A Study On Classroom Interaction In College Intensive Reading Teaching

Among the various language courses, Intensive Reading has been an essential comprehensive language course and runs through the whole process in College English education. It plays an important role in English teaching and learning in China. Good and effective teaching methods adopted in Intensive Reading have always been the objective pursued by language teachers. To develop students'competence of using language correctly, appropriately and flexibly is the ultimate aim of language teaching. The fundamental way of reaching this purpose is through effective classroom interaction. Second language teaching and learning is a highly interactive process. A great deal of time in teaching is devoted both to interaction between the teacher and the learners, and to interaction among the learners themselves. So classroom interaction in Intensive Reading seems especially significant for students to make use of English to communicate.Previous research findings in western countries expose that classroom interaction plays a crucial role in EFL teaching and learning. Interactive language teaching as a relatively new pedagogical system has gained considerable acceptance in western countries in the 1990s, and now it is being emphasized in Chinese second language acquisition. Various researches and studies in the current College English teaching indicate that it is essential to train and develop the students'ability to communicate as an instrument. Communication derives from interaction. Interaction implies both reception and expression of messages. To promote classroom interaction, Students are needed to actively participate in activities that engage their interest and attention, so that interaction becomes natural and desirable. But since Intensive Reading is almost dominated by the teachers, it is necessary to apply interactive language teaching in our Intensive Reading classroom.In China, the related researches on interaction have already caught the attention of language teachers, who have done lots of researches on classroom interaction. This research is conducted to examine the classroom interaction in Intensive Reading context, especially in the classroom teaching conducted with the help of multimedia equipments. It explores the theoretical bases and the concepts about interaction, Interactive language teaching, and interaction goals, combined with the development of classroom interaction in Intensive Reading. It is conducted with a purpose to investigate the exact problems of current situation in Intensive Reading teaching, to know the interactional patterns in classroom communication and to find out a new classroom interaction-based pattern with the help of multimedia. The research focuses on students of non-English major.The findings from the questionnaires, classroom observation and interview show that classroom interaction in Intensive Reading is quite limited. In present Intensive Reading classroom, there is an over-emphasis on language forms but less attention to the language use. The way of teaching is so teacher-centered that students become the passive receivers of knowledge. Good effective interaction can't be reached.Based on the results, it reveals that a new classroom interaction-based pattern is beneficial to students'English learning. By means of multimedia software and Internet, the pattern can arouse their interests and greatly motivate learners'initiative, thus encouraging them to learn positively and effectively. The findings of this research provide a few suggestions for Intensive Reading teaching in Chinese colleges. The teachers should provide abundant comprehensible inputs to the learners, to offer more opportunities for the learners to produce output, and to encourage more chances for classroom interaction under the assistance of multimedia equipments, etc.Lastly, the author makes conclusions on this research, indicates some limitations and then puts forward suggestions for further research.