Analysis Of EFL Classroom Activities In Vocational College

This thesis is a descriptive research on EFL classroom activities in a vocational college as they actually happened. "An activity is described as a task that has been selected to achieve a particular teaching/learning goal." (Richards and Lockhart 2000: pl61) "Activities" in the present study refers to what the students are doing in L2 class to achieve the goal of learning English.The relative importance of input and output is a key issue in the field of second language acquisition, which has caused much discussion and debate. Input Hypothesis claims that comprehensible input can facilitate acquisition and that there are positive correlations between the amount of reading reported and proficiency. Input must be made comprehensible either by modifying it or by means of contextual props.Output Hypothesis proposes that output can facilitate L2 accuracy because of three functions: noticing/triggering, hypothesis testing and metalinguistic reflection. With the development of SLA theory, researchers point that successful instructed language learning requires both extensive L2 input and opportunities for output.J. Harmer (1983) put forward "a balanced activities approach", emphasizing the balanced activities between roughly-tuned input and communicative activities.With the development of classroom research, research on grammar teaching has extended to the one on focus-on-form and focus-on meaning. Theories of second language acquisition have laid a solid foundation of classroom research. Overseas research on formal instruction has been carried out since 1990s but few have been done in China, especially in vocational colleges.Based on Input Hypothesis and Output Hypothesis and some theories about form-focused instructions, the study categorizes the EFL classroom activities into such types as input activities, output activities on the one hand; and focus-on-forms activities, focus-on-form activities and focus-on-meaning activities, on the other hand. Analysis on these activities helps us understand and evaluate the nature and characteristics of L2 classroom, the context and resources of second language learning. It can also assist the teachers to make wiser choices of classroom activities. To understand teaching and learning context of L2 classroom in vocational college, the researcher explores the situation of classroom activities. The research questions include:1) What kinds of input activities (IA) and output activities (OA) are there in class?2) What percentages do input activities (IA) and output activities (OA) account for in the entire amount respectively? Is there any balance?3) Are there focus-on-forms activities (FFSA), focus-on-form (FFA) or focus-on-meaning activities (FMA)? What percentage do they account for respectively?4) What particular types of form do teachers and learners focus on in FFSA and FFA?The researcher collects data from observation. Eight English classed were observed with audio-recording and then transcribed and analyzed. The major findings include:First, input activities take up more of class time(68%) than output activities do,(25%). The input activities involved listening to the recording, reading the text, teachers' presentation. The interaction in input activities is not very high and most of interactions are in teacher-to-all-learner pattern. The limited output activities were confined to teacher-initiated question-answer practice and some written exercises.Second, nearly all of the class time is occupied by focus-on-forms activities including: grammar explanation, word usage learning, and pronunciation correction and sentence translation. No typical meaning-focused output activities such as free talk and group discussions were observed.Third, teachers and learners mainly focused their attention on lexical forms in FFSA.The present study can illuminate pedagogy, that is, teachers, as the managers of the classes, can organize activities that keep input and output activities in balance. Learners should be engaged in focus-on-meaning activities, performing both oral and written tasks. Teachers should increase output activities focused predominately on meaning.