Literature Review 1.doc

Literature Review1. Introduction 1.1 The relationships between spoken English and written English Nowadays, in college English teaching and study, students have a good command of literacy, but they are poor of conversational skills.The relationships between orality and literacy are the relations of time sequence ,social functions and the continuum .The intensiveproperty of spoken English and written English is “I am in you and you are in me.” (刑新影. 2009.6.).Because of the different communication occasions and circumstances ,spoken English and written English become the variation of the same language.There aea also many differences between speaking and writing,such as: a level of diction, amount of repetition, kind of transitions and kind of size and visuals.(陈冬梅.2006)The reasons for this “dumb English” phenomenon may be on account of the learning methods , learning initiative , teaching materials and so on. With the development of society, the main goal of learning English is to use it in communication, that is, to output English and input English, whats more, the ability for practical use of English is so important.1.2Current situation of spoken English learningAs we know, language is an essential part of communication, whats more, no one can communicate with others without language. English as an international language has gained its popularity all around the world. The purpose of learning a foreign language is to communicate with local people about their culture and other aspects of their life. As a result, spoken language becomes very important. Someone is considered as master in learning a foreign language if he or she speaks language fluently. According to the New College English Teaching Program, the spoken English learning should be taken into great account.The current situation of spoken English learning in college mainly lies in following five aspects: the backward concept of spoken English teaching and learning, low efficieny of teaching and learning, limitation of teaching materials , the ability of spoken English teachers and the bad spoken English base of students. (刑新影.2009.6)There are also many problems of spoken English learning of English majors in Zhijiang College of Zhejiang University of Technology. So this paper analyzes problems that exist in spoken English learning of English majors in Zhijiang College of Zhejiang University of Technology and suggests some ways to improve the state of spoken English learning nowadays.2. Theoretical Basis on second language acquisition 2.1 The definition of second language acquisition Second language acquisition, or sequential language acquisition, is learning a second language after a first language is already established. “Language acquisition is very similar to the process children use in acquiring first and second languages. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language-natural communication-in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding. Error correction and explicit teaching of rules are not relevant to language acquisition.”Stephen D Krashen stated in his book “Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning ” (1981) 2.1.1 Spoken English acquisition It is well known that spoken English acquisition is step-by-step process with periodic characteristics . As the saying goes:”Rome is not built in a day.” According to Oxford（2001），language learning strategies can be classified according to six groups or types :1.Cognitive strategies ,2Metaconitive strategies, 3.Memory-related strategies, 4.Compensatory strategies,5.Affective strategies, 6.Social strategies.( 杨京鹏.2007)“Six stages in spoken English acquisition”(2009.2) wrote by HU-Yan-fen points out :spoken English learners are supposed to experience six stages of being a smilling dummy, an innocent blundermaker ,an awkward speaker ,a fluent fool , a language cripple and a crisp speaker.” The theoretical significance of second language acquisition is to find out the restraining factors in English listening and speaking teaching. ( 徐鸿. 2009 .1)According to the limitations, reducting the influence of these restraining . 2.2 Learning motivation Motivation is one of the most important factors affecting spoken English learning.Students may have different needs and interests ,which can have an important influence on their motivation to learn and therefore on their effectiveness of learning spoken English. Gao-Yi-hong and other Chinese scholars divided the factors of Chinese learning English into intrinsic interest, going aboard, individual development, achievement, informationmedia , social responsibility and situational motivation, mainly separated the motivation to learn English into instrumental, cultural and situated learning. (时双双, 2010.4)However , students may have different needs for their spoken English learning, Ellis(1999) points out that a strategy consists of mental and behavioral activity related to specific stage in the overall process of language acquisition or language use.According to Ellis, there are some factors affecting strategy choice ,individual learner difference (attitudes, affective states , ages ,aptitude,the strength of learners motivation,personal type), learners personal background,situational and social factors. 2.3 Learner autonomy Autonomy is taking a growing importance in the field of English le