ABSTRACT

With the fast development of economic globalization and society, the world is becoming closely associated and the communication between countries is getting more frequent. English, an international language, is drawing much attention, so is the oral English teaching. Developing communicative abilities of oral English is one of the aims of English majors. Reasonable and suitable design of communicative activities play an important role in developing oral English, which not only determines the process of oral practice but also examines whether oral teaching lives up to the requirements of teaching syllabus. 

As a new form of communicative teaching method, task-based language teaching plays a more significant role in the oral English teaching. The teachers should take students’ actual needs into consideration when they design oral communication activities. This study explores six principles of designing oral communication activities for English majors in terms of the task-based language teaching theory such as the principle of meaningful tasks, the authenticity principle, the principle of participation, the principle of interest, the principle of subjectivity and the principle of reasonable task difficulty by analyzing five examples of oral tests from TEM-4 and five from TEM-8, which aims to offer effective suggestions for oral English teaching practice.

Key words: oral communication activities; principles and practice; task-based

teaching theory  

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One  INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Research Background-1

1.2 Significance of the Study-1

1.3 Purpose of the Study-2

1.4 Overview of the Thesis-2

Chapter Two  LITERATURE REVIEW-3

    2.1 Types of Oral Communication Activities-3

2.2 Characteristics of Oral English Communication-4

2.3 Teachers’ Role in Task-Based Oral Communication Activity Design-4

2.4 Steps of Task-based Oral English Language Teaching-5

2.5 Advantages of Oral Communication Activities-5

Chapter Three  THEORETICAL FOUNDATION-7

    3.1 The Definition of Activity and Task-7

3.2 The Introduction to Task-Based Language Teaching-9

3.3 The Theoretical Foundation of Task-Based Language Teaching-10

   3.3.1 Language Acquisition Theory-10

   3.3.2 Social Constructivism Theory-10

   3.3.3 Communicative Teaching Theory-11

Chapter Four  PRINCIPLES OF DESIGNING ORAL COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES-12

    4.1 The Principle of Meaningful Tasks-12

4.2 The Authenticity Principle-13

4.3 The Principle of Participation-14

4.4 The Principle of Interest-15

4.5 The Principle of Subjectivity-15

4.6 The Principle of Reasonable Task Difficulty-16

Chapter Five  CONCLUSION-17

REFERENCES-18