A Study Of High School English Teachers’ Classroom Discourse In Group Cooperative English Learning

Both newest curriculum standards have proposed that students are the subjects of English learning activity,and English teachers should hold the view of the activitybased approach to English learning to organize and implement the teaching.As one of the important ways to carry out the activity-based approach to English learning,the implementation of group cooperative learning in English classes has become increasingly popular,but its effect sometimes is not that satisfactory.In group cooperative learning,English teachers’ classroom discourse not only plays the role of language models,but also is an important mediator of interaction between the teacher and students,which has a vital influence on the effectiveness of group cooperative learning.However,in the existing literature,there is little research on teachers’ classroom discourse in group cooperative learning.Therefore,it is necessary and important to take teachers’ classroom discourse into account when studying the quality of group cooperative learning.The study uses a questionnaire survey as the main research method combining the result from classroom observation and interviews to study teachers’ classroom discourse in group cooperative learning in high school English classes.Through reviewing and analyzing the literature on group cooperative learning and teachers’ classroom discourse at home and abroad,this dissertation finally selected the SelfEvaluation of Teacher Talk framework proposed by Walsh as the analytical framework,and adapted it to the need of studying the actual situation of group cooperative learning in English classrooms in China.The final analytical framework is composed of three dimensions: “teachers’ cognition and attitude”,“interactive features of teachers’ classroom discourse in group cooperative learning” and “factors affecting teachers’ classroom discourse in group cooperative learning”.Based on this framework,a questionnaire was designed and administered to 138 high school English teachers in different regions of China,five classroom sessions of five teachers were observed,and five teachers were invited to participate in the interview.The results are as follows: 1)High school English teachers have good cognition of and attitudes towards teachers’ classroom discourse in the group cooperative learning in high school English classes.2)High school teachers are proficient in their use of the classroom management model but there are some deficiencies in their use of evaluation.3)Teachers’ use of material and practice modal is appropriate,but repetition of their own discourse is slightly cumbersome.4)The use of classroom context modal is suitable,but the creation and use of context should be paid more attention.5)The teachers’ classroom discourse in group cooperative learning is influenced by both internal and external factors.Therefore,the high school English teacher are advised to: 1)pay attention to increasing the practice of group cooperative learning in the classroom and promoting the unification of cognition and practice.2)strengthen their awareness of teaching goals in the design and implementation of group cooperative learning,put more emphasis on the evaluation after group cooperation learning,and insist on post-class reflection on their group cooperative learning implementation and teachers’ classroom discourse use.3)take into account both internal and external factors in the design and use of teachers’ classroom discourse to continuously improve teachers’ classroom discourse.