A Study Of Teacher-student Verbal Interaction In Junior High School English Listening And Speaking Classes Based On IFIAS

The Compulsory Education Curriculum Standards（2011 Edition）clearly states that teachers should rationalize the teaching content and teaching steps and organize various forms of classroom interaction.The current curriculum reform of primary and secondary education emphasizes that teachers should interact with students more frequently in the teaching process,and many front-line teachers are gradually realizing the importance of teacher-student interaction in the classroom,and the subject position of students is increasingly emphasized.As an important type of lesson in junior high school English classrooms,listening and speaking lessons not only help develop students’ language expression skills,but also encourage the development of pupils’ critical thinking skills.Therefore,an in-depth study of teacher-student interaction in listening and speaking class can provide important references for front-line teachers to effectively carry out teacher-student interaction in their teaching.This study used the improved Flanders Interaction Analysis System（i FIAS）as a research tool to observe four English listening and speaking classes in a junior high school in Hohhot.This study’s research questions are as follows:（1）What are the characteristics of teacher-student verbal interaction in four sample classes?（2）What is the willingness of junior high school English teachers and students towards teacher-student verbal interaction?（3）What are the problems with teacher-student verbal interaction in junior high school English listening and speaking classes?The following conclusions were drawn from the study:（1）The following characteristics exist in four sample classes: in terms of classroom structure,teachers no longer completely dominate the classroom,and more emphasis is placed on students’ interactivity and participation;in terms of teaching tendencies,teachers tend to implement direct influence and positive reinforcement on students;in terms of questioning styles,teachers ask more closed questions and lack guidance in questioning;in terms of interactive atmosphere,young teachers are better at mobilizing the classroom atmosphere,and a good classroom atmosphere helps to bring teachers and students closer together.（2）Teachers’ and students’ willingness toward verbal interaction: most front-line teachers have recognized the importance of teacher-student verbal interaction,but they have difficulties in improving the status quo of interactive behavior;students think verbal interaction is helpful for remembering new knowledge points,but they are afraid to actively participate in interaction in class due to their personality or English level.（3）The four sample classes had the following problems: the teacher-student speech ratio was seriously imbalanced,and the weight of teacher’s language in the interaction process was significantly higher than that of students’ language;teachers’ classroom questioning is relatively low in classroom speech interaction;students’ active speaking rate was low,and their initiative to participate in classroom interaction was weak.Finally,based on the results of the study,the following suggestions were made for teachers:（1）In terms of classroom questioning,teachers should improve their classroom questioning skills,balance the ratio of open and closed questions,and focus on the frequency of questions of different difficulty levels.（2）Teachers should moderately reduce the number of classroom discourse,optimize feedback discourse,and give students more opportunities to speak in class.（3）Teachers should reduce criticism of students or assertion of teacher authority in the classroom,create an equal and democratic classroom environment as well as improve the dull interactive atmosphere.