The Potential of Metaverse in Speaking Skills of English Education

The Metaverse,a three-dimensional(3D)virtual world network that includes social and economic interactions through virtual reality(VR)and augmented reality(AR)devices,has been recognized as a transformative concept in a variety of fields,including education.As technology advances at a rapid pace,the potential of the Metaverse to revolutionize teaching and learning has become increasingly prominent.Particularly in English education,the Metaverse offers promising solutions to address the challenges of oral English education during the COVID-19 era.This paper explores the potential of the Metaverse in enhancing oral English education and highlights its future possibilities.Drawing from the realms of AR and VR,this paper also examines teaching approaches and strategies that integrate the Metaverse into oral English instruction.By leveraging the immersive and interactive nature of the Metaverse,educators or students can create engaging learning experiences that foster oral English communication skills.

Ways to Improve English Listening and Speaking Skills

With the fast development of science and technology, English is becoming more and more important. Concerning English learning, we should focus our attention on listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating. Comparatively speaking, listening and speaking skills are more practical. But how to improve these skills? Everyone knows that the only effective way to improve language skills is to use the language. In reality, however, we know that there are many reasons why people don’t want to speak in another language——they are afraid of making mistakes, they can’t express their real meaning easily, they are shy, they are afraid people will laugh at them. We feel this way sometimes, but if you are sure that you really want to improve your English, try some of the suggestions that have been made here.

How to Develop Accuracy and Fluency in Speaking Skills in Second Language Classroom

This paper firstly defines the key concepts of accuracy and fluency in relation to the development of speaking skills. Then, consider the challenges presented to language teachers of ensuring that learners develop accuracy and complexity in their speaking, as well as fluency. Finally according to the teaching materials supplied, identify and evaluate the opportunities provided for the development of spoken accuracy and fluency, and explain how to exploit the materials to the fullest extent.

Considerations on Speaking Skills： Essence of Learning and Teaching Speaking

Acquisition of speaking Turkish students since skills is among the most essential language skills for students currently, especially among language competency is measured through speaking. Every language learner desires to acquire correct communicative skills and fluency in speaking, while teachers aim to give the necessary education in speaking, as well. This study reveals the essence of acquiring speaking competency for learners, and how important it is to teach speaking skills with correct methods and methodology. With the questionnaire analysis on Turkish students and teachers at a Turkish university, the theoretical knowledge on ＂essence＂ is blended with the questionnaire results provided from students and teachers in order to emphasize the necessity and reach more practical solutions for the current need of learning and teaching speaking.

Rethinking Speaking Skills in EFL （English as a Foreign Language） Settings

The teaching of speaking has been neglected in EFL （English as a Foreign Language） settings throughout language history which led to negative effects on EFL teachers＇ and learners＇ attitudes. While teachers exhibit hesitation having no preset teaching paradigms at their disposal, learners experience withdrawal in speaking situations that demand interactional ease and socio-pragmatic awareness. Indeed, both the type of instruction and the complexity of this skill make of the teaching of spoken language a highly controversial issue especially with the implicit dichotomy that speaking entails and which opposes accurate mastery of linguistic patterns to ease or facility in meaning transmission. This paper aims at reconsidering the way this dormant skill has been tackled and the interfering variables that should be rethought and revisited while dealing with it.

Improve English Speaking Skills for Vietnamese Students Through Teaching Tones and Their Communicative Values:A Case Study at Thu Dau Mot University

For those who are going to work with English at an advanced level as English-majored students,teachers or researchers,a deeper understanding about intonation is very important.At this level,intonation deals with more complicated features such as prominence,key,termination,tone,pitch sequence,and orientation in interactions.As a matter of fact,knowledge of these aspects is of crucial importance for advanced learners of English:It can help language users gain more confidence and proficiency in speaking the target language as well as in arriving at a complete understanding of English interactions.Based on the qualitative and quantitative data,the survey reveals the effect of teaching tones on developing speaking skills for advanced students of the language.Regarding the practical applications,this study serves to build up students’awareness and provide useful practice of the knowledge of tones they have to deal with in speech,thus outlining ways to improve speaking skills for students in Vietnamese contexts.

The Role of Lexis in Developing EFL Learners＇ Speaking Skill

EFL （English as a Foreign Language） speaking is a very demanding skill that requires learners＇ socio-pragmatic as well as strategic competence in any interactional situation, and lexis proves to play a crucial role in this process. However, few studies have investigated how both EFL teachers and learners view and analyze situations in which learners are not producing enough spoken language in class, and the reasons behind them. The present study will pinpoint the significant role of lexis in Moroccan learners＇ speaking production. To this end, 40 EFL teachers and 200 Moroccan high school students are surveyed and interviewed to reveal their perceptions of the speaking skill and the corresponding high significance of lexis in this instance. Results show that both teachers and learners identify vocabulary deficiency as the main factor behind students＇ inability to speak English. In the present paper, among the many suggestions that could be proposed to deal with this situation, it is argued that one efficient way would be to assist the students during the process of L2 （second language） vocabulary learning through vocabulary learning strategy instruction. Pedagogical and research implication will be given in response to the difficulties encountered in this area as have been identified by the EFL teachers and learners surveyed.

Practical Activities for Developing Speaking Skills of Chinese Middle School Students

In order to develop the speaking skills of Chinese middle school students, Chinese middle school English teachers must guide the students to speak through practical speaking activities that arouse the students＇ interest, encourage the use of real language and be used with large classes.

How to Teach Speaking Skills in Chinese EFL Classroom?

This paper will explore some efficient methods of teaching oral English in China’s classrooms.Three case studies will be illustrated to show some problems in the classroom when the Chinese learner meets western pedagogy.This paper will put for⁃ward some proposals to solve the cultural problems in Chinese EFL classroom.

How Can Group Work Improve Speaking Skills of Chinese EFL Students?

This paper is to explore the validity of group work in improving Chinese learners’English-speaking skills.It starts with briefly investigating the current situations concerning the teaching of conversational English in Chinese context.Then a literature review about group work is presented.Finally,a great deal of tentative advice on how to implement group work activities in a spo⁃ken class will be recommended to Chinese EFL teachers.

How does Role Play Enhance the Speaking Skills of Chinese EFL Learners?

This paper will focus on how role play activity improves Chinese learners English speaking skills.It starts by shortly in⁃troducing the challenges of oral English teaching in China.Then the definition of role play will be demonstrated.Next,a literature review regarding role play teaching in China will be shown.Furthermore,some wise advice and implication about how to organize and implement role play activity in a Chinese class will be discussed.Ultimately,the conclusion will sum up the main points of this paper.

SPEAKING SKILLS AND ANXIETY

This paper discusses the causes of students' general perceptions of the lack of progress in speaking after two years of oral English classes. The cause is mainly anxiety which generally results from face keeping, and prevents the students from taking opportunities to practice the language in the classroom. The effect of anxiety on speaking skills is also discussed.

Chinese EFL Learners' Public Speaking Skills: An Investigation of Impromptu Speeches at the “FLTRP Cup” English Speaking Contest in the Light of Communication Models

The current study applied classic communication models to investigating 34 laureate impromptu speeches at the 2010 and 2011 ＂FLTRP （Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press） Cup＂ English Speaking Contest, one of the most influential of its kind in China, to identify the features of public speaking skills of Advanced Chinese EFL learners. The speech scripts and video excerpts from the subsequent manuscript collection with the CD-Rom published by FLTRP were studied. Lucas＇ framework of speech communication process was borrowed to bridge elements of the communication models and speech delivery process. Three key aspects of the speakers＇ encoding endeavors were under close examination： the verbal preferences, the non-verbal preferences, and the topic selection for exemplification. It was found that successful speakers demonstrated a clear and strong audience orientation. They chose more first person pronouns, fewer abstract words, a controlled number of dependent clauses, clear transition words, and limited figures of speech. They used very few verbal fillers, slips of tongue, a moderate speech rate and varied tone inflections. The speakers also showed distinctive features in gestures, eye contact and facial expressions. They employed anecdotes which shared a common field of experience. Pedagogical implications on the teaching of public speaking were discussed.

Dreaming a Possible Dream： Getting Thai Students to Speak in English in a Public Speaking Class

The paper is an analysis of how much success Thai teachers of English have had throughout four decades of teaching English as a Foreign Language （TEFL） and the future direction to take. Thai teachers are aware that their students are not confident of their speaking abilities. That is why they try to avoid making mistakes in pronunciation and connected speech making as mistakes are taken as signs of inability. It is a common sight in an English class that Thai students prefer to remain in their comfort zone of using the Thai language. Speaking is a productive skill; teaching someone to speak cannot be successfully done through listening to the ＂how to＂ lecture. The author proposes that to dream a possible dream, the teachers need to change their course design to adopt the goals of English for communication and enhancement of soft skills such as networking skill, teamwork skill, self-management skill, creativity, and work attitude. An example of a course design used is discussed with the underlining learning theories for the course, the course organization, and the fruits of this endeavor. This course is adopting the ＂Teach Less and Learn More＂ approach, a route to take for real learning.

The Effectiveness of Using Drama-based Activities in English L2 Classroom

This paper aims to develop understanding of EFL teachers’educational reflective practice in the context of international schools and understand how the boundaries of knowledge and practice are advanced through research.It explored the feasibility,strengths,and challenges of implementing drama-based pedagogical method in English L2 classroom in international education settings in China.Out of ethical consideration,the author must emphasize here that the research is hypothetical,and it will not be carried out using my learners.

The Effect of Learners' Autonomous Textbook Selection on Intermediate Iranian EFL Learners' Speaking Ability

The ability to employ the language as a communicational tool often serves as a measure of one＇s speaking success in the language learning class. This research sought to investigate the effect of learners＇ autonomous textbook selection on the speaking ability of Iranian English as foreign language （EFL） learners. Moreover, finding and analyzing factors considered by the learners in selecting the textbooks were another aim of this research. Sixty Iranian intermediate EFL learners from the Simin Language Institute in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran, were selected as the participants of the study based on their scores on Oxford Placement Test. This test determines the level of the students＇ English proficiency. These participants were randomly assigned into the control and experimental groups. An interview procedure was run as their pretest. The experimental group studied from their selected books, besides the researcher＇s teaching in the class. After 16 sessions, a posttest, the same as the pretest, was run as well. The quantitative results indicated the superior performance of the experimental group over the control group. Furthermore, an analysis of the Litz＇s （2000） questionnaire shows that learners considered criteria such as practical considerations, layout and design, activities, skills, language type, subject and content of the selected books.

Exploring the Application Approaches of Multimodal Theory in University English Listening Teaching

In response to the demands of the information age and the monotony of traditional university English listening teaching methods,this paper explores the application of multimodal theory in university English listening teaching.It advocates for the integration of multi-sensory and multi-resource teaching methods,incorporating multimodal theory into teaching content,teaching resources,task-based listening teaching,contextualized teaching,teaching evaluation,and reflection.The aim is to enhance students'learning interests,improve their listening and speaking abilities,and cultivate their intercultural communication skills.The exploration of multimodal theory in university English listening teaching provides reference and guidance for other university English listening courses.