Research Studies On Praising Young Learners In English Classroom Teaching

As we all know, traditional language teaching is characterized by the ignorance of non-intelligent factors while too much effort exerted on intelligence. However, the development of psycho-linguistics and neuro-linguistics has gradually awakened awareness of the function played by language learner's motivation and interest, which determine the learning proficiency in language learning process. It is more important to take into account the emotional factors when it comes to young English learners. As a general rule, a learner's motivation, together with his or her characters and attitudes, constitute important parts of one's emotion. Therefore, the study of teacher praise-reinforcement of young learners' attitude, should not be overlooked. This thesis aims at drawing attention to the fact that praise is able to stimulate young learners' learning interest and positive emotions, give rise to and then strengthen learning motivation, and finally make them take initiatives to develop their skills and abilities. In addition, consistent and meaningful encouragement and praise from a teacher build young learners' self-esteem and contribute to trusting and supportive relationships. Appropriate praise could result in a successful buildup of students' self-confidence, self-respect, self-consciousness, learning skills as well as social communication ability. As a result, external encouragement such as praise should be introduced into the foreign language teaching as a necessary element of teaching strategies.The thesis has four parts. The first part is to identify the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational attributes of students in elementary grades and how these attributes affect their English learning. The second part is to investigate the perceptions of praise of young learners in English classrooms. The third part is to identify and analyze the teachers' perceptions of using praise as a reinforcer to encourage their students in English lessons, i.e. How English teachers perceive the importance of praise. The fourth part is to study how teachers implement praise as a positive reinforcer to motivate students to learn English in language classes.Some suggestions about using praise were also made in the thesis.