A Study On Teachers' Metadiscourse In High-quality High School English Classes

Teacher talk has been studied by many researchers,and metadiscourse that is part of it is also receiving more and more attention.Many academic researchers have explored metadiscourse in written forms,but its use in spoken academic English,especially in English classes is rarely studied.Therefore,based on Hyland's Interpersonal Model,this research tries to answer the following three questions:(1)How metadiscourse is used by teachers in high-quality high school English classes?(2)What are the similarities and differences in the use of metadiscourse among ten teachers in high-quality high school English classes?(3)What are the functions of metadiscourse in high-quality high school English classes?Moreover,the author selects five male teachers and five female teachers who have got the first prize in the 10th National Senior High School English Classroom Teaching Observation Course in 2016.Then their teaching videos are transcribed,and the author uses AntConc 3.4.4 w to calculate word frequency.Next the distribution of teachers'metadiscourse as well as the similarities and differences between the ten teachers' use of metadiscourse is analyzed through quantitative and qualitative analysis.And then qualitative approach is employed to describe the functions of metadiscourse.The major findings are as follows:(1)Metadiscourse is pervasive in high-quality high school English classes.Interactional metadiscourse,with 4,015 occurrences,is more frequently employed by teachers than interactive metadiscourse,with 2,245 occurrences.Furthermore,it is also found that among the ten subcategories of metadiscourse,engagement markers,with 2,391 occurrences,rank the highest frequency,accounting for about 40%of the total number of metadiscourse.It indicates that engagement markers are a typical feature of teachers'discourse.Those follow engagement markers are frame markers(1,157 occurrences),transitions(941 occurrences),self mention(630 occurrences),etc.However,endophoric markers(19 occurrences)and evidentials(4 occurrences)are rarely used.(2)The distribution of metadiscourse among these teachers is consistent with each other.They all use engagement markers,frame markers,transitions and self mention in a large scale.But there are some exceptions.Teachers may use a certain kind of metadiscourse more or less,due to some factors such as education background,characters,preferences,teaching content,etc.Therefore,there may be some outliers.(3)Through the qualitative analysis,the author finds that metadiscourse has many functions which are mainly textual function and interpersonal function.The textual function makes the teacher's discourses smooth,cohesive and logical.The interpersonal function promotes effective communication between teachers and students and achieves good teacher-student interaction as well.The combination of the two functions enables teachers to construct utterances well and work together with students effectively to achieve the teaching goals.Based on the study,the pedagogical implications are as follows:(1)attach importance to interactional metadiscourse,especially engagement markers,and combine them with frame markers,transitions,etc.to construct well-organized discourse and interact with students effectively.When it is necessary to enhance the persuasiveness of the discourse and lead students to review teaching contents,endophoric markers and evidentials can be used appropriately;(2)consider teachers' own character and the other factors when using metadiscourse,and choose those that are more appropriate for themselves,helping them to form their personal styles;(3)fully understand the functions of metadiscourse,and give full play to its various functions based on the analysis of teaching contents,teaching key points,students' situation,types of lesson,etc.and promote the ability to use metadiscourse.