A Study On Teacher Talk In Junior Middle School English Classroom

Foreign language classroom teaching is an essential part of learners’ second language acquisition. And Teacher Talk is the key to the organization of classroom teaching and the cultivation of students’ communicative competence. Therefore, in English teaching, much importance must be attached to the quality and quantity of Teacher Talk. In addition, English Curriculum Criteria for Middle School(2011) explicitly pointed out, “whether Teacher Talk is scientific and appropriate or not directly affects the orderly progress of classroom teaching, and students’ positive initiative. Eventually, it will determine the success or failure of classroom teaching”. Therefore, Teacher Talk plays a decisive role in English teaching.Teacher Talk refers to English teachers’ classroom discourse, and so far it has been widely applied to the study of linguistics and teaching methods. More specifically, Teacher Talk includes the language used by English teachers to organize English teaching, the statements about the teaching content, the explanation of texts, the organization and management of classroom activities as well as the evaluation of their students’ performances. Teacher Talk is the main medium of English teaching, and to a great extent, it determines not only how English teachers teach English, but also what their students can learn in class. In addition, Teacher Talk can also reflect teachers’ professional quality, as well as their education teaching theory and faith. Therefore, the study of Teacher Talk is of great significance for the improvement of education and teaching.The study intends to analyze and summarize the current situation of Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom, and the main research questions are as follows:1) What are the main problems of Teacher Talk existing in junior middle school English classroom?2) What are the primary factors that affect Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom?This thesis aims at investigating and examining the current situation of Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom, and tries to find some effective ways to improve junior middle school English teachers’ awareness of the importance of Teacher Talk as well as their skills of using Teacher Talk.In order to collect first-hand information, the author takes thirty-two English teachers in No.1, No.2, No.3 and 4 Junior Middle Schools in Zhumadian, Henan Province as the research subjects. The study is aiming at understanding the present situation of Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom through classroom observation and questionnaire. Moreover, the author designed the second questionnaire and then issued two hundred and forty copies of the questionnaires to the students and English teachers in these four schools for the purpose of understanding and summarizing the students’ view, opinion and attitude towards Teacher Talk. Besides, the author tried to find the existing problems of Teacher Talk in junior middle school as well as its influencing factors, so as to improve the effectiveness of English teaching in junior middle school. Besides, the major findings of this thesis are clarified as follows:1) The main existing problems are as follows: Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom is too monotonous and direct, full of Chinese English, some grammar errors, non-standard pronunciation and intonation. Teachers often use written English, and mix English with Chinese.2) The primary factors affecting Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom are as follows: educational research departments lack long-term incentive and supervision mechanism, the professional quality of the junior middle school English teachers is unsatisfactory, and Teacher Talk is generally undervalued.Moreover, the thesis summarizes the factors that make a crucial impact on Teacher Talk in junior middle school English classroom, states its practical significance, and puts forward some feasible suggestions, the limitations as well as its further research, so as to provide certain theoretical and practical implications for further study.