ABSTRACT

With increasingly frequent exchanges between China and foreign countries, English, as an international language, is becoming increasingly prominent. Everyone hopes that they can speak oral English with great fluency as well as use his mother tongue. However, the situation is not satisfactory because of the limitation of environment and institution. High school students do not pay attention to oral English learning, and the promotion of spoken English ability is also stagnant. Dumb English and high mark but with poor abilities have almost become a codeword of Chinese English learners. This phenomenon has aroused great interest by scholars in recent years.  

This paper, taking Panshi No. 5 Middle School as a case study, researches and analyzes the current situation of high school students’ oral English competence in order to find effective ways to improve high school students’ oral English abilities. The research questions designed for this study are as follows: What is the current status of high school students’ oral English competence? Do they have a promotion or progress by two-year study from senior grade one to senior grade three? If not, what kinds of methods to be taken to improve or strengthen students' oral English skills? To find the appropriate answers, this paper assesses and analyzes high school students’ oral English ability through testing, questionnaire and classroom observation. Based on the results and findings of this study, I will give effective methods and suggestions to help develop high school students’ oral English ability.

Key words: Oral English competence; current situation of oral English; high school English

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Background-1

1.2 Current Status-1

1.3 Significance-2

1.4 Overview of the Study-2

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-4

2.1 Previous Studies at Home and Aboard-4

2.1.1 Previous Studies Aboard-4

2.1.2Previous Studies at Home-5

2.2 The Impacting factors on oral English competence-6

Chapter Three RESEARCH DESIGN-8

3.1 Research Questions-8

3.2 Research Methods-8

3.2.1 Test-8

3.2.2 Questionnaire-9

3.2.3 Classroom Observation-9

3.3 Research Participants-9

3.4 Administer of Test-9

Chapter Four RESULTS and DISCUSSION-11

4.1 Results and Findings-11

4.1.1 Results-11

4.1.2 Findings-15

4.2 Discussion-17

4.2.1 The Advantages of Oral English learning-17

4.2.2 How to improve Oral English competence-18

4.2.3 The Influence of This Study-19

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-20

REFERENCES-22

Appendix I-24

Appendix II-26