Abstract

English as a tool for learning and communicating has an increasing application in contemporary China. However, the current oral English teaching situation is not quite satisfactory. For most college students, listening and speaking, occupying the predominant place in daily communication, have become the biggest barrier in English learning. Drawing on relevant theoretical and empirical researches in the fields of linguistics, pedagogics and psychology, this paper elaborates on the basic principles of how to improve oral English and proposes some effective learning and teaching strategies, aiming at improving students' oral communicative competence.

The main contents of this paper are as follows: Firstly, this paper reviews the relative studies in the recent decade, expounds the background. Secondly, according to topic, the subjects were presented with four probe method: the lexical phrases and spoken language proficiency of English majors; active vocabulary and learning of students’ oral English; Chinese EFL learners' oral communication strategies and learning of students’ oral English; cooperative group work and improvement of students’ speaking ability. Based on the analysis, each part draws a conclusion. Finally, the paper discusses some limitations and future research directions.

Key words: oral English; lexical phrases; active vocabulary; cooperative group work

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摘 要

英语作为一种国际语言已成为各个国家学习和交流的工具，在当代改革开放的中国英语也得到越来越广泛的应用。对于大学生而言，其口语交际能力的培养尤为重要。然而现实与理想总有一定的差距，当代中国大学生的口语表达能力却不尽如意，在日常交际中所占比重最大的“听说”能力已成为大学生英语学习的最大障碍。本文通过借鉴语言学、教育学、心理学的相关理论与实践经验，向大家阐述了当今学生口语学习中出现的各种问题及原因，进而提出了提高学生英语口语表达的必要性和有效方法，旨在有效提高大学生的口语交际能力，改善当今中国英语口语学习的现状。

本文主要包含以下内容：首先阐述研究背景，总结国内外研究现状；其次，针对主题从词汇短语与英语专业学生口语水平的研究，积极词汇与学生口语学习的研究，中国大学生口语交际策略与英语口语表达的研究，小组合作训练与学生口语能力的提高等四方面做了探索总结，然后得出了结论。最后提出本次研究的不足及未来的研究方向。

关键词：英语口语；词汇短语；积极词汇；小组教学

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Table of Contents

Ⅰ. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 4 Ⅱ. Literature Review .................................................................................................. 6 2.1 The Lexical Phrases and Spoken Language Proficiency of English Majors ..... 6 2.1.1 The definition of lexical phrase ................................................................ 6 2.1.2 The significance of lexical phrases ........................................................... 7 2.2 Active Vocabulary and Students’s Oral English................................................. 9 2.2.1 The definition of active vocabulary .......................................................... 9 2.2.2 The use of active vocabulary in China ...................................................... 9 2.3 Chinese EFL Learners' Oral Communication Strategies and oral English ...... 10 2.3.1 Some knowledge about communication strategies ................................. 10 2.3.2 The use of communication strategies ...................................................... 12 2.4 Cooperative Group Work and Improvement of Students’ Speaking Ability .... 12 2.4.1 Some knowledge about cooperative learning ......................................... 12 2.4.2 Introduction of an experiment ................................................................. 13 Ⅲ. Application ........................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Major research findings and Implications ........................................................ 15 3.2 The limitations and Recommendations for further study ................................ 15 Ⅳ. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 16 Words Cited ................................................................................................................ 17 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 19

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