Abstract
College English is an important basic course in China’s higher education. Its quality is related to the talents’ cultivation and their practical working ability in the 21st century. Although most Chinese college students are proficient in English reading and writing, their oral English abilities are relatively weak. As is known to all, conversation plays an irreplaceable role in oral communication, and a host of scholars and educators have advocated including authentic conversations into college oral English teaching. However, their studies are mostly concerned with only a specific interactional practice of conversation, and there lacks a systemic study on the comprehensive application of conversations to oral English teaching. As a sociological research method, Conversation Analysis is aimed to study the social practices of talk and the social norm behind these conversational practices. The findings of Conversation Analysis have shown some potential in oral English teaching. Based on the current situation of Chinese college oral English teaching, the present study first explores the applicability of Conversation Analysis to college oral English teaching, then attempts to construct a practical oral English teaching model for college students in terms of four typical interactional organizations in conversation, viz. turn-taking organization, adjacency pairs, preference organization and repair organization, so as to effectively cultivate their communicative and interactive English skills and enhance their all-round practical capabilities to use English as a whole.
Highlights
As early as in 2007, the China Ministry of Education has printed and issued “College English Curriculum Requirements”, explicitly stipulating that “the goal of college English teaching is to develop students’ comprehensive English ability, especially listening and speaking skills, to make them communicate effectively in the future study, work and social activities”
The analysis of teachers and students’ questioning skills in classroom interaction [24]; International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2019; 7(6): 368-372 the enlightenment of turn taking on oral English teaching [25]; the analysis of the application of conversational correction in oral English class [6], et al these studies are mostly concerned with a specific interactional practice of conversation, and there lacks a systemic study on the comprehensive application of conversation analysis to oral English teaching
The expansion occurring before the First Pair Part (FPP) of the adjacent pair is called pre-expansion; the expansion occurring between the FPP and Second Pair Part (SPP) of the adjacency pair is called insert expansion, and the expansion occurring after the SPP of the adjacent pair is called post-expansion
Summary
As early as in 2007, the China Ministry of Education has printed and issued “College English Curriculum Requirements”, explicitly stipulating that “the goal of college English teaching is to develop students’ comprehensive English ability, especially listening and speaking skills, to make them communicate effectively in the future study, work and social activities”. As is known to all, conversation plays an irreplaceable role in oral communication. Whether it is small talk between friends, acquaintances or strangers, classroom discussion, business negotiations, court debates and other institutional activities, conversation is indispensable. Applied linguists are increasingly aware of the contribution of conversation analysis to language teaching. They combine different teaching methods to describe the lexical, grammatical and textual features of conversation [2, 8, 15, 20]. Some Chinese scholars have paid attention to the guiding role of conversation analysis in oral English teaching. The analysis of teachers and students’ questioning skills in classroom interaction [24]; International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2019; 7(6): 368-372 the enlightenment of turn taking on oral English teaching [25]; the analysis of the application of conversational correction in oral English class [6], et al these studies are mostly concerned with a specific interactional practice of conversation, and there lacks a systemic study on the comprehensive application of conversation analysis to oral English teaching
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
