关键词：英语口语；功能；交际
作者简介：周鑫，任教于四川省内江市隆昌一中。
Inrecentyears,EnglishteachinginChinahasbeengettingmoreandmoreimportant,especiallysinceBeijingwonthebidtoholdthe2008OlympicGame.Therefore,ChinesespeakersareenthusiasticaboutlearningEnglish.However,manyChinesestudentshavehigh-levelanxietyinlisteningandspeaking,whichcastsanegativeinfluenceontheimprovementoflanguageability.?
Teachersinvolvedindevelopingspoken-languageskillsinESLlearnersoftenfindthemselvesinaparadoxicalsituation.Thereseemstobeaconflictbetween,ontheonehand,thelearnersperceptionthatfluencyandnaturalnessinspokenEnglishareapreeminentbadgeofsuccessinlearningthelanguageand,ontheother,theirdisinclinationtoparticipateinactivitiesdesignedtodevelopcompetentspeakingskills.Itisironicthatintheoneskillareawherewemightexpectrealenthusiasmandinterest,i.e.,speakingskills,wefaceproblems.Thissuggestsaneedtoreexamineourpracticetoseehowwecanexploitthemotivationinherentinthelearners’positiveperceptionsoftheabilitytospeakEnglishfluently.
?ResearchbyBrownetal.(1984)questionstheassumptionthatnative-English-speakingchildrennaturallyacquirecompetenceinalltheusesofspokenEnglish.Native-speakerchildrenareoftenunabletoexpressthemselvesarticulately,andtheyneedexplicitinstructioninsomeofthespoken-languageskills.
ThisfactpointstotheurgencyoftheESLlearners’needinthisarea.Itistoooftenassumedthatspoken-languageskillscanbedevelopedbyassigningstudentsgeneraltopicstodiscussorbygettingthemtogiveashorttalkonsomesubject.Notenoughattentionisgiventothefactorsthatinhibitorencouragetheproductionofspokenlanguage.InordertoprovideguidanceindevelopingcompetentspokenEnglish,itisnecessarytoexaminethedifferentusesofthespokenlanguage,whichlearnerswillhavetomasterasfluentspeakersofEnglish.?
I.ThefunctionsofSpokenEnglish
Halliday(1985)hasidentifiedthreemajorfunctionsoflanguage:theideational,thetextual,andtheinterpersonal.Twoofthese,theideationalandinterpersonal,haveparticularrelevancetoadiscussionofhowthespokenlanguageisused.Hallidaydescribestheideationalcomponentoflanguageasbeingconcernedwiththeexpressionofcontent.Theinterpersonalisconcernedwiththesocial,expressive,andconativefunctionslanguage.
1.Theinterpersonalfunction
Theinterpersonalfunctionoflanguageisreflectedinthekindofsocialtalkthatweparticipateinthroughoutthedayinconversationalexchangeswithfamily,friends,colleagues,etc.Thiskindofrelaxedverbalinteractionistheuseoflanguagetoestablishandmaintainsocialrelations.Theabilitytouselanguageforsocialpurposesbeginsearlyinthelanguageexperienceofnativespeakers,andisnotexplicitlytaughtinformalclassroomsituations.AsBrownetal.(1984)havepointedout,suchchattalkisrelativelyundemanding,asitisoftenlimitedtoshortexchangeswithpeopleonefeelscomfortablewith,andthetopicisdeterminedbytheimmediateinterestsoftheparticipants.Inasecond-orforeign-languagesituation,suchacomponentmayormaynotbeconsiderednecessary.Forexample,itmaybethoughtthatlearnersneedspoken-Englishskillsonlyinspecificoccupationalorstudysituations,sincetheyusethelocallanguages,notEnglish,toestablishandmaintainsocialrelations.
Ontheotherhand,thegoaltrendmightbetoequiplearnerswiththefullrepertoireoflanguageskillsneededtofunctionwithconfidenceinanysituation.ThiswouldnecessitateacarefullyplannedcoursetoteachconversationalskillssomethingthathasbecomeakeycomponentofmanyESLcourses.TheaimofsuchacourseistohelpthestudentslearninEnglishthekindofsociolinguisticrulesthattheyaresoadeptatintheirnativelanguage.Theactivitiesleadtothedevelopmentofsocial-relationsskillsandprovideopportunitiesforpractisingcommonsocialexchangessuchasgreetings,leavetaking,introductions,complaints,congratulations,etc.Studentslearnthecommonexponentsforthesefunctionsandtherulesfortheiruseinbothformalandinformalsituations;thentheypractisetheexpressionsinconversationalsituationsinwhichcontrolisreducedbystages.
2.Theideationalfunction
Halliday’ssecondcomponentoflanguage,theideational,correspondstoafunctionoflanguagequitedifferentfromitsuseforsocialrelations.Thisistheuseoflanguagetoexpresscontentandtocommunicateinformation.Itisanessentialaspectofmostreal-lifesituations,whetherinstudyorinbusiness,professional,ormostotherworkcontexts.Themanagementandorganisationofactivitiesdependsontheefficientandaccurateexpressionandtransferoftherightinformationintherightways.
Wherethefocusisonthetransferofinformationratherthanthemaintenanceofsocialrelations,languageisusedtogetthingsdone,toproducearesultinreal-lifeterms.Thespeakermaycommunicateinformationtoalistenerwhoneedsitforaparticularpurpose,aswhengivinginstructionsonhowtooperateapieceofequipment.Orthespeakermayneedtogiveinformationtoalistenerinorderthatthelistenercanrespondinappropriateways.
Wherecontentisthefocus,theemphasiswillbeontransferringinformationclearlyandeffectivelysothatitcanbecomprehendedquicklyandeasily.Thisobviouslydiffersfrominterpersonaltalk,wheretheconcernisnotwithcommunicatingamessagebutwithkeepinguparelaxedandcooperativechatrelationship.Thelanguageappropriatetoeachofthesetwofunctionswillbedifferent;theyaretwodistinctkindsofspeakingskills.
InanESLspoken-Englishcourseitisalltooeasytomakethemistakenassumptionthatstudentscompetencecanbedevelopedbyjustanykindofspeakingactivities.Ifthefocusofthecourseisonconversationalskills,thiswillnotensurethatlearnerswilldeveloptheabilitytouselanguageforinformativepurposes,whichistheaspectofspokenEnglishthatstudentsmostoftenhavedifficultywith.Theseskillsmustbeintroducedasacomponentintheirownrightandexplicitlytaught.
PartoftheproblemforstudentsliesinthefactthattheuseofEnglishtoimpartinformationrequiresthemtoproducelongexchangesofspeech,whicharemoredifficulttoplanandproducethantheshortturnstypicalinconversation.Thelongertheturn,themoreplanningthespeakerisrequiredtodo.Longturnsusedtocommunicateideationalcontentplacegreatdemandsonthespeakertocontroltheflowofcomplexinformationskillfullyandefficientlyaccordingtotheneedsofthelistener.Studentsmaybequitecompetentinproducingconversation,includinglongexchangeswherethetransferofcontentissecondarytotheestablishmentofanamicable,cooperativeatmosphere.However,whenrequiredtoimpartmorecomplexinformation,asinjustifyingaposition,refutinganargument,orexplaininghowsomethingworks,theneedtoquicklyplanandorganisewhattheymustsayoftenresultsinanimmediatedropinfluencyandconfidence.Thespoken-Englishskillsthatmosturgentlyneedtobetaughtseemtobethosethatrelatetoselectingappropriateinformationonasubject,andthenorderingandexpressingitinaclearlycomprehensibleway.
II.Howtocultivatestudents’spokenEnglishability
Howdoesthisneedtoteachskillsfortransferringinformationrelatetotheproblemofmotivation?Inourattempttodevelopeffectiveinstructioninspokenlanguage,weneedtoaddressanimportantissue.Todevelopfluency,wemustgenerateaneedtospeak,tomakelearnerswanttospeak.Thelearnersthemselvesmustbeconvincedoftheneedtorelatetothesubjectandcommunicateaboutittoothers.Theyneedtofeelthattheyarespeakingnotsimplybecausetheteacherexpectsthemto,butbecausethereissomestrongreasontodosoforexample,togetorprovideinformationthatisrequiredforapurpose.
Apopularapproachusedbyteacherstoencouragestudentstospeakistoassignatopicandrequirethemtodiscussitortocomeupwithashorttalk.Suchdiscussions,whichdonotleadtoanyoutcomeapartfromthetalkitself,intimidatemoststudents.Thisapproachassumesthatthestudentsarehighlyarticulateandabletoargueandexpressabstractnotionsinrapidandcomprehensiblespeech.Oftensuchdiscussionsessionsbecomeboringandtalkquicklypetersout.Studentparticipationfizzlesoutbecausetheyhavenothingmoretosayandlooktotheteachertosupplymostofthelanguageandideas.Theunderlyingproblemisthatstudentshavenoreasontosayanythingmore.Wehavetorecognizethatwecannotexpectstudentstoproducelongturnsofspeechbysimplygivingthemtopicsandrequiringthemtogetonwiththediscussion.Wemustarouseinthelearnersawillingnessandneedtotalkbyprovidingthemwithsomethingtheyfeeltheyhaveaneedorreasontotalkabout.Tellingstudentstotalkaboutpopularlyofferedtopicslikepollutionorabortionisnotveryhelpful.Thisseemstorequirethestudentstocreatetalksimplyforthesakeoftalkingforarequiredamountoftime.Studentsrecognizetheartificialityoftheactivity.Theresultantlackofinterestandmotivationcanbeattributedtothepurposelessnessofthelanguagetheyarebeingaskedtoproduce.
III.Conclusion
InthisarticlewehavesuggestedthatthereisaseriousgapinourlearnersabilitytousespokenEnglisheffectivelyforcommunicatingideationalcontent.Thisisavitalaspectofdevelopingspeakingskills,and,toalargeextent,academicandjob-relatedsuccesswillbeaffectedbythestudents’abilitytocommunicateorallyandtransferinformationaccuratelyandeffectively.
Ithasbeenshownthatanumberofthetraditionalapproaches,suchasfreetalkandgeneraldiscussion,donotofferthekindofsupportthatmanynonfluentlearnersneedtoproducelongturnsofinformativespeechonarangeofcognitivelydemandingtopics.Webelievethatamorestructuredapproachorganisedaroundrealistictasksthatleadtospecificoutcomeshasmanyadvantagesinelicitingextendedtalk.Theseactivitiesrequirethelearnerstoparticipateactivelybecausetheirattentionisonperformingalifeliketask.Thetaskorientationgivesthestudentapurposefortalkingand,inthisway,providesthespeakerwithinterestinandmotivationforspeaking.
参考文献：
[1]Brown,G.,A.Anderson,R.ShillcockandG.Yule.Teachingtalk:Strategiesforproductionandassessment[M].Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.1984.
[2]Halliday,M.A.K.Anintroductiontofunctionalgrammar[M].London:Arnold,1985.
[3]Halliday,M.A.K.andR.Hasan.CohesioninEnglish[M].London:Longman,1976.
作者单位：四川省内江市隆昌一中
邮政编码：642150
OntheImportanceofSpokenEnglishAbilityanditsCultivatingStrategies
ZhouXin
Abstract:ThispaperexpoundstheimportanceofspokenEnglishabilityinEnglishteachingintheneweraandwaystocultivateinthestudentsthisability.
Keywords:spokenEnglish;functions;communication