英语本科毕业论文范文

时间:2023-03-20 16:25:40

引言:寻求写作上的突破?我们特意为您精选了4篇英语本科毕业论文范文,希望这些范文能够成为您写作时的参考,帮助您的文章更加丰富和深入。

英语本科毕业论文

篇1

Thecompletionofthethesisisattributedtomanypeople'ssupportandencouragement.

Firstandforemost,Iwanttoextendmyheartfeltgratitudetomysupervisor,ProfessorCaoDaogen,whosepatientguidance,valuablesuggestionsandconstantencouragementmakemesuccessfullycompletethisthesis.Hisconscientiousacademicspiritandmodest,open-mindedpersonalityinspiremebothinacademicstudyanddailylife.Hegivesmemuchhelpandadviceduringthewholeprocessofmywriting,whichhasmademyaccomplishmentspossible.

Also,Iwouldliketoexpressmysinceregratitudetoalltheprofessorswhohavetaughtmeinthisuniversity.Theirinstructionshavehelpedbroadenmyhorizonandtheirenlighteningteachinghasprovidedmewithasolidfoundationtoaccomplishthispaperandwillalwaysbeofgreatvalueformyfuturecareerandacademicresearch.

Mythanksalsogototheauthorswhosebooksandarticleshavegivenmeinspirationinthewritingofthispaper.

Lastbutnotleast,Iwouldliketoexpressmyspecialthankstomyparents,whosecareandsupportmotivatemetomoveonandmakemewanttobeabetterperson.

论文致谢二:

Uponfinishingthisthesis,Iwouldliketoexpressmygreatgratitudetowardsallthosewhohaveofferedmesincereassistanceinthethreeyears.

Firstandforemost,myheartythanksgotomysupervisor,ProfessorZhangRuwen,whohasgivenmeinsightfulsuggestionsandconstantencouragementbothinmystudyandinmylife.Furthermore,ProfessorZhang'spainstakingteachingandvaluableadvicehaveprofoundlycontributedtothecompletionofthepresentthesis.

Also,Iownmythankstoalltheprofessorswhohavetaughtandenlighteningmeduringmystudiesinthecampus,forguidingmeinthefieldofresearchwork,whichisbothchallengingandfantastic.TheexperienceandprofitIobtainedwillbeofgrandimportancetomyfurtherstudies.

Finally,Iamalsogratefultomyfamilyandfriends,whoencourageandsupportmeandsharewithmemyworries,frustrations,andhappiness.

论文致谢三:

Iwouldlikeexpressmygratitudetoallthosewhooffergreathelpformythesis.

Firstandforemost,mydeepestgratitudegoestomysupervisorProfessorYuMuhong,forhisfather-likeencouragementandguidance.Heprovidedmewithabundantsuggestionsandpricelesscriticismsformywritingofthethesis.Butforhisconstantpatientguidanceandenlightenment,thethesiswouldhavebecomeamissionimpossible.

MysincerethanksalsogototheteachersfromtheSchoolofForeignLanguagesofZhejiangUniversityofFinanceandEconomics,whojointlyledmeintotheholytempleofacademicfield.Here,IwanttosendmygratefulnesstothoserespectedteacherslikeProf.WangBaorong,Prof.LiChangbao,Prof.ChenXianghong,Prof.ShaoYouxue,Prof.TengChao,Prof.CenQunxiaetc.Thankyouforyourbeingwithmeandbeingthewitnessesforthebirth,growthandperfectionofmythesis.

Ifeelindebtedtomyparents,withouttheirmentalandmaterialsupport,Icouldbarelyfinishthethesisontime.

Finally,mythanksshouldbesenttoallmyclassmates,fortheirendlesssupportandwarmhearts,makingmefeellikelivinginaunitedbigfamily.

论文致谢四:

Thecompletionofthethesisisattributedtomanypeople'ssupportandencouragement.

Firstandforemost,Iwanttoextendmyheartfeltgratitudetomysupervisor,ProfessorCaoDaogen,whosepatientguidance,valuablesuggestionsandconstantencouragementmakemesuccessfullycompletethisthesis.Hisconscientiousacademicspiritandmodest,open-mindedpersonalityinspiremebothinacademicstudyanddailylife.Hegivesmemuchhelpandadviceduringthewholeprocessofmywriting,whichhasmademyaccomplishmentspossible.

Also,Iwouldliketoexpressmysinceregratitudetoalltheprofessorswhohavetaughtmeinthisuniversity.Theirinstructionshavehelpedbroadenmyhorizonandtheirenlighteningteachinghasprovidedmewithasolidfoundationtoaccomplishthispaperandwillalwaysbeofgreatvalueformyfuturecareerandacademicresearch.

Mythanksalsogototheauthorswhosebooksandarticleshavegivenmeinspirationinthewritingofthispaper.

Lastbutnotleast,Iwouldliketoexpressmyspecialthankstomyparents,whosecareandsupportmotivatemetomoveonandmakemewanttobeabetterperson.

论文致谢五:

Uponfinishingthisthesis,Iwouldliketoexpressmygreatgratitudetowardsallthosewhohaveofferedmesincereassistanceinthethreeyears.

Firstandforemost,myheartythanksgotomysupervisor,ProfessorZhangRuwen,whohasgivenmeinsightfulsuggestionsandconstantencouragementbothinmystudyandinmylife.Furthermore,ProfessorZhang'spainstakingteachingandvaluableadvicehaveprofoundlycontributedtothecompletionofthepresentthesis.

Also,Iownmythankstoalltheprofessorswhohavetaughtandenlighteningmeduringmystudiesinthecampus,forguidingmeinthefieldofresearchwork,whichisbothchallengingandfantastic.TheexperienceandprofitIobtainedwillbeofgrandimportancetomyfurtherstudies.

Finally,Iamalsogratefultomyfamilyandfriends,whoencourageandsupportmeandsharewithmemyworries,frustrations,andhappiness.

论文致谢六:

Iwouldlikeexpressmygratitudetoallthosewhooffergreathelpformythesis.

Firstandforemost,mydeepestgratitudegoestomysupervisorProfessorYuMuhong,forhisfather-likeencouragementandguidance.Heprovidedmewithabundantsuggestionsandpricelesscriticismsformywritingofthethesis.Butforhisconstantpatientguidanceandenlightenment,thethesiswouldhavebecomeamissionimpossible.

篇2

毕业论文写作是考查学生综合能力、评估学业成绩的一个重要方式。完成毕业论文的写作与答辩是学生取得毕业资格、获得学士学位的必备条件。为了更好地规范高师院校英语专业毕业论文写作的教学与指导,我们以长春师范学院英语专业2009届学生

为研究对象,探讨了毕业论文写作课程的设置及教师的指导策略。

一、英语专业毕业论文写作课程的设置

《高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲》中并未规定高校是否需要开设毕业论文写作课程,因此鲜有高校把毕业论文写作纳入教学计划中。但从实际情况来看,开设毕业论文写作课能够有效地提高学生毕业论文撰写能力,并且培养其独立思考、探索的科研能力。我校2009―2011三年开设了毕业论文写作课程,笔者仅以此为基础得出一些经验:

1.课时安排

毕业论文写作能力的提高绝不是一蹴而就的,在二年级与三年级开设写作课时,教师可以渗透毕业论文写作要求,安排学生查阅资料、写学期论文等。在此基础之上,我们把毕业论文写作课程与教师单独指导相结合。

2.教学内容

毕业论文写作课往往涉及如下内容:论文选题、开题报告、文献综述、文献检索、写作技巧、专题写作、研究方法、论文格式、论文修改、常见错误评析、论文答辩及注意事项等。近年来,我国出版了很多关于英语专业本科毕业论文写作方面的专著与教材,但考虑到此门课程的实用性及学时的局限性等因素,任课教师需要自行选择与整理,总结出适合所教学生学习程度的教学内容,使学生在最短的时间内快速、清晰地掌握论文写作要领。

3.教学方法

此门课程强调培养学生的实践能力,因此教学形式应该是教师讲授与学生操练相结合。教师讲完每章节内容后,布置相关任务要求学生课后完成,之后再根据其完成情况进行总结,或是让学生以小组形式进行讨论,互相评价与修正。同时,教师也应该提供优秀论文与问题论文供学生参考、借鉴,让学生从评论者的角度去发现问题、解决问题。这样,通过讲解可以引导学生开展下一步的工作,通过实践又能使学生避免不必要的错误。

4.考核办法

本课程以考核学生的平时任务完成为主,辅以期末考试考查理论知识及对知识的实际应用。平时的任务形式包括小组活动、资料搜集、实验设计等,而期末考试可以以开卷形式进行或是要求学生事先准备,写与所选题目相关的文献综述、论文各部分,如引言等。

二、教师的针对性指导

论文写作课只是为学生建构了毕业论文写作的大体框架,而具体的实施则需要指导教师给予学生有针对性的辅导。两者应同步进行,相辅相成。

1.毕业论文的选题直接关系到论文的完成质量

在论文写作课初步介绍完论文选题之后,教师可以给出和自己研究方向紧密相关的论文题目供学生选择。这样,教师可以给予学生更多的帮助,同时也可以让学生参与到自己的研究中,做到教学相长。

2.指导学生科研方法,培养学生科研能力

教师还应该着重注意指导学生查阅资料,了解最新的研究动态,避免学生思路闭塞以致题目陈旧、没有研究价值。另外,由于专业特点,很多学生选择了英语教学法,但他们的论文往往只限于文献研究,并不能真正与教学相联系。教师可以指导并帮助学生结合论文课上所讲的科研方法,设计试验,做调查分析等,真正培养学生的研究能力。

3.要加强对毕业论文的监督力度

教师要对学生进行诚信教育,强化指导与监控,力求避免抄袭现象。同时,也要督促学生合理规划时间,及时与老师沟通,保质保量地完成论文撰写工作。

毕业论文写作是大学英语专业毕业前最后一项也是极为重要的一个教学环节,它的顺利完成需要学生、学校和教师三方面的共同努力。我们希望规范的教学及指导能帮助学生养成科学的研究态度,形成严谨的学术作风,为他们将来的工作打下良好的基础。

参考文献:

[1]程小蔷.英语专业毕业论文指导策略研究[J].成人高教学刊,2010(2).

[2]吴俊.关于本科院校开设英语毕业论文写作课的思考[J].忻州师范学院学报,2011-08.

作者简介:

篇3

2.1The history of British English 3

2.2 The history of American English 4

3. Grammar differences between British English and American English 6

3.1 Lexical differences 6

3.1.1The different use of collective nouns in their single or plural forms 7

3.1.2 Differences in verb 7

3.1.2.1 Differences in the inflectional endings of verbs 7

3.1.2.2Different use of present perfect tenses 8

3.1.2.3 Different use of transitive and intransitive verbs 8

3.1.2.4 Different use of "have" 9

3.1.3 Different use of function words 9

3.1.3.1 Different use of preposition and adverb 9

3.1.3.2 Different use of auxiliary verb 10

3.1.3.3 Differences in articles 11

3.2 Syntactical differences 12

3.2.1 Differences in compound object 12

3.2.2 Presence or absence of syntactic elements 13

3.2.3 Different use of subjunctive mood 13

4. The differences between British English and the special form of American English—Black English 14

5. The tendency of the development of British English and American English 17

6. Conclusion 17

Acknowledgements 19

References 19

1.Introduction

There is one play in the famous American TV series Friends: Ross will go to England to marry Emily, suddenly Rachel decides to show his love to Ross and goes to England either, so his friend Phoebe makes a call to tell the news to Ross and Emily, Emily’s housekeeper answers the call. The dialogue as follows:

Housekeeper: The Waltham Residence.

Phoebe: Oh...yes…is this…umm…Emily’s Parents’ house?

Housekeeper: This is the housekeeper speaking. And by the way, young lady, that is not how one addresses oneself on the telephone. First one identifies oneself and then asks for the person with whom one wishes to speak.

Phoebe: (In a British accent)This is Phoebe Buffay. I was wondering, please, if-if it’s not too much trouble, please, umm,might I speak to Miss Emily Waltham, please?

Housekeeper: Miss Waltham is at the rehearsal dinner and it’s not polite to make fun of people. Goodbye.

Phoebe: No,no,no, I’ll be nice, I swear!!! Could you just give me the number for where they are?

Housekeeper: I’m afraid, I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.

Phoebe: Ok, somebody is on their way to ruin wedding okay. And I have to warn somebody, alright. So if you don’t give me that number then I’m going to come over there and kick your snooty ass all the way to New Glocken...shire.

Housekeeper: Hangs up[1]

We can see from the above dialogue that British English is more serious and formal than American English. The American speaks at will while the Englishmen speak gently. As we all know the two major varieties of English used by people as native language are British and American English. There seems to be little differences between the two varieties but the influences are very different. On some occasion we may have some mistakes in communication, in order to help the English speakers and learners understand the two varieties better and to eliminate troubles that may prevent communication and English writing, so I will make analysis on the grammar differences between British English and American English.

2. British English and American English

Nowadays English has developed into a global language. The fact that such a large number of people all around the world speak English means that there are many dialects and varieties. The two major varieties of English used by people as native language are British and American English. As a message carrier, English fully reflects the unique culture possessed by the British and American countries. Since in Dissertations on the English Language, Noah Webster pointed out “several circumstances render a feature separation of the American tongue from the English necessary and unavoidable.”

2.1 The History of British English

English is a West Germanic language which originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic language family, who conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries; the second by the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree, though it was never a truly mixed language in the strict linguistic sense of the word, as mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication.

Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility, resulting in an enormous and varied vocabulary. It mainly divided into four periods.

(1)Proto-English (the 5th century AD)[2]

The languages of Germanic tribes gave rise to the English language (the Angles, Saxons, Frisians, Jutes and perhaps even the Franks), who traded and fought with the Latin-speaking Roman Empire in the centuries-long process of the Germanic peoples' expansion into Western Europe. Many Latin words for common objects entered the vocabulary of these Germanic peoples before any of their tribes reached Britain; examples include camp, cheese, cook, fork, inch, kettle, kitchen, linen, mile, mill, mint (coin), noon, pillow, pin, pound, punt (boat), street and wall. The Romans also gave the English language words which they had themselves borrowed from other languages: anchor, butter, chest, devil, dish, sack and wine.

(2)Old English(AD 450—1100)[2]

The invaders' Germanic language replaced the indigenous Brythonic languages. (form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic)The original Celtic languages remained in parts of Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. The dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons formed what is now called Old English. Later, it was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings (is one of the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century.)who invaded and settled mainly in the north-east of England. The new and the earlier settlers spoke languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were the same or similar, although their grammars were more distinct, including the prefix, suffix and inflection patterns for many words. The Germanic language of these Old English-speaking inhabitants was influenced by contact with Norse invaders, which might have been responsible for some of the morphological simplification of Old English, including the loss of grammatical gender and explicitly marked case (with the notable exception of the pronouns). The most famous surviving work from the Old English period is a fragment of the epic poem "Beowulf" composed by an unknown poet; it is thought to have been substantially modified, probably by Christian clerics long after its composition.

(3)Middle English(AD 1066-1470)[2]

For about 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and their high nobility spoke only one of the langues d'oïl called Anglo-Norman, whilst English continued to be the language of the common people. Various contemporary sources suggest that within fifty years of the invasion, most of the Normans outside the royal court spoke English, with French remaining the prestige language of government and law, largely out of social inertia. For example, Orderic Vitalis, a historian born in 1075 and the son of a Norman knight, said that he learned French only as a second language. A tendency for French-derived words to have more formal connotations has continued to the present day; most modern English speakers would consider a "cordial reception" (from French) to be more formal than a "hearty welcome" (Germanic). Another example is the very unusual construction of the words for animals being separated from the words for their food products e.g. beef and pork (from the French bœuf and porc) being the products of the Germanically named animals 'cow' and 'pig'.                  

(4)Modern English(1500 up to the present)[2]

Modern English can be divided into two parts: early modern english(1500-1800)and late modern English. Modern English is often dated from the Great Vowel Shift, which took place mainly during the 15th century. English was further transformed by the spread of a standardized London-based dialect in government and administration and by the standardizing effect of printing. By the time of William Shakespeare (mid-late 16th century), the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English.

English has continuously adopted foreign words, especially from Latin and Greek, since the Renaissance. (In the 17th century, Latin words were often used with the original inflections, but these eventually disappeared). As there are many words from different languages and English spelling is variable, the risk of mispronunciation is high, but remnants of the older forms remain in a few regional dialects, most notably in the West Country.

In 1755, Samuel Johnson published the first significan t English dictionary, his Dictionary of the English Language.

2.2 The history of American English

During the 17th century, or more precisely on May 14, 1607, the first English settlers landed in Virginia. This was a group of 104 London entrepreneurs and they established the first English colony in Jamestown. Later on, in 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers, settlers from England, landed in Massachusetts, and also brought the English language over the Atlantic Ocean to America and another variety of English was born, American English. This variety is the largest of all the English varieties, since as many as 70% of the native English speakers live in the US. American English has preserved a number of words and features from the English spoken in England at the time of the settlement, which have now been changed in British English.

The history of American English can be divided into the colonial (1607-1776), the national (1776-1898), and the international (1898-present) periods. During nearly four hundred years of use in North America, the English language changed in small ways in pronunciation and grammar but extensively in vocabulary and in the attitude of its speakers. English settlements along the Atlantic Coast during the seventeenth century provided the foundation for English as a permanent language in the New World. But the English of the American colonies was bound to become distinct from that of the motherland. When people do not talk with one another, they begin to talk differently. The Atlantic Ocean served as an effective barrier to oral communication between the colonists and those who stayed in England, ensuring that their speech would evolve in different directions.[3]

   Americans also came cheek-to-jowl with "Amerindians" of several linguistic stocks, as well as French and Dutch speakers. They had to talk in new ways to communicate with their new neighbors. Moreover, the settlers had come from various districts and social groups of England, so there was a homogenizing effect: those in a given colony came to talk more like one another and less like any particular community in England. All these influences combined to make American English a distinct variety of the language. In the United States, there are also regional differences, and these are ultimately descendants of a mixture of accents spoken in the British Isles at the time of the settlement of America. Dialect boundaries in the US tend to run from east to west. The first immigrants settled along the Atlantic coast and they spread from east to west across the continent and took some dialect forms, for example words and pronunciation features, with them. The dialect areas in North America are much larger than they are in England, mainly because English has been spoken in England for about 1,500 years, but in America for only approximately 300 years. Because of America’s recent settlement, there has not been enough time for linguistic changes and this is why there are not so many dialect differences in this large country.

 

3. Grammar differences between British English and American English

English grammar is the set of rules within the English language itself. "An English grammar"(one kind of grammar system)is a specific study or analysis of these rules. In linguistics, grammar refers to the logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes lexicology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. I mainly make analysis on the lexical and syntactical differences between British English and American English.

3.1 Lexical Differences

Lexicology is that part of linguistics which studies words, their nature and meaning, words’ elements, relations between words (semantical relations), words groups and the whole lexicon. Lexical differences mean relating to the words’ differences of a language.

3.1.1 The different use of collective nouns in their single or plural forms

Collective nouns such as “team, faculty, family, government” often take plural verb agreement and plural pronoun substitution in Britain English, but they nearly always take singular agreement and singular pronoun substitution in American English. There is a tendency in Britain English, to stress the individuality of the members, which is reflected in plural verb agreement and pronoun substitution, whereas American English Strongly tends to stress the unitary function of the group, which is reflected in singular verb and pronoun forms.[4] 6

Some examples:

Your team is doing well this year, isn’t it? (AmE)

Your team are doing well this year, aren’t they? (BrE)

3.1.2 Differences in Verb

In syntax, a verb is a word (part of speech) that usually denotes an action (bring, read), an occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (subject, object).

3.1.2.1 Differences in the Inflectional Endings of Verbs

The past tense and past participle of the verbs are different in BrE and AmE.

The past tense and past participle of the verbs learn, spoil, spell, burn, dream, smell, spill, leap, and others, can be either irregular (learnt, spoilt, etc.) or regular (learned, spoiled, etc.). In BrE, the irregular and regular forms are current; in some cases (smelt, leapt) there is a strong tendency towards the irregular forms (especially by speakers using Received Pronunciation); in other cases (dreamed, leaned, learned) the regular forms are somewhat more common. In AmE, the irregular forms are never or rarely used (except for burnt and leapt).

Nonetheless, as with other usages considered nowadays to be typically British, the t endings are often found in older American texts. However, usage may vary when the past participles are actually adjectives, as in burnt toast.( Note that the two-syllable form learned ['lə:nid] usually written simply as learnt, is still used as an adjective to mean "educated", or to refer to academic institutions, in both BrE and AmE.)Finally, the past tense and past participle of dwell and kneel are more commonly dwelt and knelt on both sides of the Atlantic, although dwelled and kneeled are widely used in the US (but not in the UK).

In British English, the past tense of “get’’ is “got”, while American English usually use its past participle “gotten”.

For example,

A. John has got much better during the last week. (BrE)

B. John has gotten much better during the last week. (AmE)

According to the custom that British English usually uses “got” while American English “gotten”, we can quickly tell the nationality of the speaker. The former is British and the later is American. When Americans use “got”, they mean “own, possess and dominate”, such as the following two examples:

They’ve got no pride.

I’ve got plenty of material if I can just handle it.

3.1.2.2 Different use of present perfect tenses

Traditionally, BrE uses the present perfect tense to talk about an event in the recent past(express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment) and with the words already, just, and yet. For example:

British English:[5]

I've just had lunch

I've already seen that film

Have you finished your homework yet?

American English:[5]

I just had lunch or I've just had lunch.

I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.

Have your finished your homework yet? Or did you finish your homework yet?

In American usage, these meanings can be expressed with the present perfect (to express a fact) or the simple past (to imply an expectation). This American style has become widespread only in the past 20 to 30 years; the British style is still in common use as well. In British English the present perfect is used to.

"I've just arrived home." / "I just arrived home."

"I've already eaten." / "I already ate." [6]

Recently, the American use of just with simple past has made inroads into BrE, most visibly in advertising slogans and headlines such as "Cable broadband just got faster".

Similarly, AmE occasionally replaces the pluperfect with the preterite. Also, US spoken usage sometimes, especially with the contracted forms, substitutes the conditional for the pluperfect (If I would have cooked the pie we could have had it for lunch), but this tends to be avoided in writing.[6]

3.1.2.3 Different use of transitive and intransitive verbs

The following verbs show differences in transitivity between BrE and AmE.[6]

agree: transitive or intransitive in BrE, usually intransitive in AmE (agree a contract/agree to or on a contract). However, in formal AmE legal writing one often sees constructions like as may be agreed between the parties (rather than as may be agreed upon between the parties).

appeal(as a decision): usually intransitive in BrE (used with against) and transitive in AmE (appeal against the decision to the Court/appeal the decision to the Court).

cater("to provide food and service"): intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (to cater for a banquet/to cater a banquet).

claim: sometimes intransitive in BrE (used with for), strictly transitive in AmE.

protest: in the sense of "oppose", intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (The workers protested against the decision/The workers protested the decision). The intransitive protest against in AmE means, "to hold or participate in a demonstration against". The older sense "proclaim" is always transitive (protest one's innocence).

write: in BrE, the indirect object of this verb usually requires the preposition to, for example, I'll write to my MP or I'll write to her (although it is not required in some situations, for example when an indirect object pronoun comes before a direct object noun, for example, I'll write her a letter). In AmE, write can be used monotransitively (I'll write my congressman; I'll write him).

3.1.2.4 Different use of “have”.

British English usually uses “Have you any children?” or “Have you got any

children?” while Americans commonly express the same meaning with “Do you have any children?”Let us see some other examples.

How many brothers do you have? (AmE)

How many brothers have you? (BrE)

You don’t have much room here. (AmE)

You haven’t (got) much room here. (BrE)

3.1.3 Different use of function words

Function words (or grammatical words) are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning, but instead serve to express grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker. Words that are not function words are called content words (or lexical words): these include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and most adverbs, although some adverbs are function words (e.g., then and why). Dictionaries define the specific meanings of content words, but can only describe the general usages of function words. By contrast, grammars describe the use of function words in detail, but treat lexical words in general terms only. Now I will compare the different use of function words in BrE and AE in detail as follows.

3.1.3.1 Different use of preposition and adverb

Differences between British and American English in prepositions are shown in the following two aspects: (1) different use of prepositions in the construction of phrases; (2) when using phrases, one will use a preposition while the other will omit it.

(1)Let us first review the different use of prepositions.

Your daughter’s name stands first in the list. (BrE)

Your daughter’s name stands first on the list. (AmE)

These dresses are in a sale. (BrE)

These dresses are on sale. (AmE)

He will come here at a quarter to three. (BrE, AmE)

He will come here at a quarter before /of / till three. (AmE)

She lives just round the corner (BrE).[7]4

She lives just around the corner (AmE).

Similarly, “five past nine” can be expressed in American English by “five after nine” or “nine five”. In front of “weekend” and “Christmas”, British English uses “at” or “over”, while American English adopts “over” or “on”.

At the weekend / Christmas (BrE)

Over the weekend / Christmas (BrE, AmE)

On the weekend / Christmas (AmE)

(2) Omitting preposition[8]2

In British English, before “day”, “week” or “certain day”, preposition “on” shall be used, while it is not so in American English.

The new term begins on September 1. (BrE)

The new term begins September 1. (AmE)

I’ll see you on Monday. (BrE)

I’ll see you Monday. (AmE)

In American English, when “home” is used as an adverb, the preposition “at” is not needed. But, in British English, “at” is required before “home”. Hence, “at home” is used in British English.

Is he home? (AmE)

Is he at home? (BrE)

3.1.3.2 Different use of auxiliary verb

In linguistics, an auxiliary is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it. There are three types: Modal auxiliaries,have and go.

No matter in the frequency or the tendency of auxiliary verb, AmE differs from BrE. Their differences are stated as follows:.

(1)shall

Shall in BrE, is widely used in the fist person to raise questions, answer questions ,or to express future, while in AmE it is only used in the law file or informal style paper. In formal style paper, people usually use will or should. Such as:

Br.E:1)I shall tell you later.

Am.E:1)I will tell you later.

2)Shall I drink this now?

2)Should I drink this now?

(2)would[9]2

Would has two special usages in AmE, firstly it can show the usual action in the past. such as: When I was small, I would go there everyday.

However in BrE, the past tense or used to can express the past uaual action, therefore in BrE the above sentence should be changed into: When I was small, I went there everyday. Or When I was wmall, I used to go there everyday.

Secondly, would in AmE can express hypothesis in some informal language, quite like a kind of subjunctive mood, however in BrE not.

Try to compare:

Am.E:1)I wish I would have done it.

2)If I would have seen one, I would have bought it for you.

Br.E(it also the same with AmE):1)I wish I had done it.

2)If I had seen one, I would have bought it for you.

In Br.E, “would” and “will” can express suppose, while in Am.E the auxiliary verb “should” and “must” express supposition. Try to compare:

Br.E:1)That will be the postman at the door.

2)That would be zhongshan Road over there.

 

Am.E: 1)That must be (should be)the mailman at the door.

2)That should be(must be)Zhongshan Rood over there.

(3)used to

“Used to” in AmE is not seen as Modal auxiliary, but seen as notional word. To the opposite, in Br.E, used to is just seen as modal auxiliary, can offer or deny questions, also can be used as notional word but people use “do” to offer or deny questions. For example:

1)He used to go there.(notional verb)

Did he use to go there.(notional verb)

2)Used he to go there.(auxiliary verb)

He used not to go there.(auxiliary verb)

(4)ought to[9]6

“Ought to” is widely used in BrE to raise or deny questions, but in AmE use “should” to substitute for it, such as:

Br.E:1)Ought we to eat lunch?

Am.E:1)Should we eat lunch?

2)You ought not(oughtn’t) to have said that.      2)You shouldn’t have said that.

In AmE, ought to and used to are all used as notional verbs in the informal papers and such forms are said to be not standard forms. For example:

1)Did you ought to say that?

2)You didn’t ought to have said that.

(5) Different use of the indefinite pronoun “one”

 In BrE we can use “one” to indicate the “one” of the former writing again while in AmE we usually use “he” or “his” to instead the “one” of the former writing. For instance:

One cannot succeed unless one works hard.(BrE)

One cannot succeed unless he works hard.(AmE)

3.1.3.3 Differences in articles[19]

(1)The omitting of articles

Most phrases of British English have articles, while those of American English do not have. The “the” in the standard expressions in British English “all the afternoon”, “all the winter”, “all the week”, “this time of the year”, ect. But the articles are usually omitted in American English. For example:

The swimming pools are open all summer.

I’ll be here all afternoon.

He has been gone all week.

British English will use articles in front of “sickness”, “river” and etc., while American English does not. For example,

British English expresses in the form of “the measles”, “the mumps”, “the flu”, “the Niagara Falls” and “the Black Creek”, while American English says “measles”, “mumps”, “flu”, “Niagara Falls” and “Black Creek”.

However, there are exceptions. In some expressions, British English does not use articles, while American English does.

BrE                         AmE

Go into hospital                Go into the hospital

In hospital                   In the hospital

At university                  At the university

Sentences are as follows:

Next day, the rain began. (BrE)

The next day, the rain began. (AmE)

In future, I’d like you to pay more attention to detail. (BrE)

In the future, I’d like you to pay more attention to detail. (AmE)

(2) The position of articles

British English and American English are different from each other in the use of “a” or “an” with “half”. In British English, “a” follows “half”, for example, “half a dozen”, “half an hour”, “half a mile”, and “half a pound”. In American English, “a” is put in front of “half”, for example, “a half dozen”, “a half hour”, “a half mile” and “a half pound”.

3.2 Syntactical differences

Syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages. The sentence is the highest rank of grammatical unit. Based on one or more than one clause, the sentence is also the basic linguistic unit of connected discourse; it can stand alone and perform a function in social communication. Thus, a sentence can be defined as a grammatical unit that can perform a communicative function. I will explain the syntactic differences as follows.

3.2.1Differences in compound object[20]

The Verb“ -to do” usually used as compound object in British English, While past participle or past participle phrase mostly used as compound object in American English. Try to compare:

1)He also had ordered his luggage to be labeled for crew.(Bronte.)   (BrE)

2)Last year an American hotel manager ordered his quests evacuated after an anonymous bomb threat.(AmE)

3)I have a roll that was in dead storage during the war which I ordered put back in running order. (O' Hara) (AmE)

The two compound structures (compound object with past participle and compound object with –to do) are both used in the BrE and AmE, while the AmE use compound object more frequent ly than BrE. However, there are some differences in the routine usage of Verb related to this phrase structure. The verb “to order” usually linked with the compound structure with past participle in AmE, but linked with the compound structure with “verb -to do” in BrE.

3.2.2 Presence or absence of syntactic elements[11]

Where a statement of intention involves two separate activities, it is acceptable for speakers of AmE to use to go plus bare infinitive. Speakers of BrE would instead use to go and plus bare infinitive. Thus, where a speaker of AmE might say I'll go take a bath, BrE speakers would say I'll go and have a bath. (Both can also use the form to go to instead to suggest that the action may fail, as in He went to take/have a bath, but the bath was full of children.) Similarly, to come plus bare infinitive is acceptable to speakers of AmE, where speakers of BrE would instead use to come and plus bare infinitive. Thus, where a speaker of AmE might say come see what I bought, BrE speakers would say come and see what I've bought (notice the present perfect tense: a common British preference).

As to whether a preposition is used before days denoted by a single word, British people would say she resigned on Thursday, while Americans often say she resigned Thursday, but both forms are common in American usage. Occasionally, in AmE the preposition is also absent when referring to months: I'll be here December (although this usage is generally limited to colloquial speech).But, it will say “I’ll be here on December.” in BrE.

In the UK, from is used with single dates and times more often than in the United States. Where British speakers and writers may say the new museum will be open from Tuesday, Americans most likely say the new museum will be open starting Tuesday. (This difference does not apply to phrases of the pattern from A to B, which are used in both BrE and AmE.) A variation or alternative of this is the most American will say “the play opens Tuesday” and the most British will say “the play opens on Tuesday”. American legislators and lawyers always use the preposition of between the name of a legislative act and the year it was passed, while their British colleagues do not. We can see such differences by making comparison between Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

3.2.3 Different use of subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood used more in AmE than in BrE, which is mainly used in the formal style paper.

In subjunctive mood, American English will rarely reserve traditional subjunctive words.

I suggest that meeting be postponed. (AmE)

I suggest that meeting should be postponed. (BrE)

I wish I had done it. (AmE)

I wish I would have done it. (BrE)

4. The grammatical differences between British English and the special form of American English—Black English

Black English also called African American Vernacular English which is an African American variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English.There are four points in which black English differs from British English.

1)Negation

In addition, negatives are formed differently from standard American English:

Use of ain't as a general negative indicator. It can be used where Standard English would use am not, isn't, aren't, haven't and hasn't, a trait which is not specific to AAVE. However, in marked contrast to other varieties of English in the U.S., some speakers of AAVE also use ain't instead of don't, doesn't, or didn't (e.g., I ain't know that).[14] Ain't had its origins in common English, but became increasingly stigmatized since the 19th century. See also amn't.

Negative concord, popularly called "double negation", as in I didn't go nowhere; if the sentence is negative, all negatable forms are negated. This contrasts with Standard English, where a double negative is considered a positive (although this wasn't always so; see double negative). There is also "triple" or "multiple negation", as in the phrase I don't know nothing about no one no more, which would be "I don't know anything about anybody anymore" in Standard English.

In a negative construction, an indefinite pronoun such as nobody or nothing can be inverted with the negative verb particle for emphasis (eg. Don't nobody know the answer, Ain't nothin' goin' on.)

While these are features that AAVE has in common with Creole languages,[15] Howe and Walker use data from early recordings of African Nova Scotian English, Samaná English, and the recordings of former slaves to demonstrate that negation was inherited from nonstandard colonial English.

Some of these characteristics, notably doubl e negatives and the omission of certain auxiliaries such as the has in has been are also characteristic of general colloquial American English.

2)The omission of copula in black English

You crazy! ("You're crazy") or She my sister ("She's my sister"). The phenomenon is also observed in questions: Who you? ("Who're you?") and Where you at? ("Where are you (at)?"). On the other hand, a stressed is cannot be dropped: She is my sister.

Only the forms is and are (the latter of which, in any case, is often replaced by is) can be omitted. These forms cannot be omitted when they are pronounced with a stress (whether or not the stress serves specifically to impart an emphatic sense to the verb's meaning).

These forms cannot be omitted when the corresponding form in Standard English cannot show contraction (and vice-versa). For example, I don't know where he is cannot be reduced to (BrE) I don't know where he because in Standard English the corresponding reduction I don't know where he's is likewise impossible. (Though I don't know where he at is possible.) Possibly some other minor conditions apply as well.[16]

  3)Present-tense verbs uninflected for number/person

there is no -s ending in the present-tense third-person singular. Example: She write poetry ("She writes poetry"). Similarly, was is used for what in standard English are contexts for both was and were.[17]

  4)The word it or is denoting the existence of something

This usage is equivalent to Standard English there in "there is", or "there are". It is also found in the English of the US South. Examples its a doughnut in the cabinet ("There's a doughnut in the cabinet") and It ain't no spoon ("There isn't a spoon", also "They ain't no spoon").[17]

5) Altered syntax in questions

Why they ain't growin'? ("Why aren't they growing?") and Who the hell she think she is? ("Who the hell does she think she is?") lack the inversion of standard English. Because of this, there is also no need for the auxiliary DO.[18]

To put it simply, we can summarize the grammatical differences between British and American daily English as follows[19]:

(1) Sometimes, British and American English use different grammatical forms to express the same meaning;

(2) Sometimes, the same grammatical form expresses different meanings in British and American English;

(3) In some structures, either British English or American English will use integrated grammatical form, while the other adopts the omitted form;

(4) Sometimes, American and British English use the same grammatical form to express the same concept and meaning.

However, one of them may have another expression form, while the other does not. We could only avoid misunderstanding by paying attention to those differences in our study.

5. The tendency of the development of British English and American English

The English language changes as the rapid development of politics, economic, culture in Britain and American. After it goes through the three periods (old English, middle English and modern English),it also changes everyday, especially in the related ten years, the changes of English becomes more obvious. Although the English structure is not as obvious as the lexical development, it does not ignore. On the aspect of grammar, English experience the changes from the verb inflections of old English to use word in order to express meaning in the past 1500years, and English also become analytic language from synthetic language. Such experience makes English flexible, meanwhile it also broke the traditional grammar frame, the former disagreed rules transferred into acceptable English even native English. The speed on renewing lexical words is very fast.

On the whole, British English and American English fuse with each other, and they tend to be brief, clear and more flexible for use.

 

6.Conclusion

As the globalization and information world developed, more and more people from different countries use the same language―English to communicate and exchange ideas with each other. The above discussion about grammar difference between British English and American English is what I have found and concluded. Although there are many differences in detailed aspects in the use of daily British and American English, they are similar to each other in most of aspects. Therefore, they shall only be considered as different forms of the same language rather than two different languages. In addition, we cannot say which one is better or advanced. Any judgment or opinion that “British English is better or worse than American English” is biased. The purpose of this paper is to help English learners understand the two varieties better and eliminate some mistakes caused in communication or paper writing.

The differences between the British English and American English are caused by politics, economy, social life, culture, and geography. American English developed from British English, but it differs from British English. All in all, sinc e English is characterized by its huge vocabulary, great tolerance, and conciseness, it leaves little room for argument that English will be well on its way to be a diversified common language.

 

Acknowledgements

My initial thanks go to my supervisor Zhu Min, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.

I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Mao Can、Gao YunPing and many others.

My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.

The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.

 

References

[1] 周乐, 美式英语与英式英语比较与分析[J]. 湖南商学院外语系,2008.

[2] Wikipedia Contributors

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_English_language

[3] blog.languagetranslation.com/public/item/118655

[4] 王振明和公丽艳,英式英语与美式英语的差异[J]. 山东教育学院学报,2002.

[5] esl.about.com/od/toeflieltscambridge/a/dif_ambrit.htm

[6]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Use_of_tenses

[7] 孟宪友,英语与美语的差别对比研究[J]. 广州大学外国语学院英语系,2002.

, Jour.of N.W. SCI-TECH Uni.of Agri.and Fore,2001.

, Journal of Shijiazhuang Teachers College,2001

, Journal of Wuhu Vocational Institute of Technology,2007

[11]Wikipedia Contributors

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences

, Journal of Hunan Agricultural University(Social Sciences), 2007

[13]张振邦,新编语法教程[M].上海,上海教育出版社,1993

, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 

[15] Winford, Donald (1992), "Back to the past: The BEV/creole connection revisited", Language Variation and Change 4 (3): 311-357

[16] Geoff Pullum, "Why Ebonics Is No Joke" Lingua Franca transcript, 17 October 1998, Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

[17] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English#Negation

篇4

1.2 The current situation in oral English learning of non-English major students 1

1.3 Overview of the development of web-based study at home 2

1.4 The significance of the study 2

2. Literature Review 4

2.1 Definition of learning strategies 4

2.2 Classification of learning strategies 5

2.3 Studies on speaking learning strategies 6

2.4 Factors of influencing the choice of speaking learning strategies 8

3. The methodology 10

3.1 The subjects 10

3.2 Instruments 10

3.3 Data collection 11

3.4 Data analysis 11

4. Results and discussion 16

4.1 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies 16

4.2 Frequency of the use of different speaking learning strategies. 16

4.3 Differences in the use of speaking learning strategies by speakers with different factors 17

5. Conclusion 19

Acknowledgements 20

References 21

Appendices 23

 

1. Introduction

In this part, four sections are included. There are background of this study, the current situation in oral English learning of non-English major students, overview of the Internet development in China and the significance of the study.

1.1 Background of this study

With the fast development of society and the increasing openness to the world, the demands to communicate in English have been expanded to a large degree. College students are required to have a good competence in speaking before entering the society. But the fact is that the actual competence of college students in speaking is far from being satisfactory. It is necessary for us to improve the awareness of using strategies.

In the field of language learning and teaching over the last few decades, a prominent shift has taken place, resulting in great emphasis on learners and learning rather than teachers and teaching. The study of learning strategies has seen an “explosion of activity”. [1]105 In recent years although the history of research into speaking learning strategies is not very long, the study on speaking learning strategies can provide students with valuable suggestions on how to improve oral English in terms of accuracy, fluency, and complexity. Almost 15 researchers abroad have studied on speaking learning strategies. In China, Huang Xiaohua and Chen Sijin have done a great contribution to studies on speaking leaning strategies.

Nowadays, the development of computer science and technology and the prevalence of networks have deeply influenced people’s life, also the language study. However, there are still few researches on the web-based speaking learning strategies. The thesis attempts to make a study on web-based speaking learning strategies.

1.2 The current situation in oral English learning of non-English major students

In China, the teaching of English as a foreign language has been greatly influenced by the traditional education system. The traditional way still pay much attention to the examinations in schools, including colleges and universities either, rather than the application of language. Linguistic form is always the focus of both textbooks and language tests. Besides, under this model, one teacher is always in charge of many students in one class, so the teacher becomes the center of the class and there is little chance for the students to practice oral English. The English language learning is seen as a “knowledge-imparting” process and the English language learning is seen as a “knowledge-receiving’ process. Therefore, there is a misleading that English learners are regarded as passive recipients and do not need any initiative.

According to the investigation by Shi in 2000, college graduates who have strong speaking ability only account for 5%; those who are very weak in speaking account for 37%; those who are competent in international conference discussions account for 7% and those who are competent in foreign trade negotiations account for 14%. In spite of the fact that college students have a long history of learning English, the critical situation still not shift and the ability for the college students to speak English is far from satisfactory.

1.3 Overview of the development of web-based study at home

With the rapid development of computer science and technology and the prevalence of networks, people’s life has been influenced. According to “Survey Report on Internet Development in China” provided by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) in January 2007, study is the fourth main goal following getting entertained, making friends and getting resources. In English Learning Teaching, Multi-media Means have been also applied. No one can ignore the great influence of the Internet on people’s daily life, including English study. A lot of people have made full use of the Internet for English study, such as reading or listening global news, watching America or Europe movies or TV series, taking part in chatting rooms for English study, making frien ds from other countries online, etc.

Web-based study can make learning anytime, anywhere available, thereby providing the possibility for lifelong learning. It also changes the relationship between teachers and students and provides increased access to study. Besides, web-based study is a good way to improve the student's critical thinking and analytical skills. [2]245

1.4 The significance of the study 

With the development of global integration and the increased frequency of international communication, new and higher requirements in English study are put forward for college students. Gradually, more and more non-English major students realize the importance of oral English study and try to find out ways to improve their own oral English to a higher level. However, due to the influence of traditional teaching methods, long-time examination-oriented concept and ignorance to oral English in people’s mind, the current situation of college students, especially non-English major students, in oral English is far from being optimistic. From 1960s, language researchers home and abroad have focused on the relationship between oral English study and learning strategies and made deep study on speaking learning strategies.

What’s more, the Internet and computer science has played a more and more important role in people’s life and influenced language learning further. It is evidently an admirable thing, but there is little guidance to the English study online. The study on web-based learning strategies is few, even the study on web-based speaking learning strategies is almost blank. Therefore, this paper chooses a certain amount of non-English major students in ZUST, and studies their present situation or problems during using speaking learning strategies online, hoping to help them to find a suitable way to study online and finally achieve the ultimate goal of improving oral English.

 

2. Literature Review

In this part, four topics are discussed respectively. They are: definition of learning strategies, classification of learning strategies, studies on speaking learning strategies, factors of influencing the choice of speaking learning strategies.

2.1 Definition of learning strategies

In most of the studies, speaking learning strategies are not separated from learning strategies. The general definition of learning strategies is “mental or behavior activity related to some specific stage in the overall process of language acquisition or language use.” [3]154 In the short history of researches on learning strategies, lots of researches abroad gave definition of learning strategies from perspective of their study. Here are some.

Weinstein and Mayer insist that learning strategies are the behaviors and thoughts that a learner engages in during learning. Learning strategies are intended to influence the learner’s encoding process. 54 The researchers above all think learning strategies are actions useful to language learning but differ in the way learning strategies work.

In 1990, Cohen defines learning strategies as learning processes which are consciously selected by the learners. The element of choice is important here because this is what gives a strategy its special character. These are also moves which the learners are at least partially aware of, even if full attention is not being given to them. 78

In addition, Tarone defines language strategies as “an attempt to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in target language –to incorporate these into one’s interlanguage competence.” [11]65-66 Stern gives the definition as “best reserved for general tendencies or overall characteristic of the approach employed by the language learner, leaving techniques as the term to refer to particular forms of observable learning behavior.& rdquo; [12]57-58

2.2 Classification of learning strategies

2.2.1 Classification of learning strategies abroad

Learning strategies have been classified by many scholars. However, most of these studies do not differ much with each other. Here are three typical classifications:

In the classification of O’Malley and Chamots, there are 3 major types of strategies, namely, cognitive strategies, meta-cognitive strategies and social/affective strategies. [13]155 O’Malley and Chamot make the classification depending on the level or type of processing involved. The disadvantage of O’Malley and Chamot’s classification is that it has difficulties in its application because the definition of each strategies item seems to be a little vague.

The classification scheme provided by Oxford is believed to be the most comprehensive classification to date. Oxford divided language strategies into two major groups, namely, direct strategies and indirect strategies. [14]54-55

1) Direct strategies: Memory strategies, Cognitive strategies, Compensation strategies.

2) Indirect strategies: Meta-cognitive strategies, Social strategies, Affective strategies.

The classification by Oxford has been widely used and accepted.

Cohen, in his work Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language divided learners’ strategies into two types: language learning strategies and language using strategies. [15]124 Cohen’s classification seems clear and easy to understand, but it is difficult to tell whether it is for language learning or for language use. Besides, his study did not pay attention to meta-cognitive strategies, while many researchers believe that meta-cognitive strategies are one of the most important strategies to language learning.

2.2.2 Classification of learning strategies in China

As we know, in most of the studies, speaking learning strategies are not separated from learning strategies. In China, many researchers have made great contribution to learning strategies. In order to have a good understanding of learning strategies, many researchers focus on the classification of learning strategies. Cheng& Zhen and Wen are two prominent researchers.

Cheng& Zhen put forward two classification schemes. The first one is based on the role that strategies play in the learning process. There are cognitive strategies, meta-cognitive strategies, affective strategies and communicative strategies. The second one is based on areas of language knowledge and skills. There are strategies for learning pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and strategies for developing listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. [16]56

Wen draws a complete system for language learning strategies. In this system, language learning strategies are divided into two categories: the beliefs about language learning and the learning strategies. The former concerns a learner’s viewpoint about how to learn a foreign language, and these beliefs decide the learning strategies one uses. The latter is subdivided into two groups: management skills and learning skills. Management skills are usually related to the language materials, including making study plans, evaluating one’s progress, measuring and modulating one’s affective state and so on; while learning skills generally include how to acquire the abilities in listening, speaking, reading and writing, how to deal with new words, how to learn pronunciation and so on. [17]54

2.3 Studies on speaking learning strategies

2.3.1 Nature of oral English

Oral English is different from written English in many ways. Oral English is usually not pre-organized and neat as written English. The sentence in oral English is usually shorter, even not completed or simpler, sometimes wrong in grammar.  Also, we can find that oral English is always much up-dated and could express speaker’s ideals by tones of voice, intonation and stress.

The words are being spoken as they are being decided and as they are being understood. Once spoken, they are gone. While the reader can reread, the listener can have memory problems that will lead to misunderstandings or a request for a repetition. Furthermore, the listener may miss a part of what was said, perhaps through noise, or a moment’s distraction. [18]85

2.3.2 Studies on speaking learning strategies abroad

With the further study of learning strategies, some researchers have made detailed study on speaking learning strategies. Speaking strategies, which are closely related to strategies as in McDonugh’s review, turned out to be a focus among researchers of SLA. L2 researchers on speaking strategies were always divided into two camps:    

1) Socio-linguistically orientated researchers, such as Tarone, who considered such strategies as social interaction.

2) Psycho-linguistically orientated researchers, represented by Faerch and Kasper, who recognized them as part of a planning process.

Through employing the me thodology of interpreting transcripts of learners’ language,the two camps set a destination of ascertaining various lists of possible strategies available to L2 learners, which were separately described by Poulisse and Bialystok. [19]78-79

The most comprehensive project into speaking strategies was conducted at the University of Nijmegen by Kellerman, Bongaerts, and Poulisse in the 1980s. In these studies by the Nijmegen group, verbal report and other methods were used for investigating the situation of the use of L2 speaking strategies, especially those used in compensating for gaps in communicative ability.

O’Malley and Chamot conducted an empirical interventionist study, which “is one of the most comprehensive studies of learner strategies to date”. [20]65 After the test, the members who were given precise and clear training in meta-cognitive,cognitive,and social strategies and affective strategies improved significantly more than the controlled group.

Cohen, Weaver and Li investigated the effects of a range of speaking strategies on three tasks performed by university foreign language students: a self-description, a story retelling, and a description of a favorite city at University of Minnesota. In 2000, there are also three major studies reviewed by Cohen, which dealt with training of speaking strategies, founded on the categorization of speaking strategies. One study was conducted with a survey of 122 first-year and fourth-year students in the English Department at an Egyptian university,half students receiving the treatment and half in the controlled group. A second study involved 60 undergraduates in compulsory English for Arts Student course. 75

2.3.3 Studies on speaking learning strategies at home

From the early 1980s, researchers in China began to pay more and more attention to speaking learning strategies. A thesis named “An investigation of learning strategies in colloquial communication that Chinese EFL learners in China employ” was accomplished by Huang Xiaohua in 1984. In 1985, Huang Xiaohua took a further research on relationship between speaking strategies and speaking proficiency among seniors of English major in Guangzhou Foreign Language Institute. They found that the use of learning strategies was relative to increased language achievement or proficiency and learning strategies had been firmly affirmed to play an active role in language learning. [23]287-307

In 1990, Chen Siqing Published “A study of communication strategies in interlanguage production by Chinese EFL learners” in an international magazine—Language Learning. In the study, the frequency, type and efficiency of using communication strategies by twelve students of foreign language majors were observed and described. [24]24-26

2.3.4 Factors of influencing the choice of speaking learning strategies

During the recent studies on learning strategies, many researchers have found that the use of speaking learning strategies is affected by many factors. And the most common factors are age, language proficiency, learning style, learning beliefs, gender, motivation and culture.

1) Age has been found to affect the use of oral English strategies. Older learners often use complex, sophisticated strategies. Young children respond more readily and intuitively to language “acquisition” in social and communicative situations, while older learners can learn language more steadily by means of cognitive and academic approaches. [25]154

2) L2 proficiency Bialystock found that functional practice correlated significantly with second language proficiency in tenth graders, whereas functional practice, formal practice, and monitoring were related to L2 proficiency in twelfth graders. [26]25

3) Learning styles also affect the choice of L2 learning strategies. Learning styles make a big difference in choosing learning strategies or the learning behavior of an individual.

4) Learning beliefs, as researchers, Weden, Horwitz; Abranham and Vann; Gerardo; Pedro; Yang, suggested, play an important role in dictating the use of learning strategies.

5) Gender differences in the use of learning strategies are indicated by several studies of Oxford and Nyikos, Oxford and Green, Kaylani e.

6) Motivation is also important in successful second language learning. Gardner, D. & L. Miller are typical researchers. Schumann, Oxford and Nyikos, Ehrman and Oxford, Okada also concern much about motivation and learning strategies.

7) Culture may play an important role in shaping particular learning behaviors, as some researchers indicated. Researchers such as O’Malley, Politzer and McGroa try, Scarcella, Carson, Hino, Kohn, Carson and Nelson, Levine, Reves and Leaver and Parry make researches on it. [27]85

 

3. The methodology

The study was conducted to investigate the current situation of speaking learning strategies used by students from non-English majors who have oral English study online by means of questionnaire survey. The whole chapter is composed of the following components: the subjects, the instruments, data collection, data analysis.

3.1 The subjects

3.1.1 Purpose

The major purposes of the study are: 1) to study the frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies during oral English study online; 2) to find out the differences in the frequency of the use of different speaking learning strategies; 3) to identify the differences in the use of speaking learning strategies by speakers with different factors including gender, major, personality, self-rated proficiency level; 4) to point out that the positive use of speaking learning strategies online is helpful to the improvement of oral English.

3.1.2 Participants

The participants are 107 college students of non-English major in ZUST. They are from different majors and are respectively from science and arts. And also, they are from different grades of different levels.

3.2 Instruments

The questionnaire has been used to gather information on the speaking learning strategies used by students of non-English major who have oral English study online. The students are required to finish the questionnaire in 10 minutes. The questionnaire contains 30 questions, concluding 6 questions about meta-cognitive strategies, 4 questions about cognitive strategies, 6 questions about memory strategies, 4 questions about compensation strategies, 5 questions about affective strategies, and 5 questions about social strategies. It uses five scales ranging from A (“never”) to E (“always”). The latter letter indicates a more frequent use of the Internet or strategies. The first part of the survey questionnaire is for the status of using the Internet for oral English study in ZUST. The second part focuses on the use of six types of strategies. The detailed reflection of different speaking learning strategies used in oral English study online can be represented as below: 1) memory strategies, such as setting up nets of relationships, making use of image and sound, reviewing, acting and so on; 2) cognitive strategies, such as practicing, receiving, and conveying information, analyzing and inferring, setting up rules for inputting and output information; 3) compensation strategies, such as guessing, overcoming deficiencies of language knowledge in speaking and writing; 4) meta-cognitive strategies, such as focusing on key points of learning, arranging and planning learning, evaluating learning; 5) affective strategies, such as lowering anxiety, encouraging oneself, learning about one’s own state of affect; 6) social strategies, such as enquiring about questions, cooperating with others, sympathizing others. The questionnaire is in Chinese, in order to make the participants understand the items better.

3.3 Data collection

The students majoring in science, especially the students majoring in engineering and students majoring in arts of business trade and humanity in ZUST, take part in this survey. The survey conducted during a week in April in 2010. There are different methods or procedures to collect the data in the researches of speaking learning strategies, such as observation, interview, questionnaire, verbal report, diary, etc. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages as well. But considering time-saving principal and the conception of building an environmental society, this survey is made online. During this period, we contact 3 students majoring in engineering in ZUST and then other students to take part in the survey. The students are required to answer the questionnaire in 10 minutes. The participants are advised not to be so bad in English to guarantee the quality of the survey. Then the data will undergo descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics indicate the average level of the use of speaking learning strategies, the difference between two sets of scores, such as the relationship between some learners’ factors and the use of speaking learning strategies, such as gender, major, personality, self-rated proficiency, and the possibility and reliability of the data.

3.4 Data analysis

This paper analyzes the data collected in the research. Section one indicates the frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies during oral English study online. Section two shows the differences in the frequency of the use of different speaking learning strategies. Section three provides the differences in the use of speaking learning strategies by speakers with different factors including gender, major, personality, self-rated proficiency level. For the convenience of calculating, A (“never&rd quo;) to E (“always”) in the questionnaire count 1-5 scores gradually. And all use mean and Std. Deviation to make a contrast between each other and check the possibility of the results.

3.4.1 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies

Table 3.1 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies online and in real life

Category Online In real life

Overall strategies  2.50 4.02

Memory strategies 2.30 4.33

Cognitive strategies 2.57 3.04

Compensation strategies 2. 82 4.83

Meta-cognitive strategies 2. 53 3.12

Affective strategies 2.19 3.03

Social strategies 2.24 4.08

The table 3.1 above shows the mean scores of the use of speaking learning strategies online and in the real life respectively. It is clearly that the frequency of the overall use of speaking learning online only accounts 2.50, greatly lower than that in the real life, which holds 4.02. Besides, the respective scores of the use of different speaking learning strategies are relatively lower than that in the real life.

3.4.2 Frequency of the use of different speaking learning strategies

Table 3.2 Frequency of the use of different speaking learning strategies

Category Mean Std. Deviation

Memory strategies 2.30 2.29

Cognitive strategies 2.57 3.33

Compensation strategies 2. 82 4.91

Meta-cognitive strategies 2. 53 5.18

Affective strategies 2.19 3.43

Social strategies 2.24 3.07

The table 3.2 above shows the mean scores and std. deviation of the use of different speaking learning strategies online. As the survey shows, the most frequent speaking learning strategies used by students are compensation strategies, which accounts for 2.82. The latter two are cognitive strategies and meta-cognitive strategies, which accounts for 2.57 and 2.53 respectively. Affective strategies only have 2.19, which are comparatively low to the overall level.

3.4.3 Differences in the use of speaking learning strategies by speakers with different factors

3.4.3.1 Use of the speaking strategies by different gender

Table 3.3 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies by different gender

Category Male Female

Overall strategies  2.33 2.67

Memory strategies 2.28 2.32

Cognitive strategies 2.53 2.61

Compensation strategies 2.51 2.55

Meta-cognitive strategies 2.49 2.57

Affective strategies 2.18 2.20

Social strategies 2.21 2.27

From table 3.3, we can see that there is no big significant difference in using memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies, meta-cognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies between different genders. The overall strategies used by females hold 2.67, higher than 2.33 for males. The use of learning strategies by females is more frequent than the males. Also, the scores of respective speaking learning strategies by the females are always higher than the males.

3.4.3.2 Use of the speaking strategies by different majors

Table 3.4 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies by different major

Category Science Arts

Overall strategies  2.36 2.64

Memory strategies 2.25 2.35

Cognitive strategies 2.51 2.63

Compensation strategies  2.59  2.47

Meta-cognitive strategies 2.31 2.33

Affective strategies 2.15 2.23

Social strategies 2.19 2.29

From table 3.4, the overall use of speaking learning strategies by students from arts occupies 2.64, while the use of those from science occupies 2.36. The students from arts use speaking learning strategies a little more frequent than those of the science. Also, this contrast between males and females can be seen by the scores of each speaking learning strategies in the table3.4.

3.4.3.3 Use of the speaking strategies by different personalities

Table 3.5 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies by different personality

Category Extroverted Introverted

Overall strategies  2.50 2.42

Memory strategies 2.27 2.33

Cognitive strategies 2.58 2.56

Compensation strategies 2.56 2.50

Meta-cognitive strategies 2.28 2.34

Affective strategies 2.19 2.17

Social strategies 2.26 2.21

From table 3.5, the scores of the extroverted students and the introverted students are near the same. And it is not fixed that the scores of the extroverted ones are higher than the introverted ones by each strategies. The score of memory strategies by the introverted occupies 2.33, 0.05 higher than the extroverted. Also, we can see that the score of the meta-cognitive strategies by the introverted is 0.06 higher. There is no big difference in the use of the speaking strategies with different personality, but normally the speaking learning strategies used by the outgoing and confident students are more frequent, especially social strategies, affective strategies and compensation strategies.

3.4.3.4 The use of the speaking strategies by different self-rated proficiency levels

Table 3.6 Frequency of the use of speaking Learning

 strategies by different self-rated proficiency level

Category High Medium Low

Overall strategies  2.53 1.61 0.89

Memory strategies 1.84 1.71 1.12

Cognitive strategies 2.19 1.97 0.98

Compe nsation strategies 1.51 1.57 1.90

Meta-cognitive strategies 2.57 1.63 0.83

Affective strategies 2.83 1.88 0.67

Social strategies 2.11 1.54 0.83

In this part, students are divided into three groups by self-rated proficiency level, namely, high, medium and low. Table 3.6 clearly shows that the strategies used by the participants are significantly and positively related to their proficiency level. The good students with higher-rated proficiency level use more speaking learning strategies and relatively the students with low-rated proficiency level use less speaking learning strategies. In addition, the compensation is often used by the ones who are relatively weak in English, which occupy 1.9 point in the table 3.6.

 

4. Results and discussion

4.1 Frequency of the use of speaking learning strategies

As the survey shows, the overall use of speaking learning strategies online is still low. The possible reason should be:

First, the college students have not thought high of or even realized the great potential and function of the net to learning. Although the Internet can capture students’ attention easily, it is not often used for study. Students are used to and willing to study in class or by textbooks or homework.

Second, even though a part of students realized the value of Internet to study, they do not know how to study. The further negative effect is that they lose the interest in oral English practicing easily. This may need the teachers to guide them and enlighten their mind with fleshing ideas, innovation and updated rich information about the ways to practice oral English on the Internet.

Third, there is no admirable and pleasant atmosphere for web-based study. As nearly all the students live in the dormitory, they are easily affected by each other. So, an environment full of interaction is advocated. The teachers or the students themselves could build some forums, unions or study groups to arise the atmosphere of study.

The last but not the least, the Internet has so much temptation to allure the students to have some entertainment. So, the Internet itself may reduce the speaking learning use. Students are always weak in self-motivated learning ability and ability to study independently online. As to this, the students themselves should pay more efforts on it.

4.2 Frequency of the use of different speaking learning strategies.

From the data we can see that the most frequent speaking learning strategy used by students online is the compensation strategies. This may be the reason that the average oral English level of non-English major students is not high and a big amount of them is low. When they could not understand what the other talks about during the conversation, they will ask them to repeat or slow down the speed. Since the storage of their vocabulary is limited, when they could not remind of the words or sentences needed, they will choose other words or sentences to replace these words or sentences. And when they could not express themselves clearly, they will try to give examples to elaborate it.

The lower ones to compensation strategies in the survey are cognitive strategies and meta-cognitive strategies. It is gratified that students have an identifying goal of study in English learning and they also take advantage of the Internet resources under a pleasant condition by watching America movie or TV series or listening VOA, BBC, etc. They also try to seek the better way to improve oral English and have the ability to make arrangements.

Affective strategies, memory strategies and social strategies are comparatively lower in the data. Students are easy to be depressed about their oral English and sometimes have the thought to let it be. When confronted with new words on movies, TV series, websites, chatting online, etc, students will not write them down or try to find their meanings. Social strategies could contribute much but are limited by the traditional study habits online. Students have not formed the habits to practice English by e-mails, chatting rooms or other methods online.

4.3 Differences in the use of speaking learning strategies by speakers with different factors

As we can see from the use of the speaking strategies by different genders, majors, personality, and self-rated proficiency level above, English learning factors do affect the oral learning inline.

As to the gender, females pay more attention to the use of speaking learning strategies and have more talents in language learning. Female students are not engaged in many entertainments such as games, etc. But both males and females should make best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages

As to the major, the scores of the students majoring in arts are conspicuously superior to the students majoring in science. The thinking pattern and the advantage of sharing emotion and social practice of the students majoring in art makes them superior in the use of speaking learning strategies, while the students majoring in science pay much on the technologies and data than language itself.

As to personality, the extroverted ones gain much. The extroverted personality always represents confident, outgoing and communicating or sharing much with others. The confident and outgoing ones always have a higher self-rated proficiency. If one is more confident and outgoing, then he or she will pay more efforts on how to improve oral English and gain more opportunity to have a communication with others.

As to self-rated proficiency, it is clear that the students with higher self-rated proficiency level use more speaking learning strategies and the students with lower self-rated proficiency level use less speaking learning strategies. In turn, the ones who use varied speaking learning strategies more frequently can always achieve better outcomes in oral English. But as the Internet is only one assisting tool to oral English learning, so, we can not say that it is definitely a deciding factor. But it is sure that frequent use of strategies do contributes to the results of the oral English learning.

At present, however, not too many students regard the speaking learning strategies important, and have not formed a good study mode online. So, I would like to bring up some advice for reference: 1)lowering anxiety and practicing step by step; 2)preparing and planning for using speaking learning strategies; 3)selecting and using proper and suitable strategies for yourself; 4)summarizing your oral study and making adjustments accordingly; 5)going outside and practicing more and more. How to get rid of the barriers of the negative factors and make full use of the positive ones is a wise but a difficult thing. Also, to make full use of the Internet in study and put the speaking learning strategies into the oral English study online are meaningful but still a long way.

 

5. Conclusion

The above discussion of study and research is by no means comprehensive but it deserves our study.

 Nowadays, Internet is an interesting and fashionable thing to us. It has attracted our eyeballs for a long time and occupied plenty of our time as well. The introduction of Internet brings new vigor to teaching and learning process, but it also tends to be inefficient during the study. Thus, the frequency of using speaking learning strategies online is low. This requires the proper use of speaking learning strategies and efforts by the students.

As the study shows, the most frequent speaking learning strategies used online is compensation strategies. It may after all be accepted as a good way to circumvent the weakness in oral English, but not a good and long-time way to improve oral English level. Other strategies do deserve to use and have some requirements to the learners: the use of cognitive strategies and meta-cognitive strategies requires learners know how to make arrangements for study and have the ability to self-control during the study online. The study of affective strategies shows that an enterprising and perseverant mind is advocated in practicing oral English. Memory strategies request the learners to be more diligent and hardworking to English study. At last, the social strategies are functional and demand the students to explore more gateways of practicing oral English online.

It is evident that learners’ factors can easily affect the use of speaking learning strategies online and some factors can not be changed at once. But, if the learners could foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses, and absorb the shining points from the others, there will be a new look of oral English learning.

Speaking learning strategies is by no means helpful to the improvement of oral English, although this paper could not give affirmative support to it. But we can see that the good learners always use speaking learning strategies more frequently.

All in all, it is greatly expected that the learners could make full use of the website and speaking learning strategies during the study online and there will be a better atmosphere of practicing oral English online in the future.

 

Acknowledgements

My initial thanks go to my supervisor Louqing, who patiently supervised my dissertation and was at times very willing to offer me illuminating advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this dissertation.

I am also indebted to other teachers and my classmates who have not only offered me their warm encouragements but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Yangxue, Chenliang, Fanyanlong, wangbo and many others.

My greatest personal debt is to my grandparents and parents, who have cultivated a soul of sensitivity, hospitality, and honesty out of me, and offered a harbor of happiness and sweetness for me.

The remaining weakness and possible errors of the dissertation are entirely my own.

 

References

[1]Skehan, P. Individual Differences in Second Language Learning[M]. London: Edward Arnold, 1991:105.

[2]Tav angarian D.& Leypold M.E., Noiting K., Roser M. & Voigt D. Is e-Learning the solution for individual Learning?[D]Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 2004:245.

[3]Ellis, R. The Study of Second Language Acquisition[M].Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994:154.

[4]Weinstein, C & R. Mayer. The Teaching of Learning Strategies[M]. NewYork. Macmillan, 1986:74.

[5]Chamot, A. The Learning Strategies Handbook. NY[M]. Longman, 1987:96.

[6]Rubin, J. Language Learning Language Strategies: What every teacher should know[M]. Boston: Heinle & Heinele, 1990:156.

[7]Oxford, R. L. Variables Affecting Choices of Language Learning Strategies by University Students[M]. Modern Language Journal, 1989:24.

[8]Ellis, R. The Study of Second Language Acquisition[M].Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994:54.

[9]Cohen, A. D. Language learning: “Insights for learners, Teachers and Researchers”[M]. New York: Newbury House Publishers, 1990:67.

[10]Cohen, A.D. Weaver, S. & Li, T-Y. The Impact of Strategies-based Instruction on Speaking a Foreign Language[M].Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998:78.

[11]Tarone, E. Some Thoughts on the Notion of “Communication Strategies” [J]. London: Longman, 1983:65-66.

[12]Stern, H. Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching[M]. Oxford University Press, 1983:57-58.

[13]Oxford & O’ Malley. A Study of Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Instruction: First Year Report[M]. Rosslyn, Va.: Interstate Research Associates, 1987:155.

[14]Oxford, R.L. Language learning strategies: What Every Teachers Should Know[M]. New York: Newbury House, 1990:54-55.

[15]Cohen, A. Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language[M].Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000:124.

[16]陈晓堂,郑敏.英语学习策略[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2002:56.

[17]文秋芳.英语学习成功之路[M].上海外语教育出版社,2003:54.

[18]Bygate, M. Speaking[M]. Oxford University Press, 1987:85.

[19]McDonugh, S.H. Strategies and Skill in Learning a Foreign Language[M]. London: Edward Amold, 1995:78-79.

[20]Ellis, Rod. Learning a Second Language Learning Through Interaction[M] Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1999:65.

[21]Nunan, D. The Learner-Centered Curriculum: a Study in Second Language Teaching[M]. Cambridge University Press, 1990:45.

[22]Dornyei, Z. On the teachability of communication strategies. TESOL Quaterly[M].TESOL Quarterly, 1995:75.

[23]Huang, X. H. & M. Van Naersson. Learning Strategies for oral communication[J]. Applied Linguistic, 1987:287-307.

[24]陈思齐.英语专业大学生交际策略的使用研究[J].外语教学,1990:24-26.

[25]Ehrman, M & Oxford. Effects of sex differences, career choice, and psychological type on adult language learning strategies[M]. Modern Language, 1989:154.

[26]Bialystock, E. The role of conscious strategies: A psychological Analysis of Second Language use[M]. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1981:25.

[27]陈善琼.语言学习策略在中学英语口语教学中的应用[D]. 四川师范大学,2007:85.

 

Appendices

浙江科技学院非英语专业大学生网上英语口语学习策略调查问卷

                           

一、个人简况

姓名:              

性别:                 A 男            B女  

             

科别:                A 理工科        B文科 

你的性格特征:                 A内向           B外向       

你认为你目前的英语综合水平:   A很差           B一般         C优秀

二、网上英语口语学习策略调查

(元认知策略使用情况调查)

1、我寻求好的网上口语练习的时间和地点。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

2、上网学习时,我能把握上网学习的时间和内容。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

 

3、对于如何上网提高英语口语能力,在不同时期,我有明确的目标。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

4、我总在寻求更好的口语学习方法。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

5、我思考和评价自己的上网学习方法从而找出存在的问题和解决方法。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

6、在说话前, 我先把想说的话组织好再说。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(认知策略使用情况调查)

7、我浏览各种英文网站、听英文录音VOA,BBC,. etc及看英文视频等,听和练习口语。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

8、在用英语聊天时,我会猜想对方下一句会说什么。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

9、听VOA,BBC,. etc 或欧美剧等英文视频时,我会模仿其说话方式、语音语调及用词。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

10、听VOA,BBC,. etc 或欧美剧等英文视频时,我会小声跟着说。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(记忆策略使用情况调查)

11、我反复观看喜欢的欧美剧,以便加深印象。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

12、记单词时, 我会想到同根的词或近义词、反义词等相关词汇。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

13、在英文网站上遇到新单词我就猜它的意思。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

14、一遇到生词就查字典吗?

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

15、我把上网遇到的生词记在单词本上。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

16、我用金山词霸等网上字典在线查找生词的意义及用法。

 A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(补偿策略使用情况调查)

17、QQ聊或聊天室语音等方式交流时, 我会努力猜测TA接下去将说什么。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

18、QQ聊或聊天室语音等方式交流时, 当不懂对方所言时,会请求对方重复或放慢语速。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

19、QQ聊或聊天室语音等方式交流时, 当与别人交谈时想不起某个词 时, 我会使用同义词(组)。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

20、当不能表达自己时, 我会举例等方式进行解释。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(情感策略使用情况调查)

21、在网络环境中害怕别人发现你英语方面的不足吗? 

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

22、为了把口语说好,我经常自我鼓励。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

23、说英语紧张时, 我会想办法消除它。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

24、上网学习英语后,我的学习兴趣提高了。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

25、我会与家人、同学、老师等探讨口语学习的感受

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(社交策略使用情况调查)

26、用英语写邮件或聊天时,我请对方纠正我的错误。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

27、通过网上交流很容易在学习上和同学结成朋友。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

28、必要时,交谈借助手势、表情等进行表达。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

29、交谈时,我把精力放在意思表达上。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

30、在口语表达时,我直接向对方表示自己遇到困难,向对方寻求帮助。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

浙江科技学院非英语专业大学生非网络状态下英语口语学习策略调查问卷

(元认知策略使用情况调查)

1、我寻求好的网上口语练习的时间和地点。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

2、学习时,我能把握学习的时间和内容。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

 

3、对于如何提高英语口语能力,在不同时期,我有明确的目标。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

4、我总在寻求更好的口语学习方法。

A从不     B很少    C有时      D经常    E总是

5、我思考和评价自己的学习方法从而找出存在的问题和解决方法。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

6、在说话前, 我先把想说的话组织好再说。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(认知策略使用情况调查)

7、我参加有利于英语提高的活动,听和练习口语。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

8、在用英语聊天时,我会猜想对方下一句会说什么。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

9、听英语时,我会模仿其说话方式、语音语调及用词。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

10、听英语时,我会小声跟着说。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(记忆策略使用情况调查)

11、我反复朗读喜欢的英语文章,以便加深印象。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

12、记单词时, 我会想到同根的词或近义词、反义词等相关词汇。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

13、遇到新单词我就猜它的意思。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

14、一遇到生词就查字典吗?

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

15、我把遇到的生词记在单词本上。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

16、我会努力查找生词的意义及用法。

 A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(补偿策略使用情况调查)

17、英语聊天时,我会努力猜测TA接下去将说什么。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

18、英语聊天时,当不懂对方所言时,会请求对方重复或放慢语速。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

19、英语聊天时, 当与别人交谈时想不起某个词时, 我会使用同义词(组)。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

20、当不能表达自己时, 我会举例等方式进行解释。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(情感策略使用情况调查)

21、害怕别人发现你英语方面的不足吗? 

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

22、为了把口语说好,我经常自我鼓励。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

23、说英语紧张时, 我会想办法消除它。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

24、一番努力学习后,我的学习兴趣提高了。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

25、我会与家人、同学、老师等探讨口语学习的感受

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

(社交策略使用情况调查)

26、用英语聊天时,我请对方纠正我的错误。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

27、英语打开新的世界,结交更多的朋友。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

28、必要时,交谈借助手势、表情等进行表达。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

29、交谈时,我把精力放在意思表达上。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

30、在口语表达时,我直接向对方表示自己遇到困难,向对方寻求帮助。

A从不    B很少      C有时     D经常   E总是

谢谢您的合作!

 

诚 信 承 诺

我谨在此承诺:本人所写的毕业论文《基于网络的英语口语学习策略研究》均系本人独立完成,没有抄袭行为,凡涉及其他作者的观点和材料,均作了注释,若有不实,后果由本人承担。

友情链接