SHADOWING A CONVERSATION HELPS STUDENTS USE NEW WORDS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING

Abstract

Teaching vocabulary plays a necessary role in helping students to learn a foreign languages and improving their level. Many teachers of English have tried different approaches in bettering their vocabulary teaching quality; however, many students are still unable to express their ideas well due to the lack for topic-related words. In order to tackle this problem, the author conducted an action research project in which she asked her group of twenty-two sophomores majoring in English language to practice with the shadowing technique using the input from BBC six-minute English. Employing the action research model with qualitative analysis, the results from the two progress tests and a short survey questionnaire at the end of the semester revealed some important findings. Firstly, shadowing using BBC six-minute English is a useful way for students to learn and use the new words within a surrounding setting, which enhances their memory and turns those words theirs to include in their own speaking. In addition, shadowing was not only helpful for improving students’ listening or pronunciation ability as some previous studies pointed out, but it also had significant contribution to students’ vocabulary practices. Thirdly, this technique can promote students’ awareness of enlarging their word banks to reach their desired targets.