3、ect.17AbstractWith the opening-up of China, English teaching has been getting more and more attention, especially since Beijing won the bid to hold the 2008 Olympic Games. PeopleareenthusiasticaboutlearningEnglish.As a result, English teaching and reform are coming to a turning point,whic
4、h predicts a bright future in English education in China. Now, a 9-year voluntary education program is put forward in China. A Standard English course is being used to replace the former teaching out-line. The new standard adopts the international system according to whic-h English langua
5、ge education is divided into 9 levels. This has changed t-he old style of teaching, which attaches importance to grammar and voca-bulary. Adopting the new standard helps to develop the students’ ability to use English in their daily life, by focusing on arousing their interest, and encour
6、aging their participation. The new method will place less stress on “reading and writing”, in fav-or of “listening” and “speaking”. So now, speaking is getting more andmore important in middle school English teaching. This paper discusses how to improve students’ speaking ability and ex-
7、pound the theme through three aspects as follows: a.The importance of speaking. b.Some barriers in the process of speaking communication. c.Essential methods for improving students’ speaking ability. The issue will be discussed from the perspective of a teacher of E
