A Comparative Study Of Teacher Talk Between Expert Teachers And Novice Teachers In English Classroom Of High Schools

In the study of classroom teaching, teacher talk has been the focus for language experts. Teacher talk is"of crucial importance, not only for the organization of the class but also for the processes of L2 acquisition"( Nunan, 1991: 189). The amount and quality of teacher talk in the language classroom has great effect on classroom teaching and is even a decisive factor of its success (Hakansson, 1986). Therefore, teacher talk is quite important in English teaching. However, some middle school teachers still lack the knowledge and awareness of effective teacher talk, and they cannot adjust their teaching talk consciously and effectively. For the reasons mentioned above,this study aims at exploring the features of teacher talk in English classroom in senior high schools by comparing two kinds of teachers---expert teachers and novice teachers so as to help teachers to get to know the present situation of teacher talk, and with the specific purpose to provide some suggestions for the English teachers on what types of teacher talk would be beneficial to learners'language acquisition and it also provides some firm evidence to prove that it is necessary to carry out some reforms in order to improve teacher talk and students'learning efficiency.This study aims to present the recent state of teacher talk of expert teachers and novice teachers in middle schools, to compare and analyze their differences and effects on students'language learning from the following five aspects: the amount of teacher talk, the quality of teacher talk, questioning, interaction, teachers'feedback. Through recording and transcription, classroom observation, interviews and questionnaires, the main findings are concluded as follows:Significant differences have been found in terms of the amount of teacher talk and the functions of teacher talk. Compared with novice teachers, expert teachers tend to offer more complex interactional patterns and more types of questions. Expert teachers tend to use more referential questions than display ones. They can arouse and improve students'motivation by taking advantage of teacher talk, offer them more opportunities to practise what they have learned, while novice teachers use more display questions. They fail to adjust their teacher talk to students'needs, leaving little chance for students to be involved in the classroom language learning.