影响大学生英语口语的因素及相应教学对策

作为英语能力的一个重要组成部分,英语口语一直是大学生英语基本技能中最薄弱的环节。长期以来,在传统教学思想及方法的指导下,英语五项基本技能中,说始终没有得到充分重视。因此,培养学生对外语的实际应用能力,尤其是口头交际能力显得尤为重要。如何提高学生口语水平,切实培养学生的口头交际能力,业已成为大学英语教学中一个新的课题。     

论书面语与口语的差异研究

从词汇、句法和使用场合等层面对英语口语和书面语的主要特征进行对比分析,可以加强英语学习者对英语语体之间差异的认识,能够帮助英语学习者提高英语运用能力。     

Peer and self-assessment applied to oral presentations from a multidisciplinary perspective

This article analyses the use of peer and self-assessment in oral presentations as complementary tools to assessment by the professor. The analysis is based on a study conducted at the University of Girona (Spain) in seven different degree subjects and fields of knowledge. We designed and implemented two instruments to measure students’ peer and self-assessment, and a rubric to guide the assessment process. Results were compared with the marks awarded by the professor. In contrast with studies by other authors, which show a high correlation between these different assessment systems, our study revealed significant deviations. Applying peer and self-assessment to oral presentation activities also demonstrates their formative value above and beyond their summative usefulness.     

Identifying and Nurturing Gifted Children in Israel

The article describes Israel’s approach to the education of gifted and talented children. It describes the programs for gifted and talented children in Israel and the process for selecting students for these programs. The method of selecting students for programs is consistent with the Ministry of Education’s definition of giftedness, the goals of the giftedness programs, and the characteristics of these programs. The selection method is affected by the standards required of the instruments as well as other constraints, such as the constraints on funding for this purpose.The author of this article is the director of the Szold Institute program for identifying gifted children. The project is funded by the Israeli Ministry of Education     

Peer assessment in thesis oral presentation

Peer assessment has been studied in various situations and actively pursued as a means by which students are given more control over their learning and assessment achievement. This study investigated the reliability of staff and student assessments in two oral presentations with limited feedback for a school-based thesis course in engineering where the different disciplines ran their own assessment. Staff scores were generally found to be more reliable than student scores, but it was not consistent. The engineering disciplines displayed widely varying differences between the staff and student scores. A large variation in reliability was found for the different disciplines making it difficult to reconcile to a standard school-based overall grading scheme for the course when the reliability of marking was low. The results also showed that the average scores for oral presentations are generally much higher than for written examinations, based on the grade point average. Future research will need to investigate how best to develop a consistent assessment framework for oral presentations and moderation of scores for consistency, particularly for large classes where assessment are done by different groups of staff and students and collated into a single set of marks for the class.     

Using teacher stories to reveal quality educational practice: An Eastern Cape experience

The University of Fort Hare Distance Education Project set out to improve qualifications of primary teachers in rural and township schools in the Eastern Cape of the Republic of South Africa. At the culmination of an 11-year AUSAid collaboration between the University of Fort Hare and University of South Australia a research project to reveal quality educational practice was undertaken. Using oral histories as the methodology, teacher stories were gathered through a sequence of interviews and classroom observations. This collection of oral histories constitutes the basis for the paper. Its research focus has been the science and mathematics practices of eight teachers who typify the many hundreds who participated in the project. This paper explores the use of oral history as a methodology for documenting quality educational practice.     

Genuine Religious Tolerance: Is It a Thing of the Past in Public Schools?

The so-called Culture Wars have made the issue of religious tolerance in schools more confusing than ever. Where once free speech trumped nearly every concern in these wars in the public schools, there is now great concern about whether messages put out are politically correct. The preoccupation teachers now have with avoiding speech or themes likely to get them into trouble has led to a new form of censorship. The authors explain that free speech in the educational forum requires respect for every earnest attempt to get at a legitimate truth claim. In matters religious, this epistemic openness is no longer respected. The argument below does not encourage teachers to engage in debate among students in matters religious, or even to encourage it. Nor are the arguments below aimed at introducing religious discourse as a means of developing skills of critical thinking as the feminist, moral philosopher Nel Noddings has previously recommended. The argument simply concludes with the modest recommendation that teachers be more conscientious about indirectly censoring or trivializing student religious speculations.     

见证20世纪的时代变迁与沧桑--长篇小说《手机》之评析

《手机》以三种通讯方式——捎口信、手摇电话、多功能手机为线索，典型而又深刻地反映了20世纪初期、中期、晚期三个时期时代变迁。构思巧妙，以小见大，作品散发浓郁的乡土气息和都市气氛，是上个世纪中国社会的缩影。     

综合英语课堂中的口语教学

随着我国对外开放和社会发展对复合型外语人材的需求,大力提高学生的口语表达能力显得十分迫切和紧要,特别是对英语专业的学生来说,口语水平高低直接影响着他们今后的发展．综合英语作为英语专业学生的英语综合技能课程,教师如果能够充分调动学生积极性,将口语教学和综合英语课堂教学较好地结合在一起,将对英语专业学生的口语水平的提高起到积极的促进作用．     

英语口语教学中文化差异现象探析

英汉习语体现了中西语言文化差异,而语言又是交际的工具。在英语教学中,口语教学应该尤其突出这一差异。本文探讨了在英语口语教学中如何让学生充分掌握由英汉习语所体现的两种语言的文化差异,从而提高口语教学的效率。