A SURVEY STUDY ON STUDENTSp BELIEFS ABOUT

©1994-2010ChinaAcademicJournalElectronicPublishingHouse.Allrightsreserved.()CELEAJournal(Bimonthly)Jun.2006Vol.29No.3ASURVEYSTUDYONSTUDENTSpBELIEFSABOUTENGLISH2DORMITORYPRACTICEAREPORTFROMTHEIEDCPROGRAM3ZhangJunyingZhejiangGongshangUniversityAbstractThearticleistogetsomefeedbacksfromstudentsontheefficiencyoftheE2Dormpracticeinimprovingtheiroralabilityandfactorsinfluencingtheiroraldevelopment.EmpiricalevidenceprovidedbythesurveyindicatethatcollegestudentsplowproficiencyinspeakingisduetothetraditionalteachingmethodandstudentspattitudestooralEnglishpracticeplayanimportantroleintheirengagementinthepractice,andaboveall,E2Dormpracticeprovestobeansatisfyingwaytoenhancestudentsporalabilitybycreatingamorenaturallanguagesettingforstudentsafterclassandforcingteacherstouseanew2brandcommunicativecompetenceapproachinclass.Atlast,theauthorgivessomesuggestionsforresearcherstoachieveanidealgoalinthisfield.KeywordsEnglish2dormitorypractice;oralability;SLT1.TheConceptionofEnglish2DormitoryandIEDCProgramSincethebeginningofthe19thcentury,tomeettheneedsoftherapiddevelopmentofthemodernsociety,moreandmorelinguistsandEnglishteachershaveshiftedtheirattentionfromonlydevelopingstudentsp(bothEnglish2majorsandnon2Englishmajors)readingandwritingabilitytopromotingtheirlisteningandspeakingabilityaswell.Thus,toenablestudentstoexpressthemselveseffectivelyhasbecomeabigambitionformanyEnglishteachers.Uptodate,therehaveappearedseveralliteraturesontheresearchinthisfieldinourcountry.However,tillnow,thereisstillnotaverysatisfyingwayinpracticetoimprovestudentsporalability,especiallyforthosenon2Englishmajorswhodonpthaveanyoralcoursetoattendasaroutineincollege.Toachievethisgoal,ouruniversitydecidedtoemployabrand2newkindofteachingapproachcalledInteractionbetweenEnglishDormitoryandClass2teaching(IEDC,forshort)modelforallthenon2Englishmajorsingrade2004fromSept.2004.Accordingtothisnewteachingmodel,severalEnglishDormitories(E2Dorms,forshort)weresetupforthosefreshmenwhovoluntarilyregisteredasE2Dormmembersbeforetheyenteredcollege.Ontheonehand,E2Dormsareprovidedwithseveralprivilegessuchasregularopportunitiestocommunicatewithforeignstudentssentbytheuniversity,guidancefrombothChineseandforeignteachersandextracurricularactivitiestotakepartin,etc.;ontheotherhand,whileallthestudentsareencouragedtospeakinEnglishindormitoryafterclass,E2Dormmembersshouldpromiseatleast20minutesporalpracticeeveryday.Atthesametime,teachersarerequiredtouseanewcommunicativecompetence6013IEDCprogram:IEDCprogramisalsocalledasE2Dormprogram,shortformforInteractionbetweenEnglishDormitoryandClass2teaching,aprojectdoingresearchonenhancingcollegestudentspEnglishoralability,financedbytheEducationalBureau,Zhejiangprovince.©1994-2010ChinaAcademicJournalElectronicPublishingHouse.Allrightsreserved.(topicsshouldberelatedtotheintensive2readingcourse)forstudentstofulfillafterclass,andatthefirstclassofeachsession,theyshouldcall15220students(bothE2Dormandnon2E2Dormmembers)togiveapresentation(informsofreport,dialogue,debateorroleplay,etc.)abouttheassignmentfor124minutes,andstudentspperformancesarerecordedasacriteriafortheirfinals.Uptonow,IEDCmodelhasbeenpracticedinGrade04forthreesemesters,with716studentsinE2Dorms,andtooursurprise,studentspspeakingabilityhasbeengreatlyimprovedinbothfluencyandaccuracy.2.TheSurvey2.1ThedesignofthequestionnaireAsonewaytoassesstheeffectoftheIEDCteachingmodel,aquestionnairewasconductedonstudents,withanintentionofinvestigatingfactorsinfluencingtheiroralabilityimprovement,andaboveall,theirbeliefsabouttheE2Dormpractice.Questionnairewasdesignedasself2reportingforindividuals,whichwasdevelopedonthetheoreticallyassumedaspectsofthelearnerspE2Dormidentity(Question1),oralpracticeexperiences(Question2,3),attitudetoEnglishspeaking(Question4,5),problemsinthepracticeandtheirinstructivefactors(Question9,10),andmostimportantofall,theirbeliefsabouttheefficiencyofE2Dormoralpracticeandlengthoftimetheycommittedtothepracticeeveryweek(Question6,7,8).Sothequestionnaireisasfollows:1)YouareE2Dormmembers.Yes();No().2)YoubeganlearningEnglishat:Elementaryschool();Juniorhighschool();Seniorhighschool();College().3)Beforeyouwenttocollege,youpracticedoralEnglish:Alot();Alittle();Never().4)YouliketospeakEnglish.Yes.Verymuch();Yes.();No();Notatall().5)YouthinkimprovingyouroralEnglishisimportanttoyou.Yes();Maybe();No();Notatall().6)YouthinkE2DormpracticeisanefficientwaytoimproveyourOralEnglish.Yes.Toagreatextent();Yes.Tosomeextent();No().7)Howmanyhoursdoyouengageinoralpracticeindormitoryeveryweek?Morethan4hours();324hours();About2hours();About1hour();Lessthan1hour().8)Otherthanimprovingyourspeakingability,didyougetanyotherbenefitsfromtheE2Dormprogram?Ifyes,thenwhatarethey?9)WhatarethebarriersforyoutopersistinspeakingEnglishindormitoryeveryday?10)DoyouhaveanysuggestionsandhopesformakingtheE2Dormprogrammoreefficient?2.2ParticipantsAllthesubjectsparticipatinginthequestionn