A Comparative Study Of Novice And Experienced Senior High School English Teachers’ Classroom Interaction

The efficiency of classroom teaching may be improved by a sound classroom interaction which may stimulate students’ enthusiasm for learning.With external technological changes and the reform of national education policies,students’ ability to communicate in English has become highly important.Therefore,teachers are required to interact with students in English class actively to cultivate students’ initiative and creativity in learning English.However,there is a lack of substantive guidance in the practice of English teaching in senior high schools,and many classes still present a single interactive process of teachers’ lectures and students’ passive acceptance.In view of this,this study deeply explores the similarities and differences in classroom interaction between novice and experienced senior high school English teachers,and explores the factors that cause the differences.Based on the results,the thesis proposes pedagogical implications in hopes to provide important references and guidance for senior high school English teachers to carry out classroom interaction effectively.This study focuses on the following two questions:1.What are the similarities and differences between novice and experienced teachers in classroom interaction?2.What are the factors causing the above differences?In this study,three novice teachers and three experienced teachers from a key senior high school in the capital city of a province in East China are selected,and a total of twelve classes are recorded to analyze the similarities and differences in classroom interaction behaviors.Oneon-one interviews are also conducted with six teachers to dig deeper into their classroom interaction behaviors.Through watching the class videos,the improved Flanders Interactive Analysis System(i FIAS)is adopted to quantify the twelve classes,and then the obtained data are sorted and analyzed.Combined with the obtained data,classroom observation and interview records,the classroom interaction of novice teachers and experienced teachers is compared and analyzed,and the reasons for the differences are explored.The conclusions of this study are as follows:1.There are similarities and differences between novice and experienced teachers’ classroom interaction in the four dimensions of classroom structure,teaching style,classroom atmosphere and questioning.From the perspective of classroom structure,ratio of teacher talk and silence of novice teachers are both lower than the norm,but ratio of student talk is higher than the norm.However,ratio of student talk and silence of experienced teachers are higher than the norm,while ratio of teacher talk is lower than the norm.There is no obvious difference in the application of technology between novice and experienced teachers.In terms of teaching style,both novice and experienced teachers tend to exert a direct influence over students.However,novice teachers mainly reinforce students negatively,while experienced teachers mainly reinforce students positively.From the aspect of classroom atmosphere,experienced teachers are committed to creating a relaxed and harmonious classroom atmosphere,while novice teachers’ classroom atmosphere is serious and dreary.In the aspect of questioning,both novice and experienced teachers attach importance to interaction through questioning.Ratio of open questions asked by novice teachers is much lower than that of experienced teachers,while closed questions ratio is higher than experienced teachers.Ratio of student initiation of novice teachers is far lower than that of experienced teachers,and ratio of student response passively is higher than that of experienced teachers.Besides,there is no significant difference in the ratio of discussion with peers.2.According to the results of data analysis and classroom observation,combined with the interview records with teachers,it is found that the factors causing the above differences are divided into two aspects.On the one hand,there are teachers’ factors,including teachers’ educational concepts,knowledge structure and non-verbal behaviors.Teachers’ educational concepts may affect the structure and content of classroom interaction,teachers’ knowledge structure may affect the depth of classroom interaction,and the teachers’ appropriate use of non-verbal behaviors reasonably in classes for classroom interaction is also important.It is also very important for teachers to use non-verbal behaviors reasonably in classes for classroom interaction.On the other hand,there are students’ factors,including the knowledge level,number and personality of students.The level of students’ English knowledge restricts the implementation of classroom interaction,and the large number of students in a class makes it difficult for teachers to organize teaching and is not conducive to classroom interaction.In addition,the personality of students influences their motivation to participate in classroom interaction.Based on the conclusions,the thesis puts forward some implications: establish the new educational concepts and position the role of teachers and students in classrooms accurately;create a harmonious classroom atmosphere and make students truly become the masters of classroom;design questions ingeniously and guide students to participate in the classroom actively;strengthen the training of teachers and improve their professional quality and humanistic quality.