A Research On College English Teachers' Feedback In Intensive Reading Course In Xinjiang University

Teachers'feedback, one important aspect of teacher talk, refers to the assessment of the students'classroom performance with the objective of increasing students'motivation for second language learning. Seeing that teachers'feedback has major influence on learners'SLA, the author attempts to make further research from this perspective on the basis of previous studies at home and abroad.The theoretical foundation of the research is"the affective filter hypothesis","Politeness Principle"and"Interaction Hypothesis". The subjects involved in this research are 4 teachers from the College of Foreign Languages, Xinjiang University, who teach the intensive reading course for non-English major students and 104 first and second year non-English major students. Questionnaires were sent to them and the author audio-recorded the teaching process of four teachers and made classroom observations as well. The data was transcribed, classified and statistically analyzed in the following aspects: the types and distribution of feedback; commonly-used feedback techniques and politeness strategies applied in teachers'feedback, which help to improve the quantity and quality of teachers'feedback in the intensive reading course.Findings of the research show that there is more positive feedback than negative feedback, more evaluative feedback than discourse feedback. Positive feedback and discourse feedback help students activate their confidence and motivation for English learning. However, negative feedback and evaluative feedback hinder them from forming good language learning habits. The factors that influence teachers'feedback in college English intensive reading classes include not only the English level of the students and their affective filters, but also the teachers'beliefs about their roles and the function of teachers'feedback. As for useful types of teachers'feedback, prompt, repetition, expansion and negotiation of meaning are often used by the College English teachers; and in terms of feedback techniques, expressing thanks, encouraging and inviting others to answer are preferred by teachers to help students make self correction.Based on the findings, some constructive suggestions on teaching practices and teachers'feedback techniques are provided and the author hopes that teachers can develop the function of encouragement and adjustment of feedback more effectively, better improve the teacher-student interaction in the College English intensive reading course.