Strategies In Enhancing EFL Classroom Interaction

This thesis reports a study on the strategies in enhancing EFL classroom. Among the various classroom researches, classroom interaction has always been the main issue. A large number of researches in SLA have brought to light the significance of'classroom interaction'since the 1980s (e.g. Long 1983; Allwright 1984; Swain 1985; Wilga 1987; Ellis 1990; etc.). Wilga (1987) points out through interaction, students can increase their language store and students can use all they possess of the language-all they have learned or casually absorbed in real-life exchanges. Thus, this thesis is going to have an investigation in this field under the framework of constructivism, humanism, Krashen's input hypothesis, Long's interaction hypothesis, and Swain's output hypothesis. Main aspects of classroom interaction on teacher's part include teacher's beliefs about teaching and learning, teacher talk, teacher's questions and error treatment. Main aspects on learner's part include learner participation and communication strategies.The study was conducted in an attempt to gain some insight into strategies for enhancing EFL classroom interaction. The subjects involved in this research included one teacher and her 80 non-English major students from UESTC (the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China). A questionnaire survey with fifteen questions was administered. The data were statistically analyzed which had been drawn from three major questions: What are the differences in classroom interaction between students sitting in the first three rows and those sitting in the last three rows? Can classroom participation enhance students'English acquisition? What factors may influence classroom interaction? The results show some factors influencing classroom interaction: willingness to communicate, anxiety, teachers'feedback and questioning awareness, habit of listening, lack of opportunity and confidence.Based on the results of this survey, strategies from the teacher's part and the learner's part are put forward respectively. On the teacher's part, eight strategies are proposed, which include: creating a positive and relaxed interaction environment; changing teacher's roles; relaxed control over management of the class and students; improving the teacher's questioning strategies; employing group/pair work; using proper feedbacks; designing more output tasks; and applying non-verbal communication. On the students'part, five strategies have been proposed: improving the students'questioning strategies; transition from listener to speaker; controlling affective factors; enhancing students'perception of classroom communication; participating actively in both teacher–student and student–student interactions.The findings of the study are considered to have clear pedagogical implications and applications to foreign language teaching, especially in the areas of syllabus design, interactive teaching materials designing and selecting, teaching methodology, and creating opportunities for classroom interaction and for learners to produce output. Finally, the author puts forward some limitations of this research.