Chinese Students Face In Foreign Language Teaching Environment Needs And Maintenance Strategy Research

This study is an analysis of Chinese college students'face needs and face-saving strategies in EFL class; both quantitative and qualitative methods have been employed in the analysis. The purpose of the study is to help Chinese teachers of English to realize those face needs and face-saving strategies so that they might further improve their class English teaching.During language teaching, language is both the teaching aim and teaching tool. The teacher's tactful use of language and their consideration of student's face needs often have a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of foreign language teaching and learning. On the one hand, students want to win their positive face, that is, to be praised or approved of by their teachers and fellow students; on the other hand, they want to protect their negative face, that is, to keep autonomous and free from imposition. So face threatening acts (FTA) often constitute an important negative factor influencing not only the interaction in the EFL class but also the effect of teaching and learning.In this study, the subjects are 116 freshmen, non-English majors in Nan Jing Institute of Industry and Technology. Selecting totally 60 students from them and dividing them into two groups according to their scores of College English Entrance Examination. The main data-gathering instruments are questionnaires, class observation and interview. The collected data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS 16.0 version.The major findings from the analysis include the following:(â…°) high-scored students and low-scored students have similar positive face needs. Amiable and easygoing teachers could more or less reduce the social distance between teacher and student which may help students to save or enhance their positive face.(â…±) Weight of imposition, group tendency and uncertainty avoidance are used to exam students'negative face needs. According to the data in SPSS 16.0, there is a difference between the two groups in terms of the weight of imposition. But the Independent-Samples T test of Sum of Questionnaire I (Q1-Q17) and case study indicate that there is no distinct difference in the negative face needs between the two groups.(â…²) In the EFL class, high-scored students have a stronger tendency to protect teachers' face than low-scored students while saving their own face.(â…³) Positive politeness strategies, such as affirmation and encouragement from teachers, will better protect high-scored students' positive face.(â…´) Both of the two groups prefer that their language errors should be corrected indirectly and euphemistically in the EFL class.Based on the above research, we have found that in EFL class teachers should attach importance to students'face needs and adopt proper face-saving strategies to facilitate students'second language acquisition. Positive face-saving strategies, such as affirmation and encouragement, minimize the differences and maximize the commonalities between the teacher and the student. Negative face-saving strategies, such as euphemism and indirect words, maximize the learner's freedom of action, minimize the impositions which restrict their freedom of action and make them feel easier to accept teacher's criticism and correction.