A Study On Teachers' Polite Behaviors In EFL Classroom Interaction In Senior High School

Since the early 1980s, many studies have been devoted to the investigation of interaction in language development. Most of these studies have proved that classroom interaction facilitates second language learning. Classroom interaction plays a vital and decisive role in classroom teaching and learning, affording opportunities for acquisition. In fact, virtually everything in the classroom transpires through interaction, from the moment the teacher enters the classroom until the end of a lesson. And the teacher's main task is thus, to some extent, to foster an environment in which effective language learning may develop through various kinds of interaction. As a mediator, teacher's verbal and non-verbal behaviors can greatly affect the flow of classroom interaction. Politeness, as the symbol of human civilization, is not only a universally highly valued virtue, but also a widely employed strategy to realize tactful and effective communication. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most effective strategies modulating interpersonal relationship and eliminating conflicts and thereby facilitating cooperation in all human communication. And classroom interaction is no exception. Effective application of politeness strategies can enhance classroom interaction and thereby accomplish our pedagogical goal. This thesis makes an attempt to investigate the current situation concerning the employment of politeness strategies on the part of teachers in secondary school EFL classroom interaction, and to reveal the unique characteristics of the politeness strategies adopted by teachers.Classroom interaction is the combination of verbal and non-verbal communication. Therefore, the present study is implemented to investigate both the verbal and non-verbal politeness of teachers with the help of data obtained from tape recording, and interview. After the recorded material were transcribed into written materials, 546 utterances which are regarded as directive speech acts were identified and picked out for further analysis. Besides, in view of the difficulty to observe non-verbal behaviors, data were mainly gathered through interviews.After a thorough analysis of the data collected, the author comes to the conclusion that: 1) Teacher talk is basically polite; 2) Politeness displayed in teachers' directive speech acts is unique; 3) Teachers are generally not aware of the significance of politeness conveyed through non-verbal behaviors. Meanwhile, on the basis of the findings of this research, the author proposes several feasible suggestions for teachers with regard to enhancing classroom interaction.