元认知调节策略在托福口语独立任务中的运用

Application of Metacognitive Self-Regulation Approaches in TOEFL Independent Speaking Tasks

缺乏细节描述是托福考生在完成口语独立任务时常见的失分点。为了帮助学生答题时言之有物,托福口语教师一般会教授各类话题的“固定思路”,学生只需背诵思路即可。此方法虽然可以让学生有话可说,但学生的思维被局限、只是一味被动模仿,并未真正提升英语口语能力。与此种传统授课方法不同,本文提议教师引导学生使用“Wh-细节修补法”来自主答题,即学生使用元认知调节(metacognitive regulation)策略,计划(planning)提问、监控(monitoring)回答与评估(evaluating)答案,然后再计划、再监控与再评估,最终整合各轮回答为托福口语独立任务的答案。教师不再是答题思路的制定者,而成为学生自主答题的引导者;学生也不再是固定思路的复读机,而成为主动规划、善于思考的英语使用者。通过使用“Wh-细节修补法”,学生不需要固定思路,也能达到托福口语评分标准中对答题细节(topic development)的高分要求。

Lack of details has been a common problem for TOEFL candidates when tackling TOEFL inde-pendent speaking tasks. In order to solve this problem, TOEFL speaking teachers tend to teach students “fixed ideas” on different topics. Students only need to memorize the ideas and then talk. Though this method seems effective, students’ English speaking skill is not improved since they passively follow teachers’ ideas which confine their thinking. Contrary to this traditional teaching method, this article proposes that teachers guide students to use “Wh-Detail Patching method” to answer questions autonomously, i.e., students use metacognitive self-regulation approaches, planning wh-questions, monitoring their own speaking and evaluating their answers, then replanning, remonitoring and reevaluating answers, and finally integrating these separate answers into a detailed and complete one. In this way, the teacher is no longer an idea provider, but a facilitator to trigger students’ independent speaking;the students are no longer recorders of teachers’ ideas, but active planners, independent thinkers and authentic English users. By applying “Wh-Detail Patching method”, students are able to score high on Topic Development in TOEFL Speaking Scoring Rubric without any fixed ideas.