Teaching Oral Skills to Student with Prevailing Analytical Thinking
Xiamen University,China
ABSTRACT
In this article, the author characterizes the methods used while teaching oral skills of Chinese language to students living outside China with no opportunity to communicate with native speakers. We try to find out which exercises are most helpful for students with prevailing analytical thinking. While these students normally perform well in grammar, reading, and text understanding, they may face certain difficulties in mastering oral skills, especially outside of China. These students have no chance to simply catch up the language, so, according to author’s experience, they need a concerted effort to improve their speech habits. The author noticed that many students with prevailing analytical thinking tend to use the same pattern to study the spoken language as they successfully use while learning grammar and writing. Our main method consisted in experimenting with different types of exercises and tasks, both found in literature and created by our own compilation, and analyzing the results after each class along with long-term results. Also, the author searched and analyzed written sources with the aim to adapt them for practical educational purposes. We found out that students with more developed analytical thinking require a specific approach in oral skills practice, and their needs must be acknowledged by both teachers and students.
KEYWORDS
teaching oral skills, spoken language, Chinese language