A Study Of Teacher Feedback In Primary School English Classes

The subjects involved in this research are three primary school English teachers who took part in the 2016 Model Lesson Competition of Keqiao District in Shaoxing,Zhejiang Province.By observing,recording and transcribing these three classes,together with the interviews with the teachers,and analyzing the data with the help of the screening function of Excel and the word counting function of Word,this research has made a study of teacher feedback,in hope of exploring the proportion of the word amount of teacher feedback and teacher talk,the distribution features of teacher feedback,the application features of teacher feedback and the application features of non-verbal behavior with teacher feedback.Through qualitative and quantitative analysis,we have got the following findings:1.According to the data collected from the three classes,teacher feedback accounts for a relatively low percentage of teacher talk.2.The teachers use positive feedback much more than negative feedback,and sometimes use mixed feedback.When using positive feedback,the teachers apply evaluative positive feedback more often than discoursal positive feedback.And when using negative feedback,the teachers apply non-scaffolded negative feedback more often than scaffolded negative feedback.3.The teachers tend to combine several strategies when using positive feedback,but mostly in the form of IRF.Teachers tend to use scaffolded negative feedback on the content and use non-scaffolded negative feedback on the form.Most of the mixed feedbacks are presented with negative feedback on the form first and positive feedback on the content last.4.The teachers use the following five nonverbal behaviors in the feedback:clapping,physical contact,performance,gestures and smiles.And different teachers have different preferences.The present study has some implications for giving teacher feedback in primary school English classes,and some suggestions have been put forward in analyzing the feedback.It can promote teachers' understanding,reflection and improvement of feedback.