A Study On Teacher-student Interaction In Junior High School English Reading Class In Rural Areas

Classroom teacher-student interaction refers to the dynamic process of mutual exchanges,dialogues and influence between teachers and students in classroom situations.Good teacher-student interaction can balance knowledge input and ability development in the classroom,and thus promotes effective teaching.The latest curriculum standards and teaching reforms also strongly advocate the establishment of positive,appropriate and harmonious teacher-student interaction in the teaching process to promote the common growth of teachers and students.Then,what is the current situation of interaction between teachers and students in real English classrooms,especially in rural schools? Are there any problems? Filled with these doubts,the author conducted this study.The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current situation of interaction between teachers and students in English reading classes in rural junior high schools,find out the existing problems in class,analyze the reasons,and put forward some suggestions to facilitate teacher-student interaction.By referring to Input Hypothesis,Output Hypothesis,and Interaction Hypothesis,the author selected teachers and some students from two junior high schools in rural areas as research samples and studied the current interaction situation from the perspectives of teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards it,interactive types,interactive behaviors and their evaluation of its effectiveness.Data were collected using questionnaires,interviews,and classroom observation to answer the following questions.1.What is the current situation of teacher-student interaction in the English reading class of junior high schools in rural areas?2.What are the existing problems of teacher-student interaction in the English reading class of junior high schools in rural areas?3.What are the causes of the problems of teacher-student interaction in the English reading class of junior high schools in rural areas?The results show that teachers and students hold different attitudes towards interaction.Teachers are relatively more positive than students.As for interactive types,interaction with the whole class is the most popular one,followed by interaction with individual student,while interaction with group students is rarely applied.When it comes to interaction behaviors,teachers’ verbal behaviors still play a main role,of which teachers’ explanation occupies the most time.For the current teacher-student interaction,most teachers and students appear discontent.In a word,the existing problems of teacher-student interaction can be listed as follows: students have a negative attitude towards teacher-student interaction and are not enthusiastic about it;Interaction tends to be ineffective in most cases;Interaction types and behaviors are monotonous.During the process of teacher-student interaction,there is a lack of effective feedback.Through analyses,the reasons can be summarized as follows.First,teachers have an incomplete perception of teacher-student interaction.Secondly,teachers’ teaching abilities need to be improved,especially questioning strategies and correction strategies.What’s more,students are introvert and they treat English mainly as a tool,lacking correct learning motivation.Finally,the teaching environment also confines the conduct of teacher-student interaction.Stiff teacher-student relationships and a nervous classroom atmosphere will hamper interaction.Given the above problems,the author put forward several proposals for teachers and students.For teachers,efforts must be made to enhance their beliefs;Design effective questions and give appropriate feedback;Create a positive teaching environment.For students,they are advised to form proper beliefs of English learning,and develop the habit of cooperative learning.