为了给广大英语教育者和学习者提供最新的学习资讯、教育理念以及课堂教学实例，不断提高英语语言能力和授课技能，本报特从国际知名英语教学网选编国际优秀英语教学论文，以飨读者。

　　编者按:如何在课堂教学中提高学生英语口语交际能力一直是英语教学的重点和难点。为此，本栏目精选了三例提高学生口语水平的教学方案，从灵活引导学生注意英语发音节奏特点、把绘画形式引入英语口语课堂、通过讲故事来练习口语三个视角，探讨了通过课堂教学提高学生口语能力的有效途径。

　　Pronunciation: practicing stress and intonation

　　Kenneth Beare

　　语言节奏由重音决定是英语语言的一个重要特点。在口语教学中，教师应引导学生注意这一特点。本文作者设计如下教案，旨在通过引导学生注意英语中重音决定节奏这一语言现象，改进学生英语的发音水平。

　　第一步:

　　教师采取两种不同方式，为学生朗读一个英语单句。第一遍朗读时有意识地将每个单词重读，第二遍朗读则采用正常的语音和语调。完成两次朗读后，教师让学生思考为什么第二种朗读方式符合语言习惯。

　　第二步:

　　教师结合学生学生讨论的结果，指出第二种朗读方式之所以符合语言习惯是因为其符合英语中节奏是由重音决定的特点。如果学生的本族语节奏由音节来决定，如汉语、西班牙语，教师则应提醒学生注意本族语与英语在节奏上的差异。

　　第三步:

　　教师和学生一起讨论并总结句子中单词的重读规则，比如主要动词需要重读，助动词则不需要重读。教师可在黑板上写出句子，让学生划出要重读的单词并朗读，引导学生感受句子的节奏特点。

　　第四步:

　　教师可指导学生做些配套练习，让学生在句子中划出需要重读的单词。在这一过程中，教师应注意检查学生练习完成情况。最后，教师指导全班按照其在第一步中采取的步骤，将练习中的句子朗读两遍，让学生体会其中的差异。

　　Students often focus on pronouncing each word correctly and therefore tend to pronounce it in an unnatural manner. By focusing on the stress-timed factor in English, the fact that only principal words such as proper nouns, adjectives and adverbs receive the “stress”， students soon begin sounding much more “authentic”, as the cadence of the language begins to ring ture.The following lesson focuses on raising awareness of this issue and includes practice exercises.

　　Step One

　　Begin awareness-raising activities by reading an example sentence aloud to the students (for example: The boys didn’t have time to finish their homework before the lesson began). Read the sentence the first time, pronouncing each word with the same stress. Read the sentence a second time in natural speech. Ask students which reading seemed more natural and why it seemed more natural.

　　Step Two

　　Using the ideas students come up with, explain the idea of English being a “stress-timed” language. If the students speak a syllabic language (such as Chinese or Spanish), point out the difference between their own language and English (theirs being syllabic; English, stress-timed). Just this awareness raising can make a dramatic difference in these students’ abilities.

　　Step Three

　　Talk about the differences between stressed words and non-stressed words (i.e. principal verbs are stressed, auxiliary verbs are not). Write two sentences on the board. Underline the stressed words in both sentences. Ask students to try reading aloud. Point how each sentence seems to be approximatedly the same length in “stress-time”.

　　Step Four

　　Ask students to look through the example sentences and underline the words that should be stressed in the worksheet. Circulate about the room asking students to read the sentences aloud once they have decided which words should receive stresses. Then ask students first to read any given sentence with each word pronounced, followed by the “stress-timed” version. Expect a surprise at the quick improvement students make in pronunciation.

　　Using art postcards in ESL/EFL communication classes

　　Mary T. Hayes

　　原汁原味的语言素材在英语教学课堂中起着举足轻重的作用。本文作者将在英语国家十分流行的明信片引入课堂，要求学生在临摹卡片图画的基础上进行口语交流活动，旨在训练学生即时英语口语表达的能力。

　　第一步:

　　教师向学生讲解围绕绘画进行口语交流时会涉及到的语法知识和表达方式。如there be 结构，一些常用动词的现在进行时态，以及表达空间方位的介词和词组。

　　第二步:

　　教师将学生分成两个人一组进行活动。教师先将明信片分发给每一个学生。教师应提前准备好，确保学生人手一卡。学生拿到卡片后，教师应引导学生仔细观察卡片上的图画，告诉其必要时可用书面形式记录下图画信息。在此过程中，教师还应提醒学生不要向对方透露图片内容。

　　然后，教师要求学生以小组为单位，分别向对方口头描述自己所持卡片上的图画信息，另一方则根据描述绘出图画。活动过程中，教师应提醒学生间积极配合，就图画的特征，如线条、形状等具体细节进行口语交流。在此过程中学生不应查阅词典。

　　第三步:

　　绘画活动结束后，教师应为学生留出一定的课堂时间，让学生对比自己的绘画同原明信片中有哪些不同。如果有较大差异，教师应引导学生思考该差异是否是由于双方口语交流不流畅造成的。

　　第四步:

　　教师可引导学生借助词典，将自己所持卡片上的图画通过作文形式表述下来。之后，教师可要求学生互相传阅作文，并展开课堂讨论活动。

　　IN keeping with the theory that authentic materials have an important role in the language classroom, postcards by well-known artists are brought to class to provide raw materials for the students to carry out a variety of tasks. The aim of the activity is to allow the students opportunities to develop speaking skills while listening and drawing or taking notes. The overall aim is to have them produce their own original compositions on the themes they encounter.

　　Step One

　　At the beginning of the class, it is advisable to pre-teach or review the following: “there is /there are” and the present progressive forms of some common verbs (for example, “is sitting” “is looking at” “is wearing” and “are dancing”).

　　Put a list of spatial prepositions and phrases up on the board and give clear examples of them in a drawing for the students to copy, practice and get familiar with, for example, “in the center” “next to” “beside” “on the bottom left”. Emphasize the fact that the quality of the actual drawings does not matter. This is about communicating the facts.

　　Step Two

　　Divide the students into pairs. Have students prepare pencils and erasers, and provide paper for drawing. Each student selects a card (which they cannot show to their partner), observes it, and makes notes.

　　Partner A describes the picture to B, without using a dictionary. Partner B attempts to draw the picture by listening carefully, while Partner A observes and gives directions. This usually involves much speaking and laughter, as well as questions about shape, form, content, line, space and other details.

　　Step Three

　　When partner A has finished describing a painting for B to draw, partner B will describe his/her painting for A to draw. Allow some time for comparing the originals with the drawings and for the partners to admire and exchange positive comments about the drawings. This can be done in writing.

　　Step Four

　　Using dictionaries, students work alone and write a detailed description of the scene in the painting. Students then present the compositions to groups of classmates. Allow time for discussion. Students then submit written work to the teacher, who may comment and correct.

　　Telling a story

　　Nik Peachey

　　讲故事构成了我们日常交际生活不可或缺的一部分。此教案旨在通过讲述故事，让学生迅速提高口语准确度和流利度。

　　第一步:

　　教师选好一个故事，准备好与故事有关的问题在课堂上发给学生，让学生仔细阅读。之后，教师提问学生，确认他们已真正理解问题中涉及到的每个生词。

　　第二步:

　　教师将学生分成两个人一组，指导他们根据问题中提供的线索，共同口头编写故事。应强调此过程要用口语进行。

　　第三步:

　　在学生设计故事时，教师应在教室内来回走动，解答学生遇到的问题。教师要注意记录下学生口语表达中出现的错误，并留意学生对新词汇的使用情况，以备在课堂上做进一步讲解。同时，教师也要记录下学生口语中用到的较好的表达方式，适时地鼓励学生。

　　第四步:

　　活动完成后，教师可要求每组学生将编写好的故事在小组内部互相讲述一遍。然后教师再将学生重新分组，让每个学生向新搭档重新讲述一遍自己的故事。最后，教师可将所有故事记录下来，在学生间传阅。

　　THE use of narrative to tell stories and anecdotes forms an important part of our everyday communication. This lesson aims at developing students’ ability to tell stories or anecdotes.

　　Step One

　　Give students the question list and ask them to read it and look for any words they don’t understand. As students read through the questions they will be forming a mental framework of the story they expect the questions to be about. Check to see that they understand the key words in the question list.

　　Step Two

　　Tell the students that the questions are all about a story, but you don’t have the story and that they must invent the story for you. Put them in pairs to do this and tell them that they must do it together orally.

　　Step Three

　　Circulate around the classroom and be available for support if any student need it. Also listen carefully as they work on the story and make notes of any errors or new vocabulary they need feedback on later. You would also make notes of some of the good sentences or vocabulary some students are using too.

　　Step Four

　　When they have finished, tell the students that they will have to tell the story and make sure they can remember everything. Get them to change the pairs so that they all have a new partner to work with and get each one to tell the new partner the story they invented. Finally, the teacher should put these stories up around the classroom and get students to read them all.