Application Of Situational Teaching Method In Middle School Oral English Teaching

In the stage of middle school, the oral English learning is the most neglected part of the language activities in the classroom, and yet it is also the most important part. In the process of English teaching, oral English teaching has always been the focus argued by researchers and teachers. There exists an argument whether it is necessary to teach students how to speak English and how teachers should teach oral English. For a long time, under the pressure of the exam-oriented education, there are two misconceptions in oral English teaching: one is that the teachers employ the less efficient traditional teaching method, which get the students exhausted by making notes in the book and the application of the knowledge of English grammar; the other is that many students hold a very casual attitude towards English learning because students’ oral English ability is not tested in exams, so they just view it as something on paper.Situational Teaching Method is based on the theory of constructivism. It first appeared in the field of philosophy and psychology. Now it has been widely used in the area of education. Situational Teaching Method takes fostering students’ ability of using language as the ultimate goal of English teaching. The teaching purpose is set up in the centre of students. So the method advocates interactive teaching among teachers and students in class. Besides, it also advocates that teachers would zealously instruct students to learn independently in the process of language teaching. Situational Teaching Method has overcome some disadvantages of traditional learning method: dullness, isolation and superficiality. It builds a comfortable learning environment for students to learn independently under the guidance of the teacher, and has become an important subject in the educational research. It is not only a form of effective learning, but also a new kind of teaching aim.Besides, the author conducts an investigation of the application of Situational Teaching Method in oral English teaching. An experiment is carried out to prove that compared with traditional teaching method, Situational Teaching Method can help students stimulate their interest in English learning and mobilize their learning enthusiasm and initiative. The author conducted an experiment to the students of two parallel classes in the Xuchang No.3 Middle School and the experiment lasted about one semester. The control class was taught with the traditional teaching method while the experimental class was instructed with Situational Teaching Method. Instruments used in the research include questionnaires, pre-test and post-test and interview. Through comparing statistics between experimental classes and control classes in several ways, the researcher found that compared with traditional teaching method, Situational Teaching Method is more workable to make students take an active part in the classroom activities, enhance students’ learning interest and improve the integrated use of oral English ability. The result from the study is believed to have an influence on the present teaching method study.