EFL Learners’ Desire for the Accuracy of Oral English and Its Correlation with the Accuracy of Their Oral English Performance

摘要

This study probes into EFL learners’desire for the accuracy of oral English and its correlation with the accuracy of their oral English performance. The experiment was conducted on 60 Chinese EFL learners. The data of the students’desire for the accuracy of oral English were collected through a questionnaire，and their oral English proficiency and accuracy were measured in an oral English test. The major findings are as follows: 1) on average EFL learners’desire for the accuracy of oral English is not significantly high，with a mean score of 2.87; and they have higher desires for simple aspects of accuracy than for advanced aspects of accuracy; 2) EFL learners’desire for the accuracy of oral English and the accuracy of their oral English performance are positively correlated，with a coefficient of 0.479 (p=.000＜0.01); and the strength of correlation between the students’desires for the simple aspects of accuracy and the accuracy of their performance in these aspects is greater than that of the advanced aspects of accuracy; 3) EFL learners’desire for the accuracy of oral English and their oral English proficiency also have a moderate positive correlation，its coefficient being 0.336 (p=.009＜0.01); and the lower students’English proficiency is the stronger the correlation becomes; 4) the male EFL learners’desire for the accuracy of oral English and that of the female EFL learners display different patterns: the male students displayed the pattern of“high desire but poor performance”，while the female students the pattern of“low desire but better performance”.