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科目 毕业论文写作 院 贵州民族学院外国语学院 专业 英语语言文学 年 级 学 年 姓 名 学 号
成绩评定
A Study on the Interaction of Psychological Factors
and English Speaking
Thesis statement: The study of the interaction of psychological factors and English speaking can improve the teaching of spoken English.
1. Introduction
2. The Five Important Psychological Factors in Spoken English
2.1. Motivation
2.2. Anxiety
2.3 Self-esteem
? 2.4 Extroversion
2.5 Self-concept
3. The Application of the Five Psychological Factors in Teaching and Learning Oral English
3.1 The “Psychology-based” Teaching Approach
3.2 The Realization of the Approach in Spoken English Teaching Practice
3.2.1 Teachers Responsibility
3.2.2 Students Duty
4. Conclusion
Abstract: Spoken English is generally considered an important part in English as a Foreign Language classroom. Many linguists, educationists, and even English teachers have been exploring ways of improving spoken English. They investigated factors concerning English speaking, such as social factors, teachers’ influences, learners’ strategies. This paper attempts to find effective ways to teach spoken English by exploring the interaction of students’ psychological factors and their oral English. Key Words: interaction; motivation; anxiety; extroversion; self-esteem
A Study on the Interaction of Psychological Factors
and English Speaking
1. Introduction
For the past several decades, with the development of the international communication, English has become the world language. The teaching of oral English is improved to priority in the nations using English as a foreign language, including China. However, there has been a heated debate over the English speaking ability of Chinese university students. From then on, many linguists, educationists, and even the common English teachers（Littlewood 2000;陈颉 1997; 贾冠杰 1998; 刘森 2000; 王蔷 2000) have been devoted to explore the ways of improving spoken English. They investigated the factors related to the English speaking, such as social factors, teachers’ influences, learners’ strategies. These researches achieved a great success in the establishment of the concerning theories. However, based on these researches, our teaching methods and techniques, to a larger extent, still failed to produce effective English speaking. To discover the reasons, many researchers（Cook 1978; Rivers 1964; McDonough 1981）turn to study the learners’ psychology.
2. The Five Important Psychological Factors in Spoken English Teaching and Learning
Language is a tool of communication, so as to English. The ultimate aim of English teaching is to cultivate the students’ ability of speaking and communication. Among the four skills of English learning----reading, writing, listening and speaking, reading is perhaps the easiest, while speaking the most difficult to acquire(Huang & Naerssen 1985: 287-307). That is because speaking is an active skill, requiring
students to combine the words into sentences without preparation, and no time to revise.
2.1 Motivation
Brown (1980:35） stated that motivation was an intrinsic power, an emotional promotion, a kind of desire for encouraging people to take action. Through experiment, he concluded that there were three basic kinds of motivation---intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and integrated motivation in general learning theory. It is clear that these three kinds of motivation don’t exclude each other. Most learners are motivated by these reasons in the oral English learning.
2.2 Anxiety
Anxiety is a sense of worry, a kind of subconscious scare ( Steinberg &. Horwits 1986: 136). Many researchers studied the effects of anxiety on the English speaking. Chen Jie（陈颉 1997:15-18）, the professor from Nanjing University, adopted the form of questionnaire, titled “Anxiety on the Students’ Learning English”. After analysis of the results, he concluded that classroom anxiety included “trait anxiety” and “environmental anxiety”. The two kinds of anxiety can enforce or reduce each other’s effects in English speaking classroom. Furthermore, they are both bad for the improvement of students’ spoken English. In this aspect, the “environmental anxiety” is sounder than the “trait anxiety”. He pointed that teachers were the main factor to cause the classroom anxiety and suggested that they should pay much attention to their teaching attitude and behavior to create a happy and animate learning environment.
2.3 Self-esteem
Self-esteem refers to the individual’s evaluation on himself, an attitude towards his or her ability, value, and achievement. It is originated from individual’s experience and the judge of the outside world. (McDonough 1981). ………………
2.4 Extroversion
It is often suggested that an extrovert learner is easier in learning foreign language learning than an introvert learner. However, when Naiman ( Naiman et al 1978) investigated whether good language learner scored higher in a standard test of extroversion, their results were negative. A more positive result emerged from a study by Richard Tucker et al. ( Naiman et al 1978), who found that success in second language learning seemed to correlate with learners’ scores on some traits often associated with extroversion, such as assertiveness and adventure.
…………………………..
2.5 Self-concept
Self-concept is defined as the integration of subjective evaluation and self- consciousness, which is about a person’s value of existence. This kind of self-evaluation and self-consciousness is generally based on his personal characteristics. (Cook 1978:73-89)
3. The Psychology-Based Teaching Approach in Spoken English
On the basis of the psychological factors talked in previous part, it is necessary for us to set up the “psychology-based” teaching approach. Here, “psychology” is the specialization of students’ psychology. Because the English speaking is affected by the psychological factors talked above, psychology-based teaching approach requires such principles as follows:
3.1 The Practice of the Psychology-Based Teaching Principles
The efforts of the students as well as of their teachers are indispensable to the achievement of the good spoken English. They are both the subjects to realize this teaching approach.
3.1.1 Teacher’s Responsibility
Many students hesitate in speaking English because they are very shy and afraid
of making mistakes; the idea of “losing face” if they make a mistake is the biggest obstacle to English learning. The teacher must set up a friendly and sympathetic relationship between the students and himself so as to reduce to minimum natural reluctance and inhibition of the students in practicing speaking the language. The teacher must ask the students not to be afraid of making mistakes, because all learners make mistakes. This is not confined to language learners. We all make mistakes even if when we are speaking our mother tongue. Therefore, the teacher can never expect 100% of accuracy in spoken English.
3.1.2 Students’ Duty
Students are the decisive factor in the successful use of the psychology-based teaching approach. If a student wants to be a proficient English speaker, he must take such factors into accounts.
First, they should work as an active participant. This is the basic requirement. Active participation is half done.
4. Conclusion
From the previous analysis, an English learner’s psychological quality and his oral English do interact with each other. There are five main psychological factors--- motivation, anxiety, self-esteem, self-concept and extroversion that affect the English speaking. They can hinder or promote the latter. Thereby, in the spoken English teaching and learning, teachers and students should take these factors into accounts. At the same time, English speaking can also affect the learners’ psychological qualities. The good spoken English may motivate the learners’ motivation, reduce their anxiety, increase their self-esteem and encourage them to form positive self-concept. Based on this interaction, we put forward the psychology-based teaching approach. The successful utilization of this approach in spoken English teaching and learning can develop students’ oral English as well as their psychological quality. This is also the realization of the interaction of the psychological factors and the English speaking.
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