A Research Into University EFL Classroom Interaction

It has been generally accepted that interaction must play a key role in the second language classroom. Allright (1984) argues that everything that happens in the classroom happens through a process of live person-to-person interaction. Wilga (1987) points out that through interaction, students can increase their language store and can use all they possess of the language-all they have learned or casually absorbed in real-life exchanges. Interaction facilitates not only language development but also learner's self-development.Thus, to raise the teacher's and students'awareness of understanding the value of classroom interaction and to provide further evidence that classroom interaction may positively influence second language acquisition, this dissertation conducts an investigation in this field under the framework of Vygotsky's theory, Krashen's input hypothesis, Long's interaction hypothesis, and Swain's output hypothesis.The subjects of the present research were 150 undergraduates of English majors and Non-English majors who are respectively from five classes of the second and third years of the School of Foreign Languages and the School of Civil Engineering, Northwest,University for Nationalities. In addition, five teachers of English were also randomly selected as interview subjects. The research was carried out mainly through the questionnaires and personal interview, supplemented by classroom observation.On the basis of the statistical and comparative analyses, the results of the study are as follows: First, there is not much significant difference between English majors and Non-English majors in many aspects except those on group work activities. The average Mean Score of English majors is a bit higher than that of Non-English majors. This means both of the two groups have similar ideas and opinions on many areas of classroom interaction except those on group work activities. However, there is a considerably big difference about the performances and strategies of classroom interaction in group work between English majors and non-English majors. That's mainly because in the small-sized classes, English major students are given more opportunities to participate in the group work activities. Some of them like sitting in the front rows. They are more willing to communicate with the teacher and their classmates. This will undoubtedly facilitate their English learning.Second, English majors have more positive and reasonable attitudes toward classroom interaction, compared with Non-English majors. It means that English major students have more knowledge and stronger beliefs about the role of classroom interaction which plays in English learning and acquisition.Third, both male and female students of the two groups have no significantly different opinions on all the areas of English learning and the role of classroom interaction, while it indicates that female students have a fairly more favorable attitude toward classroom interaction in the whole process of learning experiences than that of male students.The'Significance'reveals that Non-English majors perform fairly weak in group work activity. This should by no means be neglected by English teachers and the students themselves. It is hoped that more attention should be paid to this group to increase their awareness of classroom interaction which is of vital use in the whole process of foreign language learning and acquisition. It is also expected that more opportunities should be given to the students to interact with their peers and the teachers.Some strategies and methods for teachers are proposed, which include:1) improving classroom environment,2) making good preparation for classroom interactions,3) improving questioning,4) giving proper and effective feedbacks,5) employing group work, and 6) designing more output tasks. Examples of activities that can be used with undergraduate learners of English to structure and enhance classroom interactions are also provided.The findings of this study are considered to have clear pedagogical implications and practical applications to foreign language teaching, especially in the related areas of ELT methodology for English major groups and Non-English major ones.Finally, some limitations of this research are put forward as well.