| Under the current environment and the needs of our society, schools, teachers and students pay more attention to oral English, and most colleges and universities employ foreign teachers to teach students oral English. However the status of English Majors’ oral English classes in China is still not satisfactory. The large-size class model does not have the capability to activate students’motivation for attending English class. Some students do not speak English in class because of their fear and feeling of inferiority. The main reason is that the learning environment, the school and the teacher’s teaching model do not satisfy students’ individual characteristics.English and Chinese are totally different language systems. In China, English is regarded as a foreign language. But in many western countries, English and their Native languages belong to the same language system, so English is considered as the second language in western countries. In the United States, for those non-English-speaking students, English is still counted as a second language for them. Because of the different language environments in China and the United States, teaching English in China and teaching English as second language in the United States cannot be considered completely equal; however, the teaching content is the same—both are all about teaching English. In each site, they both have the English teacher, whose native language is English in the English class. Therefore, through comparing the oral English teaching between the United States and China, we can learn their comparative advantages from their teaching procedures. In this study, the author employs questionnaire, interview and classroom observation to conduct a comparative study. According to the results of the survey, some suggestions are given for improvement in oral English teaching and students’ spoken English in China. This is also the ultimate goal of this research.The analysis in this research is based on the aspects of the student’s learning attitude, class atmosphere, and participation of students in the class. It arms to answer the following questions:1) What are the differences in the learning initiative of students in this two groups?2) What are differences in the students’engagement in this two groups?3) What are the differences in the training of the English ability in the class between this two groups?4) What are the problems in the Oral English class in China?5) What are the resolutions to these problems?Based on the analysis, results in this research indicate:1) The Chinese students do not have enough learning initiative for studying English. Most of them are learning English in a passive way. But for the Intensive English for Internationals students, they have an explicit goal to study English, and every student enjoys the class activities.2) The Chinese students enjoy the class activities much less than the Intensive English for Internationals students in America.3) In China, the Oral English class emphasizes much more on pushing students to speak English. Normally the teacher will create a topic for students in class, then asks students to discuss the topic together; however, in the IEI, their Oral English class is based on the input theory.4) In China, the Oral English teaching does not use the Hierarchical Teaching based on the individual learning difference of each student. Intensifying speaking English is the goal, forgetting the foundation of input and output. Basing on the analysis results of the research, the author wants to make some suggestions for improving the efficiency of oral English teaching and student’s spoken English:first, the English teacher should use the Hierarchical Teaching based on the individual learning difference of each student. Second, the English teacher should understand that the input is the foundation of the output. We should emphasize more on the input training when we teach students English. Third, students should change their study attitudes. They should have an explicit goal of studying English and positively join the class activities.At the end of this paper, some shortcomings of the research and suggestions for future researches are also mentioned. |
