A Study Of English Teachers As Mediators In Gannan Tibetan Area

In English teaching, a teacher should act not only as source of information but also as organizer, controller, assessor, prompter, participant, director and, even the psychological supporter. That means that a teacher must play a mediation role. Lev Vygotsky defines the mediation as the part played by significant people in the learners' lives. Reuven Feuerstein points out that mediation must be concered with empowering , with helping learners to acquire the knowledge , skills and strategies they will need in order to progress, to learn more, to tackle problems, to function effectively in a particular culture and a changing society, and to meet new, emerging demands. It is also concerned with helping learners to become autonomous, to take control of their own learning to become independent thinkers and problem-solvers.According to the mediation theory, this paper made an investigation of the mediation role played by some of the teachers in Gannan Tibetan Area, and answered the following questions: What do teachers in Tibetan area think about the different features of mediation? How often do the English teachers surveyed carry out the activities? What do the students think about the methods of mediation and is there a gap between the teaching activities and the learners' ideals? The research participants consist of thirty English teachers and seventy students. Fifteen teachers are from Hezuo Minorities Teachers' College and another fifteen from No.1, and No.2 Hezuo middle schools; forty learners are from English major students in Hezuo Minorities Teachers' College, the other thirty learners from the middle schools. After analysis through SPSS10.0, it is found in Gannan Tibetan Area, nearly 9 items exist differences between the practice and the ideas. Through the observations and interviews, nearly the same results were found, the teachers ignore mediation tools or strategies in classroom, so the learners can't control themselves or study hard with good strategies, In order to play mediation role fully, some suggestions were given: Arose the learners' motivation further; help learners to learn control ; help learners to feel competent and challenged; help learners to move onto their new ZPD with strategies; help learners to foster learners' social development and the teachers need to improve their own speaking skill. The learners in Gannan Tibetan Area have their own advantages. If the teachers fully play the mediation roles, surely English education in Tibetan Area can be developed greatly.The present study consists of seven chapters: Chapter 1 introduces the background of the present study and the object of the study; Chapter 2 is literature review, which tells us the definition of mediation, the research on mediation role abroad and in China; Chapter 3 is theoretical framework, it mainly expounds the theory of ZPD, the key features of mediation and the employment of mediation in teaching; Chapter 4describes the research questions, subjects and research methods; Chapter 5 deal with data analysis and general discussion.SPSSlO.O is used to process the raw data, the result was further discussed through observations and interviews; Chapter 6 provides some suggestions to fully play the teachers' mediation roles; Chapter7 draws the conclusion.