A Comparative Study Of Teacher Talk Between Flipped Class And Traditional Class In High Schools

The English classroom is where students’English learning happens.A lot of factors affect English learning,among which English teacher talk is one of the most important.Functioning as both a tool of teaching organization and classroom management and,equally important,the comprehensible language input,teacher talk to a degree determines the quality of a class.The concept of ’flipped class’ gained popularity globally since its appearance.The core of it is flipping the class structure via the implementation of modern technology and making students learn at home and practice in class.Soon it won appreciation of teachers and students from a wide range of schools.Also it drew attention from academic field.Many scholars studied teacher talk from different angles.But there is not sufficient studies on teacher talk in flipped class.In view of this fact,my study focuses on the comparative analysis of teacher talk between traditional English class and flipped English class.On the basis of theories of scholars at home and abroad,including Krashen’s comprehensible input hypothesis,Swain’s comprehensible output hypothesis,Long’s Interactive adjustment theory,the study is carried out via the use of classroom observation,students’ questionnaire,and teacher interview.The study chose Mrs.Z,a female English teacher with a teaching experience of over 30 years at a local high school.She used two different class structures,one is traditional,and the other is of flipped class,to teach the same content in her two classes.All 18 lessons,3 reading classes,3 grammar classes and 3 project classes of each,were recorded.They are analyzed from the perspective of the time of teacher talk,type and directing of questions,feedback,and interactive adjustment.Afterwards,the study did a survey on 189 students on their expectation of an ideal class and whether the flipped class lived up to their expectation.On top of that,a teacher interview was conducted to complete the study.The study has made the following discoveries:1.Less amount of teacher talk is observed in flipped class than traditional class.2.There are more and better questions raised by the teacher in flipped class than traditional class.3.There is more interactive adjustment in flipped class than traditional class,and the quality of flipped class is higher.4.There is no distinct difference in teacher’s feedback between flipped class and traditional class.5.The teacher talk in flipped class better meets expectation of students.Based on this study,suggestions aiming at improving teacher talk are given from the aspects of teacher talk,teacher’s question type and direction,teacher feedback and teacher’s interactive adjustment.The purpose of this study is to provide reference for teacher talk in flipped classes and help teachers fit in this newly-emerging teaching mode.