Abriefstudyoftheexistingproblemsandpossiblesolutionstocurrentseniorschools’oralEnglishteachinginChina

RuanXingwu ZhangLing

【 Abstract】with the development of Chinas integration into the global economy，English has become an essential tool to communicate and a substantial quality that anyone in modern society is supposed to acquire，which can be directly reflected by whether you can express yourself fluently and accurately in English.Due to the current College Entrance Examination，senior schools oral English teaching has long been underrated，which results in the problem that most of the senior students cannot speak English well，much less communicating with foreigners in a confident way.This essay will argue that the present situation of oral English teaching in senior schools of Tongling city，Anhui province，China can be improved by creating a livelier atmosphere，constructing a more genuine context and varying the activities of oral English.

【Key words】oral English； improvement； existing problems； possible solutions

Existing problems of oral English teaching

Firstly，both teachers and students do not pay enough attention to the importance of oral English.Because the current College Entrance Examination only involves an English listening and written test without any focus on spoken English，most senior schools in China hold the opinion that giving oral English lessons is a waste of time and energy，resulting in the teachers ignorance of oral English teaching.As for students，their main goal is to achieve high scores in the examination so that they probably will not spend much time on improving spoken English skills which will not be covered in the examination，thus denying themselves the opportunity to practise oral English.

Secondly，senior oral English classes in China lack a genuine context for speaking English.Although senior students in China can read or even recite the English articles and other materials in English with fluency and accuracy，oral practice only through mechanical drills cannot develop students social competence and they may not use the language in a real-life context because they might have difficulty in applying what they have been taught to oral English communication.Consequently，they are not capable of expressing themselves freely using English in daily life and possible future careers，which makes it hard for them to adapt to modern society.

Thirdly，oral English activities in Chinas senior English classes is lacking in variety.It can often be seen in class observation that senior students are usually uninterested in the oral drills with low student participation.The reason behind this is that the oral drills in Chinas senior English class are mainly made up of mechanical drills，recitation and one-on-one question–answer and so on.Students motivation and initiative can be hard to stimulate due to the monotony of activities and the lack of creativity.Because the teacher may only call a limited number of students to speak and answer，the majority of the students may not get a chance to participate actively.

Possible solutions to the problems

In the first place，teachers should try their best to arouse students interest in oral English.Obviously，students mood and interest in learning are easily influenced by the teacher-student relationship，so it can be suggested that the mutual understanding between teachers and students should be achieved in class so as to possibly help students advance considerably in oral English.Since every student is unique in capacity，character，interest，temperament etc.，teachers should try to modify their way of teaching to suit the special requirements of each class or case to mobilize students initiative and arouse their enthusiasm.During the classroom teaching or exercise，students can be asked different questions according to their separate levels to make sure every student is able to say something in English within his or her range.They will feel respected and realize they are equally important to the teacher.

In terms of making mistakes in oral practice，students should be encouraged to take an active part in the practice without worrying about the possible mistakes because making mistakes in language use is not only normal，but necessary to language learning （Edge，1990：37）.Therefore，the teacher should not interrupt the ongoing activity to correct mistakes or it may easily hurt students self-esteem and initiative.

In the second place，teachers should construct more authentic topics and tasks in teaching oral English.Firstly，selecting topics and tasks students find interesting and that students do have something to say are the two important factors that teachers ought to take into account when preparing the oral lessons because the stimulus for speaking and listening activities should include those drawn from work contexts and other real-life uses （Fleming & Stevens，2010：204）.When choosing the topics，teachers should consider whether the topics are closely related to students everyday life，according to students interests and hobbies，and consequently to generate students desire to talk.Suppose students are not very familiar with the assigned topics，they may not know how to say and what to say although they are willing to participate.

Secondly，teachers might have to pre-teach the relevant vocabulary and language knowledge first before assigning tasks，which may lay a solid foundation for the success of an oral English lesson.By dividing tasks into different parts at different levels to suit students separate abilities，teachers can make the class flow and be more confident of making students feel they can talk in English with more ease and as naturally as they can，meaning that students make more progress in a genuine context.

Thirdly，schools and teachers should pay attention to students sensitivity to cultural differences.Without knowing English-speaking countries culture，no matter how good the oral English is，one cannot really blend in and feel comfortable using the language.Students should be encouraged to be aware of their different religions，customs，speaking code，taboos and so on by reading some books，surfing the Internet or watching some programmes about culture and so on.

Finally，the range of appropriate activities in teaching oral English should be enhanced.To encourage students to get involved in the activities，teachers are supposed to vary the forms of tasks and activities.A good way is to ask some ‘open questions （e.g.where，what，who，why，how，when questions that require a long answer） rather than ‘closed questions （e.g.verb-subject questions that require nothing more than yes or no） （Scrivener 2011：212）.Chaudron （1988） concludes that questions that negotiate comprehension and sharing of information are the most potentially useful to the learner.If the questions are asked according to students learning competence and rate of progress，students ability of creative thinking and speaking can be trained and improved.

In addition，modern instructional technology can be made better use of to broaden the channels for students learning and using oral English.High school teachers should be good at utilizing various educational technology to get students trained through the senses of sight and hearing，for example： playing English films，reading English newspapers，listening to English radio programmes etc.Since learning is not limited to the classroom alone，it helps maintain students interest in oral English out of classroom and make students self-regulated learning possible because of the varied learning materials and styles.

Conclusion

After analysing factors affecting the progress of Chinese senior students oral English and presenting some possible solutions to the current problems，a conclusion is drawn.To change and improve the present situation of oral English teaching in senior schools of China，all the people concerned （teachers and students included） should underline the value of oral English，a more genuine context for speaking English should be constructed and the tasks and activities of oral English should vary.Firstly，the research is mainly based on the authors observation and experience，which focuses on how to improve students oral ability but does not cover other factors such as students motivation and teachers levels.Secondly，the methods and approaches mentioned in the essay need to be further enhanced with more research and evidence in the future.