On Developing Students’ Communicative Competence in Junior English Teaching

Kang Yunbin

【Abstract】： On this day in twenty-first century，how to make junior English teaching work well is a major problem presenting in the general English teaching workers. The traditional foreign language teaching approach in China attaches great importance to knowledge inculcation so that the oral communicative ability is neglected. Actually the essence of English teaching is communication; the cultivation of communication competence is the core of foreign language teaching.

【Key words】： communication competence; cultivation of oral communication competence; language practice

1. Introduction

With the rapid development of economy and the continuous progress of the society in China， the international communication becomes increasingly frequent and China needs a large number of foreign language talents. However， in todays market economy， if people can understand well， read fast， speak accurately and have the cross-cultural communicative competence， they will be favored by the society. However， it is difficult for the people who can just recite the grammar and speak not fluently to find their ideal position in todays competitive society.

2. The significance of developing communicative competence

With the development of society and the increasing integration of international trade， more and more foreign language talents are demanded. At the same time， the high quality must be guaranteed. With the development of economic globalization， people not only use language as a means of living， even regard it as a means of communication， and the latter is more important. It is Wu Heping once said： “The communicative approach is such a teaching methodology that rises and develops in the latest 30 years. Its overall accepted now and most language teachers regard it as a method that aims at developing language communicative competence.”

3. The reasons to cause the problems

If a person obtains the communicative ability， it means that the person not only gets the rules of language knowledge but also obtains the ability of using the communicative ability suitably in social contact. As an important means of social communication， language must have the rules of using， otherwise the grammar would have no meaning. The theory on “communicative competence” gives the foreign language teaching circle a great influence. Thus linguists put forward that the ultimate goal of foreign language teaching is to cultivate the ability of language communication. In 1993， China carried out the new English textbooks for junior schools in the country; in the autumn of 1996， the implementation of the new English textbooks were also carried out in the country. Nowadays， in China English textbooks also reflect the importance of the cultivation of communicative competence in English teaching.

4. The solutions to the problems

Improving junior students communicative competence needs a gradual process. Teachers should adopt a variety of ways to carry out various forms of practical activities so that students have the opportunity to practice the spoken English. According to digestion， absorbance， application and development constantly， the phenomenon “mute English” can be completely eradicated so that the junior students communication competence can be improved. The role of language is for communication， the purpose of language teaching is to teach students to use the language. For quite some time， due to the effect of “examination -oriented education” of one-sided pursuit of graduation rates， English education has been paid much attention to the language knowledge teaching， ignoring the basic function of language： the communication.

5. Requirements for teachers

Dong Xuezhen once said： “To develop learners communicative competence is really a complicated job. In the present situations of classroom instruction， its almost beyond the teachers. But teachers of English can do something to shift the emphasis from mastery of language structure to mastery of language use.” Teaching process is a complex and open system that is also full of life energy. In this system， because of the factors of teachers and students， it appears to be diversified. With the development of new curriculum， more attention is paid to students main body status during the teaching process.

6. Conclusion

In twenty-first century， the world is undergoing profound transformations， the process of global economic integration is accelerating. Language is a tool of communication and thinking. Foreign language teaching， especially the English teaching quality is directly related to the development of the country. There is no doubt that， with the application of oral English in daily life， communicating in English is becoming more and more frequent and education of spoken English will be paid more and more attention.

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