A Study On The Role Of Teacher's Cognition In Foreign Language Teaching

With the constant development of Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology, the linguists' research for the practitioner of Foreign Language Teaching---teachers becomes deeper and more specific. The research on teacher' cognition has become a new paradigm. The teacher' cognition research began in the 1970s, which turned out to be a deeper way of linguists' research. The leading Linguists among them were Larsen·Freeman and Simon·Borg. Especially the book Teacher cognition in Foreign Language Teaching, written by Simon·Borg, published in 2001 provides precious reference materials for scholars and researchers who are interested in teacher' cognition.The research on teachers mostly has experienced the three paradigm shift of teachers' behavior, teachers' beliefs and teachers' cognition. Based on Cognitive Theory, the thesis tries to analyze the teachers' belief embodied in foreign language teaching and the influence which teachers' cognitive role has on students' language learning. Through empirical study, the thesis draws the conclusion that the teachers' cognitive elements like teachers' beliefs, their past learning experience, personality, and the relationship between teachers and students, play a significant role in the improvement of students' interest in learning and the increase of students' academic achievements in foreign language teaching. Meanwhile, the thesis puts forward the effective teaching strategies and the direction of the teachers' future development.The thesis has seven parts altogether:The first part introduces the background to the study, the purpose of the study and the general organization of the thesis.The second part gives an overview study on teacher's cognition. It also puts forward the relationship between teacher's cognition and classroom practices as well as teacher's cognition and teacher education.The third part draws on theoretical basis on studying teacher's cognition in foreign language teaching. It gives the theoretical basis of the researches, which are Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology and Communication Approach.The fourth part introduces the analysis of the role of teacher's cognition in foreign language teaching. It describes the problems in current Foreign Language Teaching, the relationship between the role of teacher's cognition and foreign language teaching. Thus it gives prominence to the role of teacher's cognition in Foreign Language Teaching.The fifth part demonstrates an empirical study on the role of teacher's cognition in foreign language teaching. According to the characteristic of teacher' s cognitive research, meanwhile, framed on Breen's theory, the thesis prominently analyzes what kinds of effects will be aroused by different teachers' cognitions in their respective teaching process, especially during their process of specific decision-making, teaching adjustment, and teaching evaluation.The sixth part points out that the strategies of the teacher's cognition plays an important role in improving foreign language teaching. Combined with personal classroom observation and interviews, the thesis summarized the effective teaching strategies of teachers' cognition.Through the analysis of the role of teacher's cognition in foreign language teaching, the seventh part advocates that teachers should fulfill the shift from teachers to researchers. It also puts forward the direction for teachers' development in the future, and it further indicates the limitations of the research and the aim to study in future.