Reflections on how to improve English speaking skills.doc

reflections on how to improve english speaking skillsthere are many ways to improve your speaking skills in english language ,and it is for you to choose the most appropriate way that better suits you and that makes you perceive and learn quicker .here some ways and methods you can apply :-reading at your own level of comprehension and understanding simple books , articles , online and offline .-using a dictionary online or off again to look up new words .-listening to song lyrics in english ,watching movies in english and doing any activity you like thatinvolves using english so learning becomes fun such as games for examples.-speaking and practicing with native speakers which helps you get hold of the accent and learn newmodes of expression used by natives ,if you dont have the chance to speak with natives in real life ,then you could use such chat programs as itlaki ,which allows you to interact with native speakers and voice chat with them.- practicing grammar using grammar books or online exercises is essential to build correct sentences ,try that link as an example : /.using one or more of the before mentioned methods and ways can help you improve your speaking skills gradually ,it depends on how much time and effort you dedicate to learning ,wishing you good luck :)for improving your knowledge in english try: 1. listen more &more to english even in your sleeping (it helps you to make a familiar atmosphere with it). 2. write many sentences in it from short to long ones (for improving your grammar & helping to thinking in english not in your language) 3. repeat the sentences after hearing them carefully (as same as speaker). 4. speak more &more even you have some mistakes on it (you can correct them one by one) 5. get a partner to conversation or chatting. 6. practice, practice &practice (its the gold key for learning every thing). try it dont worry you can resolve your problems on it good luckhow to improve your communication skills by speaking better english? practice makes perfect, especially when you want to improve your communication skills. you can find help to polish(润色) your english in a host of(一大群) environments, and a wide array(一系列) of media. you will need: repetition, media, a dictionary, a computer with internet access, books, sticky notes, and a diary.step 1: repeat conversations study mouth movements as people converse. repeat what they say, preserving(保留) tone(腔调), volume, and rhythm(节奏). utilizing(利用) media like television and films and listening to music or books on tape all offer a chance to absorb(吸收) english. tip: news broadcasters(广播员) must neutralize(中和) the emotions, so dont mistake their delivery(讲话风格) for the way you might hear normal conversation.step 2: familiarize yourself familiarize yourself with the dictionary to improve english communication skills, transcribing(抄写) words, pronunciations, and definitions to improve. speaking and reading aloud in english for a set amount of time each day strengthens your abilities. step 3: listen, study, repeat ask friends to pronounce difficult words. listen, study, and repeat with their help, especially focusing on the endings of words. record your voice and critique(评判) your skills later. tip: some websites offer daily, short english lessons sent to your email or your phone.step 4: switch searches switch your search engine or mobile phone settings to english language. find online chats where you have to respond quickly in english. step 5: read a translation re-read a book from your past, but this time in an english translation. concentrate on the dialogue, which is more similar to what you would speak than the narrative(叙述性的) descriptions, which might not come up every day. tip:some books and magazines may be too difficult at present. dont be afraid to quit one and find an easier level text to learn from at first.step 6: teach family teach english to your family. passing knowledge to others is a proven(经过验证的) way to permanently fix that same knowledge in your own brain. step 7: label stuff label objects in your home by putting their names on sticky(有粘性的) notes, which serve as visual reminders. play a radio regularly to reinforce the english language, giving you a subliminal(潜意识的) flow of words into your unconscious as you work. tip: try listening to a talk radio news show. it will provide more english speaking than a music station.step 8: maintain a diary keep a diary of a running conversation with yourself in english, using words associated with your daily experiences. they will eventually become habitual choices and part of your everyday interactions(互动) with others. did you know? in 2010, the more than 42,000 students in pennsylvania who had limited english proficiency spoke 175 different languages.how to improve the ability of english speaking i. purpose of the research english speaking is commonly considered as the weak part of chinese english learners. take college students for example, they may be good at english reading, or english writing, some of them even got very high marks in different kinds of english tests. but when they are asked to speak in english, most of them tend to chicken out and keep silence. this is a big problem in english learning and the problem starts to draws more and more attention nowadays. both teachers and students are eager to know the true reason behind it and they try their best to figure out the solution to this problem. the purpose of this research is analyze this phenomenon, give some advices and suggestions, therefore to help college students to improve their english speaking skills, that they need the most.ii. literature review/research backgroundin order to complete this task, i interviewed some of my classmates to get the whole picture of this matter. i also sent out questionnaire to many people and get quite a few feedbacks. there are some common problems existing among ordinary students, while some others problems are more unique and personal. after doing my research, ive come to a conclusion that we did something wrong in learning english. the traditional teaching and learning method are not suitable for most us. we need a change, right now! this is my research background.iii. importance of the research as we know, chinese college students put so much time and effort in learning english. yet the result is not so satisfactory. why? and what should they do to make things right? we need to do research and find out. thats the reason why i come up with this research and report. i just want to help those who desire to acquire english and tried so hard in the learning path. i hope that the research will give them the guidance they need, help them to find the suitable method to learn and eventually make a big progress in their spoken english. iv. outline of the research 1、situation of college english speaking teaching in china.in china there is a special policy in high educational institute, that is only had passed the cet4 (short for college english test band four), students can have their diploma. in this case, students put a lot of effort in learning english, do a lot of exercises. however since the cet4 is a written test, students mainly fight for grammar, reading, and writing. and they pay little attention to their speaking ability. some of them even simply ignore speaking english and keep their mouth shut all the time. in this way, the test-oriented learning method leads the result of high marks with poor skills. people usually call this method as “dumb english method”. so many students become the victims of this poor method.2. problems in learning english speaking for college students.there are several problems that college students usually have in learning english speaking: the basic english level is poor, be too shy to speak, lack of good environment to speak, and scarcity of cultural background knowledge.2.1 the basic english level is poor. college students usually stick to the articles assigned by their teachers in class. they dont do much reading out of classes, so their vocabulary is limited. when they want to express themselves in english, they simply cant find right words to speak. and some words they try to use are very formal. if such words are used in written english will be just fine, but in spoken english that will be weird. pronunciation is another problem. when they speak, people dont understand due to the dialect or accent. so its hard for them to communicate with other people.2.2 most college students are shy to speak. chinese students are shy by nature. they are brought up to be modest and keep things to themselves. so most students even dare not to speak native language in front of lot people, let alone speak english in public. the reason is that they are afraid of making mistakes, losing face, or think other people will laugh at them. the less they speak, the worse they speak. so its like a vicious circle. gradually they give up trying. thats too bad.2.3 most college students dont have a good environment to practice english speaking. although the internet allows the college students have more chance to expose to english, they still need good environment to practice. when they in a all chinese environment, they tend to speak chinese all the time. they speak english only in an oral english class. and that is not enough. everybody knows that practice makes perfect, but not everyone has the patience. practicing english is a long and time consuming process. students cant do it just now and then. they have to practice english every single day, just like the way they speak chinese. 2.4 scarcity of cultural background knowledge. culture and language are inseparable. students cant have one without the other. they have to understand the big difference between east and west culture, while we learn english. the problem is that the cultural background takes time to get to know. its complex and no one can have the cultural knowledge in short period of time.3、countermeasures to improve english speaking in college.below ill give students some advice on how to improve english speaking in college. all the advice stem from my research. im sure if students follow these advice, theyll get benefit from it and get better result of speaking english learning. 3.1 to improve the basic level of englishthe basic english skills include: reading skill, writing skill, listening skill, and speaking skill. to improve the basic level of english, first and foremost, the students need to enlarge their vocabulary. by enlarge vocabulary doesnt simply mean to memorize each word, they also need to know how to use the words, how to pronounce it correctly, and most importantly, how to express them in oral english. only with solid foundation, they can improve their english skill. grammar is also a key to make presentable speech. learning grammar doesnt have to be bored, learning it with stories and examples will be much more fun. read as much as they can. make some note and retell the story. this will help them to understand the material more clearly and practice their spoken english.3.1.1pronunciation and voiceusually when someone speaks just a few words, people can determine his or her speaking english level right away. pronunciation is so important, that if you speak with accent or sound unpleasant, people may lose interest in continuing the conversation with you. just imagine a situation, that you are force to sing a song with someone sings awfully. so work more on the pronunciation. try to imitate the actors or actress in english movies or sitcoms. learn how the native speakers pronounce words and mimic them over and over again.3.1.2vocabularyvocabulary like the brick that you need to construct a building. without bricks how can you make a building? the best way to learn words is to use them. use them in different context and situation. try to describe things in different ways. there is a saying that if you meet one word in seven different situation, you will never forget the word again. 3.1.3listeningkeep listening english as much as you can. listen to the tapes, the radio, on internet, or to the native speakers of english. especially, listening classic english songs will let students acquire language in relax atmosphere. so its both entertaining and educational. generally speaking, listening helps you to improve your pronunciation. also it gives you good sense of language.3.2 conquer the psychological barriers.first of all, students need to understand english is not their mother tongue, so its natural they cant speak english as well as english people. they make mistakes and at the same time they will make progress. to conquer the psychological barriers students need to speak more in public, speak as loudly as possible, and interactive with the audience. then step by step, they will feel comfortable speaking english with stranger. once conquer the psychological barriers they will never get butterflies on their stomach when you speak english.3.2.1learn how to study english speaking wellthere are many people can speak english well, even they dont have overseas study background. they set a good example. so students should communicate with them and learn from them. to study english speaking well they have to have a strong desire and determination. without that one cant go far. interest is a best teacher and also a best motive to keep learning. so dont see learning english as a tiring mission, see it as a fun game. make learning fun. 3.2.2 cultivate good study habitsgood habit of learning is the key to success. make a reasonable study plan and stick to it. no matter how busy they are with other subjects, or how tired they are from other tasks, they should always find time to learn english: attend some training class, english corner, or study group to help them study at regular basis. 3.2.3 attitudes to the english speaking be brave. fist the students need to open their mouth and speak what is on their mind, regardless its correct or not. enjoy losing face. students can prepare a speech in advance. think themselves as a famous speaker and practice in front of a mirror. when they feel comfortable to speak it out aloud, task some friends to be their audience. see how they response and listen their advice. audience or listeners are very good teachers too. pay an attention to the words they choose and the grammar they use, try to be correct and appropriate. and finally speak it with emotion and try to touch the heart of the listeners. then they can be good english speakers.3.3 heighten the cultural background knowledgedifferent countries have different cultures and customs, so its necessary for chinese students to learn what is sensitive or is forbidden in english- speaking countries, otherwise, they will get into trouble. there are so many ways to learn the cultural background knowledge. if the students encounter something they dont understand, they can just google it. generally the internet will give all the information they need. when students appreciate the charm of the foreign culture, they can enjoy the language even more.3.3.1speak to foreigners oftenthe purpose of learning a foreign language is to communicate with people. if the students can chat with foreign people often, they will improve their spoken english quickly. maybe they have little chance to meet foreigners in their territory. but if they do have the chance to meet one, dont blow it. speak to him or her often. learn their pronunciation and intonation. see how they make good sentence. and imitate their gestures. finally the students will sounds more and more like native speaker.3.3.2read more foreign booksreading foreign books is good way to learn the culture. try to write down the good sentence in the book, make note on the margin. discuss with friends about an english book that both of you have read. write a report. students who want to write good english, should make great efforts to read more and keep them in mind. 3.3.3 watch more foreign movies and sitcomsi highly recommend that students watch as much foreign movies as possible. the characters in movies speak living language, which is close to daily life and easy to understand. its perfect for the students to improve their speaking skills. at first stage they can choose some easy one to watch and dont have to understand each word they say. then the students can watch over and over again, until they read by heart the lines. my favorite american sitcoms are “friends” and “desperate housewives”. they present the everyday life of ordinary american people and all the characters have unique personality. the plot is not very complicated, yet is very interesting. when the students watch it they will feel relaxed. in this situation the students can learn speaking english more effectively.4.conclusion my research pinpoints the main problems in learning speaking english of chinese students and gives some useful advice to solve these problems. im sure as long as the students find out the suitable method, they can achieve better result in the long run. i may say that the foundation of speaking is - vocabulary. even if you dont know how to organize your words into the grammatically correct structure, you can still make yourself understood if you have a large vocabulary. to cite a concrete case: i was once talking with an american, and i was really not good at english then. bumping out words that didnt make up a sentence was what i always did and, to tell the truth, i survived. why? the american guy told me that he can easily understand what i intended to say even i made tons of grammar mistakes, because he is a native-speaker a