and teaching methods of interpreting courses in Englishmajor, the author designs a training approach geared to non-English majors and theirEnglish teachers. The research questions are as following.1) What is the relationship between the interpretation-oriented listening andspeaking strategies and the students’ listening comprehension/oral proficiency?2) Is there any difference of improvement in terms of listening comprehension/ oral proficiency among students at different language proficiency levels?3) Which activity appeals most to the students with different language ability?4) What is the students’ attitude towards the training approach?5) What is the teachers’ opinion towards the teacher training approach?This study chooses eighty college students in SNU as the subjects for experiment.They are randomly allocated to an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG).Subjects in the EG receives interpreting training, while subjects in the CG receivestraditional teaching of speaking and listening. By analyzing scores of the two groupsin both pretests and posttests, the validity of interpreting training is revealed. Thesubjects are then asked to fill in questionnaires and join in interviews for furtherinformation. The teacher training, data are collected in the through interview. Theresults are as followed.(i) According to the data analysis of pretest and post test scores, students in EGimproved more significantly than those in CG.(ii) EG Students in both high score group and low score group have improvedtheir scores of listening and speaking.(iii) Subjects in low score group believe that shadowing and dictation trainingsare the most effective, while the high score group consider note-taking, retelling andlogic training the most useful. There are, however, a small group of students who findit too difficult to follow the course.(iv) Students in EG became more confident, more interested in English and moremotivated in learning after the treatment.(v) College teachers who took the training reported that this training programinspired them, stimulated them to think more about course design, about their students,and about their own professional skills.To sum up, this research designs a training approach that adds a new dimensionto our attempt to promote the reform of College English teaching reform. Theteachers’ training is, in one word, an attempt to promote reflective teaching andteachers’ professional development as a whole.