How to Improve Your Spoken E lish Advice for Struggling Students Written by F.e. Noonan
How to Improve Your Spoken English Advice for Struggling Students Written by F.J. Noonan
How to Improve Your Spoken English Table of contents INTRODUCTION More than Diligence COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT A Brief History of Linguistic Theory Listening…… Gaining Access to Comprehensible Input Strategies 11 THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION Why is Communication Helpfu Whom Will I Speak With? Finding Opportunities to Interact.......................14 Strategies 16 ing Fa LEARNING GRAMMAR Ips Ior Grammar study CONCLUSION 20 REFERENCES o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 3 Aptitude ................................................................................................ 3 Motivation .............................................................................................. 3 More than Diligence .............................................................................. 5 COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT .......................................................................... 7 A Brief History of Linguistic Theory ..................................................... 7 Listening ................................................................................................. 8 Gaining Access to Comprehensible Input ............................................ 9 Strategies ............................................................................................... 11 THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION .............................................................. 13 Why is Communication Helpful? .......................................................... 13 Whom Will I Speak With? ..................................................................... 14 Finding Opportunities to Interact ……………………………………….. 15 Strategies ............................................................................................... 16 Saving Face ............................................................................................ 17 LEARNING GRAMMAR .................................................................................. 18 Tips for Grammar Study ....................................................................... 19 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 20 REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 21
How to Improve Your Spoken English INTRODUCTION Every college student in China seems to be studying English. I see them listening to radio programs on their dormitory bed, studying the dictionary in the back of the classroom, and completing grammar exercises in the cafeteria But still, these same students come to me and ask the same question Teacher.. my spoken English is very poor. How to improve my spoken English? This short book is my answer to their question. This book will reference modern research. but it is not a book for scholars. This book will contain information that will benefit English teachers, but it is not a book for teachers. This is a book for you, the student. In my reading, much of the literature concerning language acquisition theory and research are designed for teachers. This is great for teachers And I'n sure many students have benefited from this if their teachers have read them. However, I believe students should not be dependent solely on the ability of the teacher. I desire to give know ledge to the students themsel so that you will be empowered to take charge of your own learning knowledge is not given so that you can criticize your teachers. No matter who your teacher is, no matter what he does in the classroom, you can learn from him. My hope is that you will eagerly learn from whatever type of instruction you receive in the classroom, and then use this know ledge to guide your self study efforts outside of the classroom irst, let me be frank. There is no magic formula to become a fluent speaker of any language. One of the reasons this is so is that each individual is unique. Students learn differently. Moreover, just as some students are better at basketball or math than other students some students are better at studying foreign languages than other students. One's natural ability to learn another language is called language aptitude. The higher your language aptitude, the easier it will be for you to learn a foreign language The lower your language aptitude; the harder it will be. However, no matter what your language aptitude, everyone is able to make progress Motivation. The reason why we study. Though researchers describe numerous subtleties, two types of motivation reoccur throughout the o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 3 INTRODUCTION Every college student in China seems to be studying English. I see them listening to radio programs on their dormitory bed, studying the dictionary in the back of the classroom, and completing grammar exercises in the cafeteria. But still, these same students come to me and ask the same question: “Teacher . . . my spoken English is very poor. How to improve my spoken English?” This short book is my answer to their question. This book will reference modern research, but it is not a book for scholars. This book will contain information that will benefit English teachers, but it is not a book for teachers. This is a book for you, the student. In my reading, much of the literature concerning language acquisition theory and research are designed for teachers. This is great for teachers. And I’m sure many students have benefited from this if their teachers have read them. However, I believe students should not be dependent solely on the ability of the teacher. I desire to give knowledge to the students themselves so that you will be empowered to take charge of your own learning. This knowledge is not given so that you can criticize your teachers. No matter who your teacher is; no matter what he does in the classroom, you can learn from him. My hope is that you will eagerly learn from whatever type of instruction you receive in the classroom, and then use this knowledge to guide your self-study efforts outside of the classroom. Aptitude First, let me be frank. There is no magic formula to become a fluent speaker of any language. One of the reasons this is so is that each individual is unique. Students learn differently. Moreover, just as some students are better at basketball or math than other students, some students are better at studying foreign languages than other students. One’s natural ability to learn another language is called language aptitude. The higher your language aptitude; the easier it will be for you to learn a foreign language. The lower your language aptitude; the harder it will be. However, no matter what your language aptitude, everyone is able to make progress. Motivation Motivation. The reason why we study. Though researchers describe numerous subtleties, two types of motivation reoccur throughout the
How to Improve Your Spoken English literature: instrumental and integrative motivation. Instrumental motivation is one in which the learner desires to use the language as a tool to achieve some desirable ends. In contrast, an integrative motivation is one in which learners may choose to learn a particular L2 because they are interested in the people and culture represented by the target-language group"(E 1997, p75). In various contexts, both motivations have proved important. Of course, students can have both types of motivation at the same time Many students in China have a weak-instrumental motivation for studying English. They just want to pass the CEt-4 so they can get their bachelors degree. Others have a strong instrumental motivation. They study because they want to acquire a good job or study abroad. Some study English for integrative reasons. They simply enjoy it and want to make new friends. I recently conducted a survey among 33 successful and 33 non-successful English language learners in China. It produced the following results Question: What best Weak- Strong. Integrative describes your motivation forInstrumental Instrumental learning English? (get job, study friends enjoyment) Successful learners 9.09% 24.24% 54.54% Non-successful Learners 42.42% 39.39% 6.06% 112.12% of both successful and non successful learners claimed they studied for“ no reason”.] Debate surrounds the question of whether success is the result of ones motivation or one' s motivation is the result of success. Nevertheless. these results are suggestive. Students who study only for the sake of passing a test are highly unlikely to be successful. Strong instrumental motivations are better. In this study, however, it appears that students with an integrative motivation are most likely to be successful As one student responded, If you learn English but can not speak it fluently you are like a blind being on the street. You [will] lose many precious opportunities to enjoy the beauty of this world. You are kept inside a dark box. But if you speak english] well, you will learn about culture, people and life. You feel your life colourful and meaningful. You are not isolated Before you finish the rest of this book, you ought to ask yourself, Why am I learning English? If you are only learning so that you can pass some test, you might as well stop here. First, you must realize that English is a key that unlocks doors to opportunities Opportunities for jobs, travel, new friends, and much more 4 o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 4 literature: instrumental and integrative motivation. Instrumental motivation is one in which the learner desires to use the language as a tool to achieve some desirable ends. In contrast, an integrative motivation is one in which “learners may choose to learn a particular L2 because they are interested in the people and culture represented by the target-language group” (Ellis, 1997, p75). In various contexts, both motivations have proved important. Of course, students can have both types of motivation at the same time. Many students in China have a weak-instrumental motivation for studying English. They just want to pass the CET-4 so they can get their bachelor’s degree. Others have a strong-instrumental motivation. They study because they want to acquire a good job or study abroad. Some study English for integrative reasons. They simply enjoy it and want to make new friends. I recently conducted a survey among 33 successful and 33 non-successful English language learners in China. It produced the following results: Question: What best describes your motivation for learning English? WeakInstrumental (pass test) StrongInstrumental (get job, study abroad) Integrative (make new friends, enjoyment) Successful Learners 9.09 % 24.24 % 54.54 % Non-successful Learners 42.42 % 39.39 % 6.06 % [12.12% of both successful and non-successful learners claimed they studied for “no reason”.] Debate surrounds the question of whether success is the result of one’s motivation or one’s motivation is the result of success. Nevertheless, these results are suggestive. Students who study only for the sake of passing a test are highly unlikely to be successful. Strong instrumental motivations are better. In this study, however, it appears that students with an integrative motivation are most likely to be successful. As one student responded, “If you learn English but can not speak it fluently, you are like a blind being on the street. You [will] lose many precious opportunities to enjoy the beauty of this world. You are kept inside a dark box. But if you speak [English] well, you will learn about culture, people and life. You feel your life colourful and meaningful. You are not isolated.” Before you finish the rest of this book, you ought to ask yourself, “Why am I learning English?” If you are only learning so that you can pass some test, you might as well stop here. First, you must realize that English is a key that unlocks doors to opportunities. Opportunities for jobs, travel, new friends, and much more!
How to Improve Your Spoken English More Than Diligence Everyone believes that one must be diligent to learn English well. However in my research I found that the diligence of the student is not as great a factor as one would expect. In fact, there was little difference between the diligence (according to their own perceptions) of successful and non successful English students, as shown in the following chart Question A: Extremely B: Very C: Sometimes D: Not How would you diligent-IDiligent-Idiligent-IDiligent-I describe you followed my followed my owed my only studied diligence in study plan all of study plan most study plan when I wanted studying the time of the time. sometimes, but to and wasn't English often I was too busy with busy with other something else Successful 9.09% 33.33% 42.42% 15.15% Learners Non-successful 6.06% 30.30% 51.51% 15.38% Learners Possibly many of the successful learners actually were more diligent than the non successful learners but this at least shows that whether or not learners feel they are diligent or not is of little consequence to the success of their English study. 36.36 of the non-successful learners feel they have studied extremely or very diligently for two years or more but still speak English poorly. In contrast, 57.58 of successful learners described themselves as only sometimes diligent or not diligent at all, yet they speak English very well. Why do some very diligent students speak English poorly, while other un-diligent students speak English well? Perhaps the story of Yu gong, the foolish old man who moved the mountain illustrates the point. English is your mountain. If you want to learn English well, you should have Yu gong spirit, diligence. But there is another side to this story. According to the story, an angel has mercy on Yu gong and moves the mountain for him. How we all wish an English angel would come down and give us the gift of English fluency However, this is just a fable. Left to his own method, Yu gong would not have his mountain moved. His childrens childrens children would have had to work continually to reach the goal. It simply would have taken oo long. Though Yu gong possessed diligence, he lacked wisdom. If he had simply moved his house, he would have accomplished his goal much sooner and spared his family a lot of unnecessary hardship o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 5 More Than Diligence Everyone believes that one must be diligent to learn English well. However, in my research I found that the diligence of the student is not as great a factor as one would expect. In fact, there was little difference between the diligence (according to their own perceptions) of successful and non-successful English students, as shown in the following chart. Question: How would you describe your diligence in studying English? A: Extremely diligent – I followed my study plan all of the time. B: Very Diligent – I followed my study plan most of the time. C: Sometimes diligent – I followed my study plan sometimes, but often I was too busy with other things. D: Not Diligent – I only studied when I wanted to and wasn’t busy with something else Successful Learners 9.09 % 33.33 % 42.42 % 15.15 % Non-successful Learners 6.06 % 30.30 % 51.51 % 15.38 % Possibly many of the successful learners actually were more diligent than the non-successful learners. But this at least shows that whether or not learners feel they are diligent or not is of little consequence to the success of their English study. 36.36 % of the non-successful learners feel they have studied extremely or very diligently for two years or more but still speak English poorly. In contrast, 57.58 % of successful learners described themselves as only sometimes diligent or not diligent at all, yet they speak English very well. Why do some very diligent students speak English poorly, while other un-diligent students speak English well? Perhaps the story of Yu Gong, the foolish old man who moved the mountain, illustrates the point. English is your mountain. If you want to learn English well, you should have Yu Gong spirit, diligence. But there is another side to this story. According to the story, an angel has mercy on Yu Gong and moves the mountain for him. How we all wish an English angel would come down and give us the gift of English fluency! However, this is just a fable. Left to his own method, Yu Gong would not have lived to see his mountain moved. His children’s children’s children would have had to work continually to reach the goal. It simply would have taken too long. Though Yu Gong possessed diligence, he lacked wisdom. If he had simply moved his house, he would have accomplished his goal much sooner and spared his family a lot of unnecessary hardship
How to Improve Your Spoken English The same is true for learning English. It is not sufficient simply to study lot, one must study the right way. If one wants to learn English well, he must have the Foolish Mans spirit, but the Wise Man s method The rest of this book will help you develop a wise mans method. I suggest that you will acquire language best when you study in such a way that you 1) listen to large amounts of comprehensible input, 2 ) have opportunities to use the target language to communicate with others, and 3) input comprehensible and developing awareness ning(focused on making support your learning with some grammatical lear This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 6 The same is true for learning English. It is not sufficient simply to study a lot, one must study the right way. If one wants to learn English well, he must have the Foolish Man’s spirit, but the Wise Man’s method. The rest of this book will help you develop a wise man’s method. I suggest that you will acquire language best when you study in such a way that you 1) listen to large amounts of comprehensible input, 2) have opportunities to use the target language to communicate with others, and 3) support your learning with some grammatical learning (focused on making input comprehensible and developing awareness)
How to Improve Your Spoken English COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT I suggest that you will acquire language best when you study in such a way that you 1) listen to large amounts of comprehensible input, 2) have opportunities to use the target language to communicate with others, and 3) support your learning with some grammatical learning(focused on making input comprehensible and developing awareness) A Brief History of Linguistic Theory For much of the 20th century in the West, language researchers thought that children learned language simply by forming habits, by imitating what was heard. In response to this, Noam Chomsky declared that language was too complex to be learned simply through imitation. Furthermore, if children were simply imitating what they heard, how could researchers explain the mistakes of children? It appeared that children were making mistakes because they were applying "rules"where they did not belong, producing speech like"you hurted me. A phrase they would never hear in their environment. Apparently children did not simply imitate speech, but were actively constructing"rules"in their mind from the input they received to govern their speech. More importantly, they did not receive enough nformation about language in their environment to give them all the knowledge they needed to know the things that they knew about language How could children do this? Chomsky hypothesized that humans are born with a"language acquisition device. This device is a part of the brain designed specifically for language acquisition and is separate from its other parts. He believed all that was needed to get this device to start working, was input, exposure to language Later, researchers began noticing that second language learners also produced language that contained mistakes, yet these mistakes were not arbitrary but governed by " rules. However, these"rules" could neither simply be attributed to the influence of the native language nor the target language Researchers refer to this system of rules as "interlanguage This interlanguage is transitional. As learners grow in the language, their In other words, as they make progress their language becomes more and e interlanguage system becomes more and more similar to the target language more correct. This"series of interim systems that a learner constructs in the process of acquiring an L2 [second language " is called the"interlanguage continuum"(Ellis 1997) o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 7 COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT I suggest that you will acquire language best when you study in such a way that you 1) listen to large amounts of comprehensible input, 2) have opportunities to use the target language to communicate with others, and 3) support your learning with some grammatical learning (focused on making input comprehensible and developing awareness). A Brief History of Linguistic Theory For much of the 20th century in the West, language researchers thought that children learned language simply by forming habits, by imitating what was heard. In response to this, Noam Chomsky declared that language was too complex to be learned simply through imitation. Furthermore, if children were simply imitating what they heard, how could researchers explain the mistakes of children? It appeared that children were making mistakes because they were applying “rules” where they did not belong, producing speech like “you hurted me.” A phrase they would never hear in their environment. Apparently children did not simply imitate speech, but were actively constructing “rules” in their mind from the input they received to govern their speech. More importantly, they did not receive enough information about language in their environment to give them all the knowledge they needed to know the things that they knew about language. How could children do this? Chomsky hypothesized that humans are born with a “language acquisition device.” This device is a part of the brain designed specifically for language acquisition and is separate from its other parts. He believed all that was needed to get this device to start working, was input, exposure to language. Later, researchers began noticing that second language learners also produced language that contained mistakes, yet these mistakes were not arbitrary but governed by “rules.” However, these “rules” could neither simply be attributed to the influence of the native language nor the target language. Researchers refer to this system of rules as “interlanguage.” This interlanguage is transitional. As learners grow in the language, their interlanguage system becomes more and more similar to the target language. In other words, as they make progress their language becomes more and more correct. This “series of interim systems that a learner constructs in the process of acquiring an L2 [second language]” is called the “interlanguage continuum” (Ellis 1997)
How to Improve Your Spoken English Listening Stephen Krashen(1985) proposed the Input Hypothesis. The Input Hypothesis claims that learners make progress in English acquisition through exposure to comprehensible input Comprehensible input is defined as"understanding input that contains structures at our next ' stage structures that are a bit beyond our current level of competence"(Krashen 1985, p2). This is often designated with the equation"i+1". The"i' represents the learners current competence in the second language the" +1 symbolizes the features of the input that are beyond the learners competence, and which he is developmentally ready to acquire. According input that is either too simple or complex will not help a learner make progress in spoken English. To explore this, I asked the following questions with the following results Question: On an average da of study, how much time did Less than i hour I hour or more ou spend LISTENING to Successful learners Non-Successful Learners & 6364% 81.81% 18.18% Question: B D How well did you I understood the I could not understand MOST of understood main message but understood understand the english you all of it didn't understand only some of what was listened to while easily some parts. it with great said except learning English? [comprehensive i+ difficulty ds Successful Learners 15.05 84.85% 0% Non-successful Learners 0% 57.58% 36.36% 6.06% The results are clear. The great majority of successful English language learners in this study 1) listen to English for 1 hour or more and 2)listen to the right kind of input input where they can understand the main idea but not some parts. There are many aspects of the full Input Hypothesis that are seriously questionable. Nevertheless, I believe it is safe to claim that exposure to comprehensible input greatly benefits the language learner On the other hand, 57.58 of non-successful learners are listening to this same type ofinput. Why are they still poor speakers? Most likely, the amount of time spent listening to this kind of input is insufficient to achieve a higher 8 o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 8 Listening Stephen Krashen (1985) proposed the Input Hypothesis. The Input Hypothesis claims that learners make progress in English acquisition through exposure to comprehensible input. Comprehensible input is defined as “understanding input that contains structures at our next ‘stage’ – structures that are a bit beyond our current level of competence” (Krashen, 1985, p2). This is often designated with the equation “i + 1”. The “i” represents the learner’s current competence in the second language; the “+ 1” symbolizes the features of the input that are beyond the learner’s competence, and which he is developmentally ready to acquire. Accordingly, input that is either too simple or complex will not help a learner make progress in spoken English. To explore this, I asked the following questions with the following results: Question: On an average day of study, how much time did you spend LISTENING to spoken English? Less than 1 hour 1 hour or more Successful Learners 36.36 % 63.64 % Non-Successful Learners 81.81 % 18.18 % The results are clear. The great majority of successful English language learners in this study 1) listen to English for 1 hour or more and 2) listen to the right kind of input, input where they can understand the main idea but not some parts. There are many aspects of the full Input Hypothesis that are seriously questionable. Nevertheless, I believe it is safe to claim that exposure to comprehensible input greatly benefits the language learner. On the other hand, 57.58 % of non-successful learners are listening to this same type of input. Why are they still poor speakers? Most likely, the amount of time spent listening to this kind of input is insufficient to achieve a higher Question: How well did you understand MOST of the English you listened to while learning English? A I understood all of it easily. B I understood the main message but didn’t understand some parts. [comprehensive i + 1 input] C I understood only some of it with great difficulty. D I could not understand what was said except for a few words. Successful Learners 15.05 % 84.85 % 0 % 0 % Non-successful Learners 0 % 57.58 % 36.36 % 6.06 %
How to Improve Your Spoken English level of proficiency, as indicated by the previous question. Finally, 42.42% of non-successful students are not only spending too little time listening, the time they do spend is not much use because the input is too difficult for them to comprehend Gaining Access to Comprehensible Input Perhaps you are convinced that comprehensible input is indeed important but you think How can i gain access to comprehensible input? There are many things you can do The internet The internet can be a rich source of free input. The following websites are loaded with input .RandallsEslListeningLab.http:/www.esl- ab. com/index.htm. This website has short passages, grouped by level (easy, medium, and difficult). It has pre-listening warm ups and questions to quiz your comprehension. The English Listening Lounge http://www.englishlistening.com/.Thiswebsitealsohasshort passages grouped according to difficulty with comprehension questions. However, only a few passages are available for free To get full access, you must pay $20 dollars a month StoryArchives-http:/literacvnet.org/ennsf/archives.html.This website has many news stories. Perhaps more appropriate for high intermediate or advanced students. It has audio and video options. Contains both vocabulary and comprehension questions .BrianTeaman'sVirtualUniversityhttp:/home.hiroshima uacip/teaman/vu/index.e.html. This website is really cool. It has video interviews with English speaking people from all over the world. It is full of vocabulary, comprehension questions and more Arlyn freed' s EsL/EFL Listening resources http://www.eslhome.com/esllisten/#nonauthentic.Thiswebsite does not contain listening resources but provides information about several websites that contain listening resources. Some are designed for efl students and some are not This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 9 level of proficiency, as indicated by the previous question. Finally, 42.42% of non-successful students are not only spending too little time listening, the time they do spend is not much use because the input is too difficult for them to comprehend. Gaining Access to Comprehensible Input Perhaps you are convinced that comprehensible input is indeed important, but you think “How can I gain access to comprehensible input?” There are many things you can do. The Internet The internet can be a rich source of free input. The following websites are loaded with input: • Randall’s ESL Listening Lab - http://www.esllab.com/index.htm. This website has short passages, grouped by level (easy, medium, and difficult). It has pre-listening warmups and questions to quiz your comprehension. • The English Listening Lounge - http://www.englishlistening.com/. This website also has short passages grouped according to difficulty with comprehension questions. However, only a few passages are available for free. To get full access, you must pay $20 dollars a month. • Story Archives - http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/archives.html. This website has many news stories. Perhaps more appropriate for high-intermediate or advanced students. It has audio and video options. Contains both vocabulary and comprehension questions. • Brian Teaman’s Virtual University - http://home.hiroshimau.ac.jp/~teaman/vu/index-e.html. This website is really cool. It has video interviews with English speaking people from all over the world. It is full of vocabulary, comprehension questions, and more. • Arlyn Freed’s ESL/EFL Listening Resources - http://www.eslhome.com/esl/listen/#nonauthentic. This website does not contain listening resources but provides information about several websites that contain listening resources. Some are designed for EFL students and some are not
How to Improve Your Spoken English radio Many students in my study, both successful and non successful speakers listened to radio broadcasts, such as the VOA(Voice of America). This can be a good thing, especially for very advanced students, but one must be careful The stories on the voa are often very difficult, and since they are on the radio, you only get to hear them once. Most students will not comprehend enough of each story for this activity to be helpful. of course, one can still listen to the VOA, but it should not be the primary source of listening input MOVies Many students also watch English TV and movies. Sometimes these are better than radio because they contain pictures. Pictures are helpful because they can help make the input more comprehensible. The problem with TV and movies is that they are often long and difficult, so that you may lose concentration and comprehend little of what is said. Perhaps the best way to view Tv shows and movies is to view them in short periods. With friends, you can predict what you think will happen, then watch the segment, and finally discuss it. You can watch the segment again and again. Also, if you have a transcript of the program, you can read it to check your comprehension Also, you must not simply read the Chinese subtitles while trying to comprehend spoken English in movies. If you do, most likely you will ignore the English input and severely weaken the benefits of the activity Crazy English Many students also listen to Crazy English. These are great short segments of language concerning topics that many students are interested in The great thing is that you can listen to the passages as many times as you need to Plus, the transcript is available with English grammar tips Purchased materials Perhaps some of the greatest(but also most expensive) forms of comprehensible input are instructional books with cassettes/CDs. For example, when I first came to China, i did not even know how to count to ten in Chinese. Soon, however, I bought Chinese for Beginners with the accompanying listening book and cassettes from the Beijing University and Cultural Press. These materials are wonderful. They provided me with vocabulary and grammar support to understand the re d listening passages. For one lesson, the same vocabulary and grammatical features would be reinforced through several different listening passages about a similar topic, such as going to dinner" or Chinese history. Then the next 10 o This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed
How to Improve Your Spoken English This document may be reproduced and distributed freely. However, the contents must not be changed. 10 Radio Many students in my study, both successful and non-successful speakers, listened to radio broadcasts, such as the VOA (Voice of America). This can be a good thing, especially for very advanced students, but one must be careful. The stories on the VOA are often very difficult; and since they are on the radio, you only get to hear them once. Most students will not comprehend enough of each story for this activity to be helpful. Of course, one can still listen to the VOA, but it should not be the primary source of listening input. TV/Movies Many students also watch English TV and movies. Sometimes these are better than radio because they contain pictures. Pictures are helpful because they can help make the input more comprehensible. The problem with TV and movies is that they are often long and difficult, so that you may lose concentration and comprehend little of what is said. Perhaps the best way to view TV shows and movies is to view them in short periods. With friends, you can predict what you think will happen, then watch the segment, and finally discuss it. You can watch the segment again and again. Also, if you have a transcript of the program, you can read it to check your comprehension. Also, you must not simply read the Chinese subtitles while trying to comprehend spoken English in movies. If you do, most likely you will ignore the English input and severely weaken the benefits of the activity. Crazy English Many students also listen to Crazy English. These are great short segments of language concerning topics that many students are interested in. The great thing is that you can listen to the passages as many times as you need to. Plus, the transcript is available with English grammar tips. Purchased Materials Perhaps some of the greatest (but also most expensive) forms of comprehensible input are instructional books with cassettes/CDs. For example, when I first came to China, I did not even know how to count to ten in Chinese. Soon, however, I bought Chinese for Beginners with the accompanying listening book and cassettes from the Beijing University and Cultural Press. These materials are wonderful. They provided me with vocabulary and grammar support to understand the reading and listening passages. For one lesson, the same vocabulary and grammatical features would be reinforced through several different listening passages about a similar topic, such as “going to dinner” or “Chinese history.” Then the next
