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This study focuses on the impact of the internet and multi-media environment on listening and speaking strategies in college English teaching. The aim is to cultivate students' comprehensive abilities and develop effective learning strategies. The research examines the benefits of the individual and autonomous learning mode, which includes repeated practice via computer and internet, and coaching by the teacher in class. By applying learning strategies, students can enhance their language learning abilities and improve their listening and speaking skills.
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The Experimental Studyon Listening and Speaking Strategies Under the Internet and Multi-media Environment 张 惠 珍 河北师范大学 pearlzhen2008@hotmail.com
I.Background • According to College English Course Teaching Requirements, the aim of college English teaching is to cultivate the students’ comprehensive abilities, especially the ability of listening and speaking. • English teaching, supported by the modern information technology and internet, develops into the new mode which is characterized by the individual and autonomous learning, without the restriction of time and place.
The Main Task of the Teacher • stimulate and foster learners’ interest, help them establish the confidence, develop good study habit and adopt effective learning strategies. • pass on learning strategies, make learners find the true essence of language learning, teach them knowledge, most important of all, the skills which can bring what they have learnt together and understand what they have learnt thoroughly.
The design of the course: apply the information technology, advance software English teaching, provide language learning environment, take advantage of the multi-media and internet facilities, and adopt the new mode of teaching. • one of 180 experimental units New Era Interactive English published by Tsinghua University Press. features of the textbook: • individual and autonomous learning, • repeated practice via computer and internet, • coached by the teacher in class, • selecting materials in accordance with the characteristic, level and time of the individual learner
Comparison between the two modes of teaching • In the teaching mode based on the internet and multimedia students are the main part of the teaching process, active knowledge explorer and skill performers. • In the traditional mode of teaching the teacher dominates the class, pays attention to teaching strategies rather than learning strategies • Therefore, it is imperative for teachers to know more about students and apply the teaching and training of learning strategies into teaching practice.
This research stresses the cultivation of the learning strategies --- cultivating the sense of adopting the strategies in language teaching, that is the teacher may combine the demonstration of strategies with teaching contents, at the same time the students apply them in fulfilling the tasks so as to enhance their sense and enlarge the scope of option.
Researches on Learning Strategies • The application of the learning strategies can distinguish the effective and ineffective learners ( types and frequency ) • Appropriate application of the learning strategies can contribute to language acquisition. • This research will formulate reasonable plans in view of the individual factors affecting the application of the strategies (motivation, level, intelligence, gift and learning style)make students attach importance to strategies so as to improve their learning abilities. (functions)
II. Theoretical Basis • The success of the language learning depends on the learner himself, his individual factors and his abilities to take advantage of opportunities. ---- Andrew,1990 • Learning strategies refer to the plans, actions, procedures, etc which the students adopt to effectively acquire, store, search and employ information. ---- O’Malley, 1992 • The successful mastery of foreign language, to great extent, relies on the accumulation of the strategies – the time and energy on language learning. ---- Brown, 1994
The focus of foreign language teaching research has been transformed into the learner and the process of learning. • (owing to the lack of language environment and limited chances of listening and speaking in English,) the appropriate application of the learning strategies should reinforce the language output, enhance the efficiency of study and implement the self-monitoring over his language behaviors. • The research can enrich the applied linguistics and guide the language teaching and learning. (purpose)
Language is learnt not taught. ---- English linguist M.West • If the learner can bring his initiative into play, transform the concept of learning, adjust his learning strategy, he will learn foreign language well. • No matter what strategy is selected, it should be integrated with his individual characteristics. • The purpose of adopting strategy is to improve the efficiency, and the essence of the strategy is the action rather than the idea of the learner. ---- Wen qiufang
Listening • A receptive skill • a course of processing the sound, meaning and activating language context and background knowledge. Listening skill is both a capacity of language communication and an expression of the behaviors. ---- Christopher Shaw & Jo McDonough &, 1994 • Students should be offered a large number of opportunities to listen to standard, excellent English. • The language environment should be created.
Speaking • A course from the input to the process and then to the output of the language. Only through the production of the processing language information, can the course be completed, the acquisition is done. ( productive skill ) ------- Wu yian, 2002 • While teaching speaking, the teacher should encourage the students to speak out bravely, the teacher should be tolerant of their mistakes, the students can smoothly output the language. • In class, the environment to practice oral English; • After class, the multi-media and internet and so on.
III. The Procedure of the Experiment Three groups ( one experimental group, the other control group) • Preparation stage: books, information and achievement in the research • Implementation stage: Pre-testing: Oct, 2005, Band IV Examination paper to know about the level of the students’ listening and speaking ability, then give an analysis on the relationship between learning strategy and ability to listen and speak.
Questionnaire and Interview • The questions center on the factors affecting the listening ability, the level of their study and the listening strategies. • 198 questionnaires were distributed, the students are required to make the choices and also list out the top six factors. • The result: the students rely greatly on the vocabulary while listening, • memory and attention rank next to vocabulary.
It is observed that the vocabulary knowledge is not enough to make the learner improve his listening ability. • The learner has to make use of the syntax knowledge to identity the relationships between words, keep the memory of the sentence last longer,and understand its meaning. • Syntax knowledge can help the learner get rid of the unnecessary information, relief the burden of the brain, pick up the speed of perception.
Cognitive Strategy Training • enhance the students’ ability to acquire and store the massage in a short time, to avoid the habit of listening word by word, so that understand the listening material as a whole. • begin from sentence listening, retelling and then to the compound dictation.
Relative Theories • Inefficient listener adopts the bottom-up mode while listening. ---- Malley • Native speaker need not focus attention on identifying the individual words, they employ the top-down mode. ---- Bullard • The listener can clearly memorize the beginning and the ending owing to the initial cause and proximate cause. (首因效应和近因效应） ----Garman
While listening, learners regard the difficulty in recalling as the memory barrier. • The reason for this is that they rely too much on the vocabulary. There is correlation between word-by-word listening and memory barrier. • Therefore, it is necessary to offer the learners proper strategic training of the listening comprehension.
Questionnaires About the Factors Affecting Speaking • Lack of sufficient vocabulary, idiomatic expressions and frequently used sentence patterns; • Lack of enough confidence, be nervous,and be afraid of making mistakes; • Incorrect pronunciation and intonation; • Lack of corresponding language environment.
Analysis of the Questionnaire and Interview • lack of relevant knowledge concerned with listening • low level of the psychological quality dealing with tests • deficiency in comprehensive ability to perceive auditory information • lack of confidence in oral expression • lack of sufficient vocabularies, idiomatic expressions and sentence patterns
Training of the Learning Strategies • Strategies: listening strategies: cognitive strategies( bottom-up, top-down) speaking strategies: communicative strategies • method: lectures, individual coaching (take advantage of network and multi-media facilities focus on skill training, habits formation integrate intensive listening and extensive listening practice in real communication to build learner’s confidence)
Post-testing: Oct, 2006, New listening test items of CET Band IV Purpose: determining whether strategy training can improve learners’ listening and speaking performance Result: the experiment group made significant progress in listening and speaking （the experimental group has done a better job than the control group)
Mean Values in Pre-test and Post-test • Experiment group • Control group
Conclusion • Learning strategy can be trained. • The training of learning strategy is effective and efficient. • Learning strategy can promote the learners’ performance in listening and speaking. • The learners of the experimental group perform better than those of the control groups in post-test.
Implication • Learners should be encouraged to explore the individualized strategies of their own. • Teachers should formulate the personalized strategies in conformity with the learners’ proficiency level, learning style, etc. • Practical strategy training program can be integrated into the teaching materials. • Strategy training can be incorporated into teacher training, so as to enhance teachers’ strategy awareness.
Thank you for your tolerance. Criticism and comments are welcome.
