It is widely acknowledged that English is becoming more and moreimportant as a vehicle for communication with the outside world both foracquiring and exchanging information. To know a language means being able tounderstand what one reads and hears, and to speak and write in that language. InChina , English enjoys a critical position in the curriculum from elementaryschool to university. Most Chinese students are learning English at every levelof their studies, even in graduate school. Despite the fact that departments andschool authorities have attached so much importance to the English language,English education in China is still not very successful. It is possible for studentsto learn English for over ten years and yet still not be able to say one sentencefluently, confidently and appropriately. Whether it is a common situation is notfor me to say, however, I can state that the speaking ability or communicativecompetence of the learners must be improved and enhanced so as to meet theincreasing demand of the developing social needs,

　　It has long been the case that Chinese learners （probably not only Chineselearners） have an imbalanced ability in reading, listening , speaking and writing.Students are generally better at reading and listening than speaking and writing.Between speaking and writing, speaking is unquestionably the more difficultskill for students to learn. Kachru （1985: 12——15） proposes three concentriccircles of English for world Englishes: the inner circle, the outer circle, and theexpanding circle. These circles represent the types of spread, the patterns ofacquisition, and the functional domains in which English is used across culturesand languages. The use of English in China belongs to the third circle since it isused as a foreign language. It is learned through long-term formal training.English being a foreign language means that the out-of-class English learningenvironment is sorely lacking. The classroom as a learning environment shouldassume a more important role for English learning, especially for the skill of.speaking. In order to take full advantage of precious classroom time, it isnecessary to explore what actually happens in the classroom. This constitutesthe central component of classroom research.

It is widely acknowledged that English is becoming more and moreimportant as a vehicle for communication with the outside world both foracquiring and exchanging information. To know a language means being able tounderstand what one reads and hears, and to speak and write in that language. InChina , English enjoys a critical position in the curriculum from elementaryschool to university. Most Chinese students are learning English at every levelof their studies, even in graduate school. Despite th...

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1.3.5 The 2004 College English Curriculum Requirements
1.3.6 College English Textbooks
1.4 The CET and CET-SET
1.4.1 The College English Test
1.4.2 The Spoken English Test
1.5 The Needs of the Units and Students
1.6 The Present English Level of College English Students"
1.7 Teaching Reform
1.7.1 Teaching Approach
1.7.2 Teaching Mode
1.7.3 Focus on Communicative Ability
1.7.4 Better Classroom Organization
1.8 Course Design
Chapter 2　Related Concepts in Second Language Acquisition
2.1 Communicative Competence
2.2 The Input Hypothesis
2.3 The Output Hypothesis
2.4 Interaction Hypothesis and Language Acquisition
2.5 The Intedanguage
2.6 Negative Feedback
Chapter 3　Classroom Interaction and Second Language Acquisition
3.1 Classroom Interaction
3.2 Teacher-student Interaction
3.3 Student-student Interaction
3.4 Negotiation of Meaning
3.5 Classroom Participation Patterns
Chapter 4 Different Forms of Activities and Language Learning
4.1 Distinctions between Language Activities
4.1.1 McTears Distinction
4.1.2 Paulston and Bruders Distinction
4.1.3 William Littlewoods Category
4.1.4 Elliss Framework
4.1.5 Brown and Yules Distinction
4.1.6 Van Liers Framework
4.1.7 Bygates Distinction
4.1.8 Prabhus Category
4.1.9 Clarks Communicative Activity Types
4.1.10 Patti sons Seven Activity Types
4.1.11 Chaudron and Valcances Activity Types
4.2 Group Work
4.2.1 The Advantages of Group Work
4.2.2 The Disadvantages of Group Work
4.2.3 Fallacies of Group Work
4.3 Explorations into Some Communicative Activities
4.3.1 Monologue
4.3.2 Pair Work
4.3.3 Role Play
4.3.4 Simulation
4.3.5 Information Gap Activity
4.3.6 Problem Solving
4.3.7 Opinion Exchange
4.3.8 Brainstorming
4.3.9 Skit/Putting on a Short Play
4.3.10 Games
4.4 Communicative Activities and Language Learning"
Chapter 5　Roles of the Teacher and the Learner.
5.1 The Teachers Role.,
5.1.1 From a Controller to an Organizer
5.1.2 From an Instructor to a Facilitator
5.1.3 From an Assessor to a Commentator"
5.1.4 From an Actor to a Director
5.1.5 A Co-communicator or Participant
5.1.6 A Consultant or Prompter
5.2 Learners Role"
5.2.1 From a Quiet Listener to an Active Participator
5.2.2 From a Recipient to a Creator
5.2.3 From a Follower to an Initiator
5.2.4 From a Speaker to a Communicator
5.2.5 From a Passive Learner to an Autonomous Learner.
Chapter 6 Principles of Designing Communicative Activities
6.1 Maximizing Participation by Assigning Roles to Each Participant
6.2 Information Gap as a Goal for Interaction
6.3 Meaning Negotiation for Generating More Input
6.4 Promoting Long Turns
6.5 Communication-based Activities for Real Communication
6.6 The Cultural Dimension
Chapter 7 Suggestions for Organizing Oral Activities
7.1 When Students Are Not Motivated
7.2 When Learners Do Not Open Their Mouth
7.3 When Learners Resort to Their Mother Tongue
7.4 When Learners Dont Achieve Mutual Understanding
7.5 When Learners Make Linguistic and Non-linguistic Errors
7.6 When the Audience Doesnt Listen
Chapter 8 Summary
References

s
1.3.5 The 2004 College English Curriculum Requirements
1.3.6 College English Textbooks
1.4 The CET and CET-SET
1.4.1 The College English Test
1.4.2 The Spoken English Test
1.5 The Needs of the Units and Students
1.6 The Present English Level of College English Students"
1.7 Teaching Reform
1.7.1 Teaching Approach
1.7.2 Teaching Mode
1.7.3 Focus on Communicative Ability
1.7.4 Better Classroom Organization
1.8 Course Design
Chapter 2　Related Concepts in Second Language Acquisitio...