A Survey Study On Investigating The Effects Of Teachers’ Classroom Verbal Feedback On Students’ English Learning Motivation In Junior High School

As one of the most active factors in affective attitude,learning motivation plays an important role in middle school students’ English learning.Teachers’ verbal feedback is the main factor affecting students’ English learning motivation.This thesis investigates the influence of junior high school teachers’ classroom verbal feedback on students’ English learning motivation in order to improve the quality of teachers’ verbal feedback and stimulate students’ learning motivation.The study mainly addresses the following two issues:(1)What is the relationship between teachers’ verbal feedback and students’ learning motivation?(2)What are the students’ attitudes and preferences toward teachers’ verbal feedback?Questionnaire survey is used to investigate the relationship between teachers’ verbal feedback and junior high school students’ English learning motivation,and then analyze the influence of teachers’ verbal feedback on junior high school students’ English learning motivation.200 eighth grade students from Tianjin No.90 middle school participated in the questionnaire survey.The results of correlation analysis show that there is a significant correlation between teachers’ verbal feedback and junior high school students’ English learning motivation.The results of regression analysis show that for the dependent variable of intrinsic motivation,the influence of teacher’s positive verbal feedback on students’ extrinsic motivation(i.e.,an independent variable)is the most significant.For the dependent variable of extrinsic motivation,the influence of teacher’s positive verbal feedback on students’ intrinsic motivation(i.e.,an independent variable)and teacher’s negative verbal feedback on students’ intrinsic motivation(i.e.,an independent variable)are more significant.Moreover,interview is used to obtain students’ attitudes and preferences towards teachers’ verbal feedback.A total of ten students participated in the interview.The results of the interview are basically consistent with those of the questionnaire.The results show that most students think that positive and negative verbal feedback have a positive effect on learning motivation.A few students think that negative verbal feedback has a negative effect on learning motivation.In addition,most students prefer positive verbal feedback,because it can improve their self-confidence and enhance their learning motivation.Finally,according to the conclusions,this study puts forward some suggestions,hoping to improve the quality of teachers’ verbal feedback and enhance students’ learning motivation.On the aspect of teachers:(1)teachers should correctly use direct positive and negative feedback according to students’ performance;(2)teachers should enrich the form and content of feedback to meet students’ different needs;and(3)teachers should consider students’ individual differences while giving students feedback.On the aspect of students:(1)students should correctly treat teachers’ verbal feedback;(2)students should actively answer questions in class to increase teacher-student interaction;and(3)students should often communicate with teachers and students after class.