Analyzing And Evaluating The Speaking Part Of Higher Vocational English Textbook New Practical English

With the rapid development of higher vocational education in China,more and more attention has been paid to English teaching in higher vocational colleges,especially to oral English teaching.A good oral English teaching material is bound to play a great role in improving students' oral English ability.In recent years,many scholars have concerned themselves with the book----New Practical English published in 2002 and have done a lot of research on it.But it seems that the study on the oral materials of the textbook New Practical English is relatively less.This thesis reviews the theories of textbook evaluation,overseas and domestic research status of the field,and especially focuses on the research of the textbooks(New Practical English).The purpose of this research project is to examine the advantages and disadvantages of the oral English materials of the book and put forward some suggestions for the editors and users.The sample of the research consists of 36 teachers and 200 students in one higher vocational college in Fujian.Data are gathered by three questionnaires.Then,teacher interviews are done to act as the supplement of the questionnaires.This research will discuss the following questions,1.Do the oral English contents in New Practical English conform to the requirements and contents of Basic Requirements of English Curriculum for Higher Vocational Education? 2.Are the selection and arrangement of the oral contents scientific and reasonable? 3.Do the oral contents reflect the professional characteristics of higher vocational education? 4 Do the oral contents meet the needs of English teachers and students?The result shows that the oral English contents adhere to the ideas of Basic Requirements of English Curriculum for Higher Vocational Education.The design of oral topics is scientific.Professional characteristics are highly reflected in the oral materials.Oral activities are in various forms.Language in the textbook is quite authentic.The textbook basically meets the needs of teachers and students.And the disadvantages lie in the following parts,oral activities are a little bit difficult for students.There is a shortage of learning strategies reflected by thetextbook.The arrangement of oral materials is not scientific enough for students' evaluations.The length of oral materials is relatively long and the training tasks are heavy.The contents of western culture are not enough.Based on the survey,this research suggests textbook writers should adjust the difficulty of the book to adapt to the needs of higher vocational students,set up warming up part and multiple answers for oral practice in the textbook,add some contents related to oral communicative strategies,cultural education and common occupation,make a clear evaluation of oral activities,and do timely investigation in colleges to give feedback on the textbook.Teachers should make use of oral materials to enhance the awareness of training students' oral communication strategies,combine the oral contents of teaching materials and adjust the traditional way of oral teaching evaluation,improve their abilities to deal with oral teaching materials scientifically.Furthermore,the results of this evaluation study also show that students should actively participate in oral activities of teaching materials,take advantage of oral contents to improve oral learning methods and learning efficiency.