College English Speaking Research Articles

A Study on the Effects of Team–based Learning in a College English Speaking Intensive Program

A Study on the Effects of Team–based Learning in a College English Speaking Intensive Program

Output-Oriented Teaching Method of College English Speaking Based on Second Language Acquisition Theory

In recent years, English speaking has become one of the required courses for most college students in China. College students should have strong spoken English expression ability, and it has become an arduous task for them to improve their oral English level. This paper first describes the current situation of college oral English teaching, including some unsolved problems in class and a few teaching methods already in use. Then, the study synthesizes and sorts out previous studies on the Output-oriented teaching method and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory. The following parts analyzes and summarizes existing hypothesis on both SLA and Output-oriented teaching method and seek effective ways to advance college professor’s oral English teaching, so as to improve the oral capability of college English learners. This study also implements the teaching objectives and tasks of college students' English teaching, such as cultural accomplishment, comprehensive application ability, and intercultural language communication ability.

The Application and Innovation of Data Mining Technology in College English Speaking Teaching

Abstract College English speaking, as an important part of English teaching, is getting more and more attention from many scholars. Data mining technology has brought new opportunities for teaching spoken English in universities. The article builds a portrait and analyzes students through the data generated in the process of teaching spoken English at university in order to understand their relevant attributes and learning habits. Then, the decision tree model is used to predict several scenarios of students’ oral English performance. Finally, 2 classes of a university majoring in English were selected as the empirical research subjects to be tested. In the analysis of the changes in the oral English scores, the mean score of the pre-test of the control class was 21.43. The mean score of the pre-test of the experimental class was 21.29, which led to a small difference in the mean scores of the pre-tests of the two classes. In contrast, after the experiment, the mean score of the post-test of the control class was 27.51, and the mean score of the post-test of the experimental class was 30.85. The experimental class’s mean score increased by 3.34 points, and the overall English-speaking performance saw a more significant improvement.

Innovating College English Speaking Instruction through Generative AI: Insights into Pronunciation and Confidence Building

Innovating College English Speaking Instruction through Generative AI: Insights into Pronunciation and Confidence Building

Developing and Testing Audio Data Processing Modules in Python to Connect to and Data Be Scored by ASS Cloud Server

Automatic Speech Scoring (ASS) system developed on a basis of automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology is a powerful computer-assistant tool for oral test scoring. However, due to the limits of high equipment costs and high-tech operating costs of a local ASS, ASS cloud services have become the first choice of most oral English teachers and learners. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test modules in Python to preprocess the audio data, connect to the cloud server, and convert JSON data format into common Excel form. 1056 pieces of audio data were collected from test-takers’ read-aloud task of CEST-4 (College English Speaking Test band 4)) and six variables (i.e., “pronunciation”, “fluency”, “integrity”, “speed”, “duration”, and “overall”) were defined. After analyzing the data of the test results, it is found that the oral test score is mostly affected by the “pronunciation” and “integrity”, and the accuracy of pronunciation is the strongest predictor of oral performance. The modules and functions are helpful for teachers and students to use in daily oral test/practice, and these modules can also be employed in other second language oral test scored by ASS cloud sever, like oral Chinese test. Our results can provide reference and guidance for future oral research and teaching.

Research on Linking Reading Skills in College English Speaking

Research on Linking Reading Skills in College English Speaking

A Case Study on the Multimode Teaching Design of College English Listening and Speaking Course Combined with Chinese Culture under the Guidance of the Production-Oriented Approach

With the rapid development of China’s economy and the rise of China’s international status, the exchange activities between China and other countries are more frequent than before, which results in the fact that English speaking and listening skills have become more and more important for college students. However, the reality is that Chinese college students’ English speaking and listening skills are relatively weak compared to their reading and writing skills. Production-Oriented Approach, proposed by professor Wen Qiufang, is a new theoretical system for college English teaching in China, which aims to solve the problem of the “separation of learning and application”, so as to improve the efficiency of English classroom teaching and to enhance students’ ability to use English in the real environment. What’s more, In the past, English teaching focused too much on the importance of the Western culture and ignored a deep understanding of Chinese traditional culture, which contributed not only to Chinese college students’ weak awareness of spreading Chinese traditional culture but also to their low cross-cultural communication ability. Therefore, to realize the integration of language teaching and Chinese culture is one of the important goals of College English teaching. The case study aims to do a multimode teaching design of integrating Chinese culture with classroom teaching of College English Speaking and Listening course under the guidance of POA, which proved to be not only an effective approach to enhance the learners’ listening and speaking ability, but also a new method to improve the teaching efficiency of ideological and political education in college English teaching.

Research and Application of Blended Learning in College English Speaking Teaching Based on Smart Mobile Platform

Research and Application of Blended Learning in College English Speaking Teaching Based on Smart Mobile Platform

A study of the teacher-student interaction in a flipped classroom of college oral English based on mobile learning

In order to solve the problem of low analysis accuracy in the traditional method of interactive effect analysis of English spoken in classrooms in colleges and universities, a mobile learning-based method of the interactive effect analysis of spoken English is proposed. By analysing the characteristics of teacher-student interaction in a flipped classroom, a mobile learning app was constructed. To obtain the relevant information about the teacher-student interaction effect, an evaluation system of the teacher-student interaction in a college English-flipped classroom based on mobile learning was established. Combined with the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and multi-level gray evaluation method, the interactive effect of flipped classroom in college English-speaking was analysed according to the evaluation results. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the proposed method is up to about 99%, and the analysis time is about 4 s.

On the Application of PAD Class in College English Listening and Speaking Course

PAD Class (Presentation-Assimilation-Discussion) is a teaching mode that has been rising in China in recent years. Compared with traditional classrooms, PAD Class puts more emphasis on students’ assimilation of knowledge, and its next-class discussion helps enhance the effectiveness and quality of students’ interaction and communication as well. The paper holds that PAD Class exerts positive effects on College English Speaking and Listening Course, including improving students’ self-efficacy and metacognition, reducing students’ learned helplessness, and having an all-around evaluation on students’ learning performance. In the end, the paper illustrates the approaches of carrying out a PAD class in College English Speaking and Listening Course and the matters that need attention.

Learner-directed evaluation in college English speaking class: Can peer assessment supplement teacher assessment?

Learner-directed evaluation in college English speaking class: Can peer assessment supplement teacher assessment?

An Experimental Study on Task-Based Interaction in Improving College Students‘ English Speaking Ability

Nowadays, many college non-English majors’ English speaking abilities can’t meet the basic requirement of College English Curriculum Requirements. To solve the problem, taskbased interaction pedagogy was employed in college English speaking instruction. To probe the effect of the new teaching method, quasi-experimental design was adopted: the task-based interaction pedagogy was applied to College English Speaking instruction in the experimental class, while the conventional tasksupported approach was used in the control class. The experiment lasted for three months. Data of the pre-test and posttest were analyzed with SPSS software (19.0 edition). Results of the Independent-Sample T test and Paired-Sample T test were discussed. Findings showed that, compared with the tasksupported approach, the task-based interaction pedagogy was more effective in improving students’ English speaking ability after the experiment, and interestingly, most students’ English speaking abilities in the experimental class met the basic requirement of College English Curriculum Requirements, however, that of many students in the control class did not. Keywords-College English speaking ability; task-based language pedagogy; task-supported approach; task-based interaction pedagogy

The impact of clickers instruction on cognitive loads and listening and speaking skills in college English class.

Clickers might own a bright future in China if properly introduced although they have not been widely acknowledged as an effective tool to facilitate English learning and teaching in Chinese contexts. By randomly selecting participants from undergraduates in a university in China over four academic years, this study aims to identify the impact of clickers on college English listening and speaking skills, and differences in cognitive loads between clickers and traditional multimedia assisted instruction modes. It was concluded that in China's college English class, compared with multimedia assisted instruction, (1) clickers could improve college English listening skills; (2) clickers could improve college English speaking skills; and (3) clickers could reduce undergraduates' cognitive loads in College English Class. Reasons for the results and defects in this study were also explored and discussed, based on learning, teaching and cognitive load theories. Some Suggestions for future research were also raised.

A Needs-Based Approach to the Development of a Diagnostic College English Speaking Test

This paper investigated the current situation of oral English teaching, learning, and assessment at the tertiary level in China through needs analysis and explored the implications for the development of a diagnostic speaking test. Through random sampling, the researcher administered both a student questionnaire and a teacher questionnaire to over 200 students and 30 teachers respectively. Results revealed that students regarded the use of communicative strategies, range of vocabulary and fluency as the most difficult things in their oral English learning. Results also demonstrated that the majority of college English teachers paid much attention to oral English teaching. However, most college English teachers seldom administered classroom oral assessment, and their practices of classroom oral assessment were considered as lack of systematic and standardized procedures. Implications for further improvement in oral English teaching and assessment were also discussed.

Diagnosing the English Speaking Ability of College Students in China – Validation of the Diagnostic College English Speaking Test

This study investigates the validity of the Diagnostic College English Speaking Test (DCEST) in the context of EFL teaching and learning in China. The experiment was conducted in three stages over the course of eight weeks at a national key university in China. By means of test administration and questionnaire survey, the researcher gathered various types of data from the control and the experiment group. The results demonstrated that the DCEST had achieved satisfactory reliability and validity. The DCEST displayed a high intra-rater reliability (r = .966) and inter-rater reliability (r = .884). The construct validity of the DCEST was evidenced by the means of factor analysis, which showed that three factors loaded heavily on each of the three test tasks and accounted for a total of 78.69% of the score variance. The analysis of the questionnaire data provided supportive evidence to the face validity of the DCEST. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research into the impact of the DCEST on oral English teaching.

An Overview of Models of Speaking Performance and Its Implications for the Development of Procedural Framework for Diagnostic Speaking Tests

This paper aims at developing a procedural framework for the development and validation of diagnostic speaking tests. The researcher reviews the current available models of speaking performance, analyzes the distinctive features and then points out the implications for the development of a procedural framework for diagnostic speaking tests. On basis of the overview and the experience gained from the development of Diagnostic College English Speaking Test, The researcher elaborates on the process of the development of the procedural framework. The framework is composed of four major phases: phase 1 needs analysis, phase 2 test design, phase 3 test piloting, administration and validation, and phase 4 test impact. Each phase is further divided into several steps, each having concrete aims and objectives. Literatures relevant to each component of the procedural framework are also recommended by the researcher to help teachers to develop their own diagnostic tests. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research on the development of computerized diagnostic assessment systems.

An Investigation into the Consequential Validity of a Diagnostic College English Speaking Test

This paper reports the verification of the consequential validity of a Diagnostic College English Speaking Test. A case study was conducted with 28 sophomore students from a national key university in China engaged in seven sets of DCEST tests. The analysis of the DCEST scores of the students in the experiment group indicates that progress has been made in their oral English proficiency over the two-month period. The survey data analysis reveals that the provision of diagnostic feedback is welcomed by a great majority of students, and they think that the diagnostic feedback of the DCEST can reflect the strengths and weaknesses of their oral English ability. Results of both quantitative and qualitative data analyses provide supportive evidence to the consequential validity of DCEST. The limitations and future research directions are finally discussed.

The Effect of Empathy on College English Speaking

With various learner factors identified, empathy have been assumed to affect foreign learning to the extent to which it may result in certain differences in learner’s learning styles and strategies as well as the ultimate achievements. This paper reviews the research on the correlation between empathy and language learning .A small-scale survey about empathic state of non-English majors was carried out to indicate the effect of empathy on language learners’ speaking proficiency. It aims to implicate that college language researchers could attempt empathy-related teaching techniques to create completely “native” classroom environment to help language learners improve their speaking performance in a most favorable affective state.