A Survey On Teacher Talk In Middle School English Classes

Due to the lack of a real English language environment in China,classroom teaching has always been the main form for primary and middle school students to learn English,and teacher talk is the carrier of teacher-student interaction in the classroom.Therefore,the appropriate operation of teacher talk plays an important role in English teachers' teaching and students' English language acquisition.It is of great practical significance in the study of teacher talk in middle school English classroom.Most of former researches on teacher talk in Chinese linguistic field and education field focused on higher education.Few studies were made on teacher talk in middle school,and most of the research methods are relatively simple.There is still much more space for deepening and expanding the research on teacher talk.Based on the recording data of five English classes and the questionnaire survey in H Middle School in Handan city,Hebei Province,this thesis makes a combination of quantitative and qualitative study on teacher talk under the framework of second language acquisition theory.It attempts to explore the uses of teacher talk from five aspects: teacher talk quantity,teacher questioning,interactive modification,teacher instruction and teacher feedback.Through analysis,it is found that(1)The amount of teacher talk is much greater than student talk;teachers use more Chinese than English in class(2)The number of teachers' display questions is greater than that of referential questions;teachers mostly appoint students to answer questions or let students answer questions collectively,but students are less willing to answer questions;the waiting time after teacher asking questions is short.(3)When there are difficulties in interaction between the teacher and students,most teachers use the comprehension checks rather than confirmation checks and clarification checks to solve the problems.(4)The teacher talk is complex/obscure/illogical.(5)Teachers mainly use positive feedback for students' answers.However,most of them simply praise and make no comment;teachers usually point out mistakes directly or ask other students to replace when students can't answer questions,and scarcely ever guide students to correct their mistakes by themselves.According to these findings,suggestions for middle school English teachers are made for the purpose of improving English teaching:(1)Change the teaching concept and construct "learner-centered" classes(2)Control the quantity of teacher talk;use more English for classroom teaching.(3)Teachers should ask more referential questions when asking questions,take care of the whole students as much as possible and give students the opportunity to answer questions voluntarily;leave students enough time to think about questions.(4)Use more confirmation checks and clarification checks to solve the interactive difficulties.(5)Use more easy,logical and intelligible instruction language.(6)Teachers should give specific evaluations for student's answers and guide students to correct the answers by themselves.It is expected that the findings and suggestions of this thesis could be of a little value to English teaching in Chinese middle school classroom.