A Study of the Application of Shadow Following in Italian Oral Expression

: This paper is centred on the application of shadow following reading method in Italian oral expression. The study shows that shadow following reading method can effectively improve students' imitation skills, language comprehension, thinking and memory ability, and it has obvious effect on improving the correct rate of speech, cultivating the flow of speech, sense of speech and so on. At the same time, the shadow reading method can also improve students' psychological quality and exercise their Italian oral expression ability.


Introduction
The research group conducted a survey on the topic of "Discussion on Italian Learners' Oral Expression Methods in the Framework of LS", focusing on the problems of Italian oral expression, with some students majoring in Italian at Jilin University of Foreign Languages, where the authors are studying, as the target respondents.A total of 3 types of questionnaires were distributed, 20 valid questionnaires were returned for each type, the total number of copies was 60, and the relevant data were counted.

Analysing problems in Italian oral expression
There are many problems that learners may encounter in Italian oral expression.We have broadly classified these problems into two categories, one with a psychological dimension and the other with a non-psychological dimension [1].The following is an in-depth analysis of these two types of problems.

Psychological level
Most learners are overburdened, lack self-confidence, introverted, unwilling to take the initiative to express themselves, afraid of answering wrongly; afraid of ridicule by their classmates; afraid that their voices are small and the teacher can't hear them, and that rhetorical questions will lead to embarrassment, and so on [2].
Fear of making mistakes: Most learners are very concerned about the eyes of others, as they grow older, they become more concerned about what their peers and teachers think of them.Most learners are worried that their wrong answers will lead to scolding and criticism from teachers and ridicule from classmates, and embarrassment from public disgrace.The more worried they are, the more afraid they are to speak up; the more afraid they are to speak up, the more uncertain they are about whether they can answer correctly, thus falling into a deadly circle of fear and fear.
Lack of self-confidence: Most learners are not fully sure of the questions asked by the teacher, not daring to speak up and express themselves if they are not 100 per cent sure, not afraid of making mistakes, but worried about making low-level mistakes, especially in front of their classmates and teachers [3].
Inadequate communication skills: learners may not have sufficiently mastered effective communication skills and may be confused about how to express themselves appropriately in a particular situation, thus creating psychological stress.

Non-psychological aspects
Grammatical issues: Italian grammar rules are different from English and some other languages, which may cause problems for beginners.For example, the changing forms of verbs, the gender and number of nouns, and the use of articles are all areas that need attention.In addition, Italian has a more flexible order, which may take some time to get used to.For example, the subject-verb-object order in Italian is the same as in English, but in some cases the order may change in order to emphasise or omit certain components.
Pronunciation problems: Italian pronunciation rules are relatively complex, especially for non-native speakers.For example, the pronunciation of vowels and consonants in Italian needs to be mastered through long time practice.In addition, Italian contains some special pronunciations, such as nasal and guttural sounds, which also need special attention.For example, the nasal sound "rr" in Italian requires nasal resonance, which can be a challenge for non-native speakers.
Vocabulary problem: The accumulation of vocabulary is not rich enough to mobilise relevant phrases and words when answering questions and in daily oral expressions, resulting in inappropriate use of words and inability to express one's own views and ideas clearly.For example, when talking about a certain topic, if you don't have enough vocabulary, you may not be able to describe your ideas accurately.
The non-psychological level can be improved by self-study, consulting teachers, classmates, doing practice questions and memorising vocabulary.But the psychological level, what is a better way to solve the problem of Italian oral expression?By accessing a large amount of literature, it was found that the shadow-following method can better improve oral expression in Italian.

What is the Shadow Following Method
Shadow-following is a very effective foreign language learning strategy that centres on the idea of improving language skills through imitation and repetition.This method can help learners better master the pronunciation, intonation and rhythm of a foreign language, thus improving their oral expression.
The basic principle of the shadow following method is for learners to imitate and repeat immediately after the recording when they hear the foreign language recording.In this way, learners can better understand the pronunciation patterns of the foreign language and gradually master the correct pronunciation skills.In addition, shadowing can help learners improve their listening comprehension because they need to concentrate on listening to the recording and respond to it in time.

Benefits of the Shadow Follow Reading Method
Shadow-following reading method is an effective instructional method for foreign language learning, which has been widely used in the empirical studies of domestic researchers in recent years.Through the use of shadow following reading method for simultaneous interpreting training, English and Japanese language teaching and Chinese international education, scholars have found that shadow following reading method can effectively improve foreign language imitation ability, the level of language sense and thinking ability and memory ability, and it has obvious effects on improving the correct rate of speech, cultivating the flow of speech and the sense of language, and so on.
Zhu Hui found that shadow-following reading method can improve foreign language imitation ability, foreign language sense level and foreign language thinking ability and memory ability in interpreting training [4].Liu Chang, Chen Qiang, and Tian Min introduced the shadow following reading method into the teaching of Japanese listening and conversation, and used the results of theories related to language cognition and the practice of teaching to confirm the positive effects of the method in the process of Japanese language learning [5].Liu Botao and Ren Jie applied shadow following training to English listening and speaking teaching for bilingual students, and implemented the action research through four steps [6].The results show that shadow reading training can effectively improve bilingual students' listening concentration, phonological appearance and listening discrimination ability, and is effective in improving students' English listening and speaking ability.As an effective method of foreign language learning, shadow reading has also been applied by scholars of Chinese language education in Chinese as a foreign language teaching in recent years.
To sum up, the relevant studies of domestic scholars have fully confirmed the significant effectiveness of the application of the shadow follow reading method in foreign language teaching.The main advantages of this method are: (1) Improvement of listening comprehension: The shadow reading method requires learners to imitate pronunciation and intonation while listening to the recording, which helps to improve their listening comprehension.Through repeated practice, learners can better distinguish between different voices, intonations and speeds of speech, and thus become more confident in dealing with various scenarios in actual communication.
(2) Enhancement of oral expression: Shadowing gives learners the opportunity to imitate the pronunciation and intonation of native speakers, which is very helpful in improving oral expression.Through continuous practice, learners' pronunciation accuracy and fluency will be significantly improved.
(3) Expanding vocabulary: Shadowing allows learners to be exposed to a wider range of vocabulary and phrases as they imitate pronunciation.In addition, many of the recorded materials contain a wealth of background knowledge and cultural information, all of which help to expand the learners' vocabulary and knowledge.
(4) Cultivating a sense of language: The shadow reading method allows learners to gradually develop sensitivity and perception of language in the process of imitating pronunciation.This sense of language is important for learners to be able to understand and master the rules and expressions of the language faster when learning other languages.
(5) Enhancement of memory: Shadowing allows learners to repeat and imitate during the learning process, which helps to sharpen their memory.With constant practice, learners' memory will improve significantly, which will also have a positive effect on their learning in other subjects.
(6) Cultivating self-confidence: As the learning effects of the shadowing become apparent, learners will improve their pronunciation, speaking and listening skills.This will enable them to be more confident in communicating with others in their daily lives, thus improving their social skills and interpersonal relationships.
In conclusion, shadowing is an easy-to-learn and effective language learning method.By sticking to the shadow reading practice, learners can improve their language ability in a short time and lay a solid foundation for their future study and work.

How to properly use the shadow following method
In the initial training, you can listen to a sentence to pause once, and then follow the sentence, follow the main is to imitate the original sound, stress, continuous reading, weak reading and pause, such as voice intonation, and the collocation between the blocks of speech, this process requires the learner to be very intentional imitation and practice.That's why choosing your favourite material is more helpful for persistence.When you come across some rather winding places and unfamiliar words, you can read them more than once, and make sure that you read the sentences smoothly first, and then you will not be easy to pause or tie up in such winding places.After reading the article two or three times and mastering the content, we can shadow read.
At the beginning of the shadow to follow the reading method may not be able to follow, do not be discouraged and give up, we can try to follow the original sound delay one to two words to follow the speed of reading, read to completely can follow, and throughout the content of the meaning is also clear on the effect of the training has been achieved.
During this imitation process, it is best to be as vocal as possible, trying to imitate the intonation of the Italian speaker's voice so that you get used to speaking Italian and becoming a part of the character.
Carrying out shadow shadowing doesn't have to involve sitting at a desk, it allows you to integrate it into your life as you practise it, sometimes it can be done on a walk, in the park or when you're working out, try telling yourself like a story, it's okay to be the vocal drama queen.

How the use of shadowing allows for better solutions to problems in spoken Italian.
In the learning process of Italian oral expression, the shadow following method is a very effective learning strategy.This method not only improves students' listening comprehension, but also helps them to correct pronunciation errors and improve the quality of their speech.In addition, shadowing helps students learn more natural spoken expressions, as well as new grammatical structures and vocabulary.
Lin Lanying found through empirical research that students maintained a high level of attention to the listening materials and achieved significant improvements in phonetics and intonation with the application of the shadow following reading method [7].Ren Haiyan investigated the application of shadow reading training in a comprehensive elementary Chinese language class.Through the analysis of the experimental results, it is found that shadow following training can improve the listening and speaking skills of beginner level learners, thus helping to improve their Chinese language proficiency [8].Xu Huajie used SPSS to analyse the data with ANOVA and concluded that both training methods, imitation reading aloud and shadow-following training, had training effects on Chinese learners' sentence stress, and that the subjects' output of sentence stress had been significantly improved [9].
(1) Shadow-following reading method can effectively improve students' listening comprehension.By imitating the pronunciation and intonation of native speakers, students can understand and remember what they hear more deeply.They can deepen their memory by imitating words and phrases repeatedly, thus improving their listening comprehension.This method also enables students to better understand each other's meaning in actual dialogues and thus communicate better.
(2) Shadowing helps to correct pronunciation errors and improve the quality of speech.Pronunciation by native speakers is an important reference for language learning.When students imitate the pronunciation of native speakers, they are able to learn the correct way of pronouncing words and improve the accuracy of their pronunciation, thus improving the quality of their speech.This method also allows students to better grasp the phonological and syllabic structure of the Italian language, thus improving the accuracy of their pronunciation.
(3) The shadow-reading method can also help students learn a more natural way of expressing themselves orally.By imitating the intonation and rhythm of native speakers, learners will pay more attention to changes in voice intonation, thus enhancing their oral expression and making their oral expression more natural and fluent.This method also enables students to better understand the context and emotional colouring of the Italian language during the learning process, thus improving their oral expression.
(4) Shadow-following can also help students learn new grammatical structures.They can learn new things about the language by imitating sentence structures and grammatical rules, thus improving their grammatical skills.This method also enables students to better understand Italian sentence structure and logical relationships in the learning process, thus improving their reading and writing skills.
(5) Shadow-following helps students to memorise new words and phrases.They can deepen their memory by imitating words and phrases repeatedly, thus improving their vocabulary.This method also enables students to better understand Italian vocabulary usage and collocation rules in the learning process, thus improving their vocabulary usage.

Conclusion
Shadow-following is a widely recognised method of learning a foreign language that has enormous potential, especially for beginners.By imitating native speakers' pronunciation, intonation, speech rate and pauses, learners can not only improve their listening comprehension, but also enhance their oral expression and phonological skills.However, to achieve better results in the Shadow Following method, learners need to pay attention to the following points: (1) Choosing suitable materials: It is very important to choose recording materials that suit your level.For beginners, they can choose some simple dialogues or short texts to follow.As your language ability improves, you can gradually increase the difficulty, such as choosing news reports, film scripts or professional literature.
(2) Repeated listening and imitation: The core of the shadow reading method is repeated listening and imitation.Learners need to listen to the recording several times and try to imitate the pronunciation, intonation, speed of speech and pauses in the recording.You may find it difficult at first, but you will notice your progress as time goes by.
(3) Pay attention to voice and intonation: In the shadow reading method, the imitation of voice and intonation is especially important.Learners should imitate both the pronunciation of words and the intonation of sentences.In addition, paying attention to the phenomena of continuous reading, weak reading and repetition is also crucial to improving language skills.
(4) Recording and Feedback: Writing down your mistakes and reflecting on them is an important step towards improvement in the learning process.You can record yourself reading along and then listen carefully to identify your problems and correct them.If possible, it is also helpful to get a native speaker or teacher to give you feedback.
Overall, the shadow following method is a very effective learning strategy that can improve students' Italian oral expression in a comprehensive way.Whether it is listening comprehension, pronunciation accuracy, oral expression, grammar level, vocabulary, all of them can be effectively improved by shadowing.Therefore, for learners of Italian, shadow reading is an indispensable learning tool.