students’nervousnessinoralenglishclass淺析學生在口語課堂上的緊張因素

1、畢業(yè)論文 淺析學生在口語課堂上的緊張因素 姓 名： 系另比外語學院 專業(yè)：英 語 學號：040612011 扌旨導教師： Shannon Carson 20年5月 StudentsNervousness in Oral English Class by Shangqiu Normal University May 20 2 Contents 摘要 I Abstract .n 1. Introduction 1 2. Student factor . 1 2.1. Capability 1 2.2 .Motivation 2 3. Teacher factor 2 3.1. Teaching A

2、pproaches 3 3.2. Classroom Atmosphere 4 3.3. Teaching Materials 5 4. Other factors 6 4.1. Class Size 6 4.2. Classroom Design 6 5. Suggestions to solve the problem 7 6. Con cl usi on . 8 本文著重研究學生在口語課堂上的緊張因素。 緊張定義為當一個人在工作的時候遇 到困難所產(chǎn)生的焦慮，恐慌的感覺。學生在口語課堂上所產(chǎn)生緊張的因素有很多。 然而, 學生在口語課所產(chǎn)生的緊張因素是很復雜的， 它不僅僅是缺少交流。還包括學

3、生的能力、 動機，教學方法，教室的氣氛，和教材的內(nèi)容，另外還有教室的設計和大小。 所以說找出原因并不是個容易的事情。在文章最后，作者提供了三個方法來避免學 生在課堂上緊張的原因。第一，老師要求學生在課后增加閱讀的數(shù)量，這樣可以使學生 在討論話題的時候有話說。第二，老師與學生關(guān)系好與壞是直接導致課堂氣氛的重要因 素。一個活躍的課堂氣氛在口語課中也扮演著一個非常重要的角色。第三，老師有責任 了解到每個學生的特點，這樣有助于更好的與學生交流。 關(guān)鍵詞：口語課；緊張；因素 3 Abstract Nervousness can be explained as when a person suffers

4、anxiety or has difficulty working the way they usually do. There are various reasons for studentsnervousness in oral English class. We have already known that the size of a class directly influences the chances of teacher to student, student to student interaction. However, studentsnervousnessin ora

5、l English class is formed out of many complex reasons not just the lack of interaction. There are various reasons for studentsnervousness in Oral English Class. It is not an easy task for teachers to find these reasons.This paper will try to find the different causesfor students nervousness. At the

6、end of the paper, the writer will provide three methods to avoid students nervousness in oral English class. Keywords: Oral English； nervousness； factors 1. Introduction “The goal of language teaching is to cultivate studentscommunicative competence ” (Wilga. M .1998:35). Oral English class plays an

7、 important role in improving this competence in students. ( 裴蓉 , 2003) With the development of English language teaching in China, oral English is becoming an important course in college. However, some students still find it difficult to speak in oral English class. As a result of their nervousness,

8、 they do not want to open their mouth to speak even if they have ideas. A major goal of English language teaching is to make students use English effectively in communication ( Harmer Jeremy, 2001). Oral English class requires interactive communication (Rixhar Jack.C, 2001). There are two major type

9、s of classroom interaction: student-to-student interaction and instructor-to-student interaction (Rixhar Jack.C, 2001). As long as the students and teacher cooperate and interact well, students are more likely to be less nervous and communicate more actively. Therefore, we need consider tothe causes

10、 for this behavior and subsequent lack of communicating. 2. Studentsfactor Teachers and students often find speaking activities to be the most difficult and demanding (劉駿 ,2005). Studentsnervousness may be triggered by lack of capability, anxiety, motivation or teaching approaches. 2.1 Capability Th

11、e studentslinguistic competence can be reflected by the s tudents capability in oral English class. Linguistic competence is concerned with knowledge of the language itself, including a knowledge of spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical structure, sentence structure and semantics. (裴蓉, 20

12、03). Pronunciation is the most common problem for many students, especially; some students who come from the remote countryside. Many students have a lot of ideas and want to speak in class however, if they do not have a good linguistic competence they may be too nervous to speak. 2.2 Motivation A s

13、tudents performance in any class is often affected by his motivation. Some students are motivated by good grades, pause, financial reward or approval by their teachers or parents (楊德洪 , 2005).However, motivation is difficult to find in students who have been forced into studying English by their par

14、ents ( 楊德洪 , 2005).For example, some learn actively because they want to work as a secretary, or vocational worker. Most of the students consider English a good tool for finding job, so they learn English actively and well. These students are more likely to cooperate with the teacher in class. Furth

15、ermore, they will likely not learn very well or quickly and will lose confidence as a result. They will likely be nervous in class and be afraid to speak they may be laughed at or looked down upon by others. Motivation influences learners participation inFocrla esxsa. mple, students nervousness in o

16、ral English class has of being compeled to learn. If they can learn actively, the teaching process may bring better results. 3. Teachersfactors 3.1 Teaching Approaches Speaking is an important part of everyday communication. It can measure the students language competence in real life. For example,

17、the students want so say something with others, but they do not have good language. However, they do not how to say. And most of the time the first impression of a person is best established with his or her ability to speak (Harmer Jeremy, 2001).Teachers have the responsibility to create conditions

18、to cultivate the speaking ability of students, especially in class (Harmer Jeremy, 2001).Teaching approaches can influence student psarticipation in oral English class ( Harmer Jeremy, 2001).For example, when the teacher use relaxed way to teach in class, play some games, the students will be please

19、d to take part in the activities and learn happily; if teachers are always giving speeches in a boring way, the students will be tired and hardly concentrate in class. The traditional teaching methodology in China is called “duck stuffing （ 劉” 潤 清 ,2003:45）or spoon-feeding. This teaching method call

20、s on the teachers to control and direct the class, and the students are the listeners. This strongly influences college education as the students often keep silent and take part in activities passively. They are rarely called upon to speak or have a“real life ”conversation. This method is obviously

21、ineffective in oral English classroom （劉潤清 ,2003）. If the students are always forced to listen to the class, the teaching results will always be ineffective or even poor. For example, in a class which the teacher just endless giving information of the book and the students are forced to remember wha

22、t the teacher said, the teaching result is definitely poor and ineffective. Therefore, there must be some other methods that can attract studentsattention and make them eager to learn in class. There is a method called Task-Based teaching. The Tasks Based Approach to teaching emphasizes com muni cat

23、i on betwee n stude nts and teachers and stude nts and stude n楊德洪,2005）.lt is a language teaching method under the communicative framework （楊德洪 , 2005）. If the teachers and students can communicate well, they can easily understand each other, so they would be gladly to cooperate with each other. The

24、 language teaching focuses on learners interaction and cooperation, and encourages students to learn language by doing things. For example, teachers cab design some games during which the students can play happily, learn knowledge easily and remember quickly, such as competition in some groups, teac

25、hers also can teach the students English poets, songs, tongue twister., from which they enjoy themselves as well as learn. “Task-based language teaching reflects the new ideal and concept in language teaching, and opens a new channel for English teaching in Chin”（a.Willis Janes,1996:65） The Task-Bas

26、ed teaching combines the input and output effectively. ln the finishing process, students are required to solve some communicative problems. Some motivate stude nts to lear n Ian guage through practice, discussi on, an alysis and cooperatio劉J（ 潤清, 2005）.ln this way, students can learn language activ

27、ely and effectively. The Task-Basedapproach is certainly a better method than“duck stuffing ”.It may help the students feel more make a relaxed and build a more harmonious environment and atmosphere for students in class劉潤清,2005）. 3.2 Classroom Atmosphere Speaking is the most demanding task for stud

28、ents and teachers. The teachershave an obligation to create an active and relaxed classroom environment. The classroom climate is mainly determined by the interactive activities. The classroom atmosphere has a considerable influence on oral English class. Explain as if the teacher always encourage t

29、he students to answer questions although the answers are wrong, the classroom atmosphere is harmonious. The students would become relaxed in such class. So they can be more active and more likely to cooperate with teachers without nervousness.If the teachers are very strict and always scold the stud

30、ents for doing anything, the classroom atmosphere is horrible. The students get nervous and scared to answer any questions. To create a more relaxed atmosphere. Teachers should get closer to their students emotionally. It is better for the teachers to move around the students than to stay at one pla

31、ce. Teachers can also communicate with students more. For example, asking about their daily life, ask them whether they need some help, or whether they have advice or suggestions for the teachers. May be the communication will certainly relate the students and the teachers closely. Because the stude

32、nts think teachers are their friends. If the students are cared about by teachers,they will be more thankful, they will understand the teachersbetter, they will be more likely to learn knowledge or cooperate with teachers, and the class atmosphere can absolutely be more harmonious and relaxed. Stude

33、nts who fall in the with the teacher s zone are likely to participate in anleth asno students who fall outside the action zone （劉駿, 2005）. Students who stay far away from teachers may lack contact with the teacher, may be they keep silent or do other things on class （劉駿, 2005）. Although a teacher ma

34、y feel that all the members in class have an equal opportunity to participate they often do not. Teachers need to have interaction with the entire class, in a way that allows all the students equal opportunities to participate. How are they going to do this? A good interactive classroom can motivate

35、 all the students to participate actively. If the classroom environment is dull and inactive, it can make studentsnervousness. As a guide in classroom, teachers have the responsibility to create an active class. Teacher should do some games and then the studentsnervousness might be diminished greatl

36、y ( 劉 駿,2005). 3.3 Teaching Materials Teaching material includes he textbook or any other material used by the teacher to help the students learn. The correct or incorrect application of teaching materials plays a very important role in the teaching process. Teaching material can influence students

37、p in oral English class. The content and quality of teaching materials will determine effect of teaching in class (Rixhar, 2001). Some students want to participate in oral English class, but they are not familiar with the oral topic or the issue being discussed. They may also lack of the relative ba

38、ckground information or knowledge. Therefore, they should not use their own words to discuss the topic with other students. Because they are afraid say wrong .In addition, some students have no interest in the materials the teacher chose for them, and they would like to keep silence instead of sayin

39、g something, so the teacher should choose teaching materials carefully. Firstly, the vocabulary, grammar and knowledge should fit the students capability (Rixhar, 2001). Secondly, the topic and contents should not be far away from students daily life or their interests (Rixhar, 2001). In a word, the

40、 teaching material in oral English class is a carrier, they are willing to express themselves. Students nervousness may be avoided and diminished if teaching materials are well chosen (Rixhar, 2001). 4. Other Factors 4.1 Class Size The size of a class directly influences the chances of teacher to st

41、udent, student to student interaction. A recent study found that there are two types of classroom. One is a big classroom, with more than 45 students and the other is a small classroom with less than 2穆5 ( 可娟,2000）. The large number of students makes finding out the reasons for nervousness really di

42、fficult （ 穆可娟 ,2000）. The smaller classroom allows the teacher to become familiar with everyone and communication is easier. Thus, the teacher has more chance to motivate and encourage them （穆可娟, 2000）. This experiment showed that students nervousness in oral English class is often the result of lar

43、ge class size （穆可娟, 2000）.If the class size is big, the teacher may find the students difficult to control and thus the students nervousness can not be addressed and corrected. As well, teachers can help students avoid their nervousness if the class size is held to below 30 （穆可娟 , 2000）. The opportu

44、nity for students to communicate is less, thus, some active students get more opportunities. 4.2 Classroom Design The teachers position in the position in the classroom is also an important factor in studentsnervousness 裴（ 蓉, 2003）.In China, the traditional classroom design has the students sitting

45、and arranged in rows, one after another. The teacher stands in front of the classroom. This design makes it diffcult to have group discussions. Students often just talk with the student one next to them; nervousness may develop in one and teach the other the bad habit of keeping silent also or trans

46、ltating for this friend. The teacher may find difficult to make a balance between the students （ 裴蓉, 2003）. Another classroom design allows most students to sit face-to-face or sit in a circle. The teacher can walk around the classroom more easily and find problems. The students who always keep sile

47、nt will find the teacher able to find and encourage them more （ 裴蓉, 2003）. Therefore a good classroom design may make classroom activity more effective students who normally do not talk will have more chances to speak. 5. Suggestions to Solve the Problem Studentsnervousnessin oral English class is f

48、ormed by many complex reasons, including, teaching approaches, classroom atmosphere, teaching material, class size, classroom design. Teachers and students still have a long way to find all the corresponding reasons for nervousnessand the solutions for them. From the researches and discussions of ot

49、her scholars, we can find many ways to avoid studentsnervousness in oral English class. Firstly, as studentsknowledge constrains their participation in oral English class, teachers need to encourage them to do some reading after class. As long as they have some related knowledge about the topic, the

50、y may not feel as nervous. It is necessary for teachers to choose topics that most students already have something to say about. If the students know little about the topic, they will likely keep silent and the activity may fail. Secondly, an active classroom atmosphere is very important for oral En

51、glish training. A close relationship between the teacher and students is important. It can decreasestudents nervousnessif teachers are studentsare friends, it can help to avoid studentsanxiety and make the students speak more. They may also feel more relaxed when they say something. Students nervous

52、nsesmay disappear gradually if their teacher participates in class as a friend. When they have difficulties, they will turn to the teacher for help without any hesitation. Teacher should tell their students that oral English is a journey in which mistakes area factor need to make improvement.(Hedge

53、Tricia, 2002:22).Once students understand this, they will not worry about making mistakes and participate in class more actively. Thirdly, as a guide in class, teachers have the responsibility to observe their students and know their different characters. This kind of oral English class is students

54、centered teaching. Seat arrangement and grouping should be taken in to consideration when trying to make the class more relaxed and enjoyable. 6. Conclusion In conclusion, how to avoid studentsnervousness in oral English class is a hard task. Teachers need to guide; students who play a centre role in class. Well-chosen materials, student centered teaching and creating an active classroom atmo