Improvement of Listening and Speaking Skills for English Majors in Foreign Trade

章慧

【Abstract】In china， with the guidance of the exam-oriented education， both teachers and students pay more attention to the improvement of English writing skills. However， under the growing trend of economic globalization， mastering English listening and speaking skills is a necessity for students， especially for English majors in foreign trade. In recent years， many researchers have discussed listening and speaking teaching separately. In fact， the two skills are supplementary to each other， which should be taught and practiced simultaneously. Based on the current situation of English listening and speaking skills of English majors in foreign trade， therefore， this thesis aims to summarize a comprehensive teaching method to improve students listening and speaking skills in foreign trade. It is also hoped that the findings will provide valuable resources for the relevant studies in the near future.

【Key words】English majors in foreign trade； listening and speaking skills； teaching methods

1. Introduction

Because of economic globalization， English has become one of the most popular methods to exchange information. However， most students get high scores in English written exams， but poor in communicating with foreigners. The same is true of students in English foreign trade majors. Therefore， it is urgent to improve their communicative skills through a good mastery of listening and speaking skills， if they want to become competent to trade with foreigners.

2. Problems in Listening and Speaking Teaching

2.1 Students Problems

2.1.1 Psychological Problems

In a conversation， speakers are supposed to listen carefully and respond timely. There is no time for distraction. But most students could hardly overcome the difficulties due to their poor psychological quality. Instead， students tend to be unconfident and negative. Meanwhile， they sometimes exaggerate listening difficulty and reject to listen to the content. Owing to this psychological state， students are often afraid of talking with others in English.

2.1.2 Cultural Problems

Cultural difference is another obstacle in students learning process. Most students constantly learn vocabulary and grammar， which enable them to get high scores in exam. However， few of them know the customs of western countries. What they neglect is that cultural knowledge is an essential condition if they want to use English well. Besides， cultural difference may easily lead to misunderstandings. For example， it is common for Chinese to ask about ones salary， which is a private affair in the West. Therefore， for English majors in foreign trade， they are also supposed to know something about business etiquette in western countries.endprint

2.2 Teachers Problems

2.2.1 Outdated Teaching Ideas

Under great pressure from leaders of colleges and exam-oriented education， many teachers only focus on students passing rate in exams instead of their communicative skills. Some aged teachers even let students be audience in their classes. In this kind of class， students are always in a passive state.

2.2.2 Adverse Environmental Conditions

In college life， students spend several hours learning English in classroom. They have few chances to talk with foreigners， not to mention real business environment. Owing to limited teacher resources， some listening and oral lessons are taught by Chinese teachers. It would make a big difference because Chinese and foreign teachers have different ways of thinking and different customs of language expression. In that case， students may be easily influenced， which would make them feel unfit for foreign trade.

3. Solutions

3.1 Solutions to Students Problems

3.1.1 Improving Psychological Quality

Students sense of inferiority is the main cause of their poor psychological quality. At this point， teachers are required to pay close attention to students psychological states and give timely guidance. In order to train students healthy psychological quality， teachers may design teaching activities according to different personalities of them. Such activities could stimulate students interest in learning and build their confidence. Meanwhile， teachers should encourage students to open their mouth and guide them to be active participants in class. If teachers give encouragement instead of criticism and avoid causing students frustration， students would not be afraid of making mistakes. Once they overcome the fear of making mistakes， their sense of inferiority will disappear.

3.1.2 Supplying Cultural Background Knowledge

Chinese students tend to use Chinglish to communicate with others. Thats all because they lack cultural background knowledge of western countries. To solve this problem， teachers should introduce some social and cultural background knowledge in class. There are many ways for teachers to give introduction， for example， playing a part of English TV news or English movie， recommending some ideal novels and displaying a video related to business negotiation.

3.2 Solutions to Teachers Problems

3.2.1 Updating Teaching Ideas

To keep up with the times， teachers have to update their teaching ideas. Their goal is to train talents who can use English to conduct business and communication. Although students test score is an important index used to evaluate teaching effectiveness， it cannot fully reflect students learning outcomes.endprint

Besides， the traditional teacher-student relationship has seriously restrained the development of students. So teachers are suggested to regard their students as friends instead of students. Everyone could give out their thoughts in class but not to sit there taking notes.

3.2.2 Imitating Business Environment

For English majors in foreign trade， business environment is a necessary condition in their learning process. To achieve this， teachers can use scenario stimulation and role-play teaching method by designing business activities such as foreign receptions， new product introduction and trade negotiations. Before imitating such business activities， teachers must consider each situation in details， for example， roles， equipment， props and so on. Whats more， relations between roles should be made clear. Next teachers introduce relevant phrases and sentence patterns that would be used in each situation. After that students start to play their own roles freely and fit in with the situation. When they finish their tasks， both teachers and students give comments. Such activities could also be held after class. Students are also encouraged to open products exhibitions at weekends.

4. Conclusions

The purpose of this paper is to provide a reference for future researchers and find out effective learning approaches to help students majoring in foreign trade raise the level of English listening and speaking competence. As long as teachers continue to explore and dare to challenge the practice， they can continue to perfect English teaching strategies， and constantly improve their teaching quality. Only in this way can students communicative competence be improved effectively and able to meet requirements of the workforce.

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