An Empirical Study Of Applying Situational Teaching Method In Teaching Nursing Majors Oral English At Colleges

With the development of economic globalization, the English language has become increasingly important in international communication. In China, the teaching of college students’oral English is not so good, and the same is true of that for nursing majors. Teachers and students always pay more attention to written English rather than oral English, which leads to the fact that nursing majors are shy to speak up or they can only speak Chinglish. Their low level of oral English cannot meet the needs of the economic and social development and international communication. Therefore, it’s urgent to improve teaching nursing majors oral English (TNMOE) at colleges.After research on relevant literature, the author finds that Situational Teaching Method (STM) can improve college students’oral English, but there are few empirical studies in applying STM in TNMOE.In this thesis, the author puts forward the principles and methods in applying STM in TNMOE. The research questions are as follows:1) What is the current situation of TNMOE, and what are the nursing majors’attitudes toward STM? 2) Is STM more efficient in improving students’oral English than traditional teaching methods? 3) What specific models are better for the improvement of nursing majors’ oral English?On the basis of Krashen’s Comprehension Hypothesis and Input Hypothesis, STM is applied in TNMOE. In order to analyze the effects, the author has conducted a comparison experiment. She first gave a test to the second-year nursing majors enrolled in 2012 who had finished the basic nursing courses and college English courses. Then with a survey questionnaire on their English-learning interests, she chose two classes of similar English level. The teaching experiment is held on the first semester of the academic year 2014-2015, lasting 12 weeks. The experimental class (EC) A of 40 students were taught with STM, while the control class (CC) B of 43 students with traditional methods of grammar and translation. At the end of the experiment, the author respectively gave the two classes a post-test and a questionnaire survey. After quantitative and qualitative analyses of the collected data, the author found that STM can significantly improve nursing majors’oral English and that STM is their favorite teaching method.The empirical result shows that:1) role-playing and playing sitcom are the most effective and welcomed models for students.2) STM can motivate students’ subjective initiative, when applied in TNMOE.3) STM can improve nursing majors’ oral communication skills. Based on the research, the author also points out the research limitations and provides suggestions for future studies.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is an introduction to the research background, purpose, significance and thesis structure. Chapter Two is the literature review, including related researches on TNMOE as well as those on STM. Chapter Three focuses on the empirical research on applying STM in TNMOE, covering the experiment’s purpose, subjects, methods and procedure. Chapter Four is the analysis and discussion of the experimental results. Chapter Five is the conclusion, including the major findings, limitations, implications, and suggestions for future studies.