一、导言口头表达能力作为语言综合能力的重要体现之一,本应受到高度的重视。然而在中国的大学公共英语教学中,“轻听说、重读写”的倾向造就了一大批读写尚可但张口即结舌的英语学习者。许多已通过四、六级的大学生,实际交际能力很有限,其口语能力仅限于回答课堂问题和复述课文,而且往往是“离开课堂,口语忘光”。在英语口语教学推广较好的广东省,笔者(1998)对多所高校作了一次问卷调查,发现62.5％的学生对自己的口语评价为很不满意。造成这种现象,一方面是由于教学大纲对口语要求太低,没有采用适当的测试手段;另一方面,许多学校都没有安排口语课,大多数教师也懒得探索生动而有效的口语教学方法。但社会的发展对英语口语的要求越来越高,据黄萍(1999)统计,西南地区86％的公司职员在工作中或多或少需要用到英语。形势所需,口语教学必将处于 I. INTRODUCTION Oral expression is one of the most important manifestation of comprehensive linguistic competence and should have received a great deal of attention. However, in China’s public English teaching of colleges and universities, the tendency of “lightly listening, reading and writing” has created a large number of English learners who can read and write yet can not but tongue-tied. Many college students who have passed Grade 4 and 6 have limited practical communicative competence. Their oral ability is limited to answering class questions and rehearsing the text, and often they are “leaving the classroom and forgetting the spoken language.” In Guangdong Province, where Oral English Teaching is better promoted, the author (1998) conducted a questionnaire survey on several universities and found that 62.5% of the students were very dissatisfied with their Oral English. On the one hand, the syllabus is too low for spoken language and proper testing methods are not used. On the other hand, many schools do not arrange oral classes and most teachers are too lazy to explore vivid and effective oral teaching methods. However, the development of society demands more and more oral English. According to Huang Ping (1999), 86% of employees in Southwest China need to use English more or less in their work. The situation needs, oral teaching is bound to be