A Study Of Gender Differences On Teacher Talk In Chinese Senior Vocational College English Classrooms

Teacher talk is of great importance for the English language teaching process and the second language acquisition. In EFL classrooms, teacher talk refers to the use of the language and the target language of the learner, which is adopted by the teacher. With the developments of theories of language teaching and second language acquisition, teacher talk has already attracted the scholars'and teachers'attention. But teacher talk related to gender differences in language is neglected by the researchers.There are male and female teachers in Chinese senior vocational college English classrooms. Although in the classrooms the teachers should follow some regular speaking ways or form some formal characteristics, they definitely show different language features because they are social persons of different genders. These features may influence the atmosphere of the classes and the acquisition of the students. This thesis aims to find out whether there are gender differences of teacher talk or not and what these differences are between male teachers and female teachers in Chinese senior vocational college English classrooms.This thesis is an empirical study to analyze gender differences on teacher talk in Chinese senior vocational college English classrooms in order to emphasize the importance of teacher talk and classroom interaction and also to make it more beneficial to learners. It introduces some observations and investigations of teacher talk in Chinese senior vocational college English classrooms, with focus on 4 male and female teachers separately. Then by comparing and analyzing four aspects: namely teacher talk time, question, interactional modification and feedback, the author concludes that there are differences of teacher talk between male and female teachers.On the basis of the research results, some implications and suggestions on teacher talk to male and female teachers are put forward. For example, male teachers ought to apply more questions especially referential questions, more interactional modifications especially confirmation checks and clarification checks, and more positive feedbacks especially"praise plus appraisals"feedbacks during the teaching processes in Chinese senior vocational college English classrooms. And female teachers ought to maximize student talk time and minimize teacher talk time to make it more effective for the students'acquisition.It's necessary for teachers to cultivate awareness of gender differences on teacher talk. This can not only improve the teachers'teaching abilities, but also give the students more convenient and trusted environments for the second language learning and acquisition. The teachers should be alert to these gender differences on teacher talk and apply more favorable teacher talk methods to the teaching processes.The research results also show some problems of teacher talk in the senior vocational college classrooms. There is a need for teachers to pay attention to the effectiveness of teaching methodology and techniques, such as how to decrease teacher talk time and increase student talk time, propose more referential questions, confirmation and clarification checks and"praise plus appraisals"feedbacks. The good commands of these methods will facilitate the teaching processes and the second language acquisitions.