Research On The Expectation Differences Of Teachers’ Roles Between Students And Teachers In English MA Class Presentation

Recently, students’class presentation, as a relatively new teaching activity, gradually thrives in China. This activity is student-centered and focuses on learning English by using the language; therefore, it is widely applied in English teaching in universities and colleges. While carrying out this activity, teachers play very important roles. And it is noteworthy that in students’class presentation, teachers play multiple and complex roles instead of the single role as an imparter. Because of the variety and complexity of teachers’roles, there are big differences between teachers’expectations and students’expectations of teachers’roles in students’class presentation. These differences have seriously reduced the effectiveness and efficiency of teachers’roles in this activity.This thesis describes an empirical research that surveys the teachers’roles in English MA students’class presentation. The purpose of this research is to explore the various role expectations on teachers’roles both from postgraduates and teachers; the reasons for the gaps of the role expectations between students and teachers are also found out so that they can have an overall understanding of the diversity and complexity of teachers’roles. Another purpose of this research is to explore the possible ways to narrow the gaps in order to provide some constructive information to the English education of postgraduates in China.The research uses questionnaires to survey the following contents. Firstly, it surveys postgraduates’expectations on teachers’roles in students’class presentation, including the types of teachers’roles and the percentages of students. What’s more, the thesis also makes in-depth research on the role expectations of different student groups based on the differences of genders, grades and research areas. Secondly, the research studies teachers’ expectations on their own roles in students’class presentation. Again, genders, ages and research areas are the three aspects that are taken into consideration. Thirdly, the research explores the similarities and differences between students’and teachers’expectations of teachers’roles. Lastly, it also investigates the reasons for the differences of role expectations and relevant methods to minimize these differences.The results of the research suggest that on one hand, both postgraduates and teachers have various expectations on teachers’roles. They all agree that teachers should play multiple roles such as organizers, communicators and cooperators instead of the traditional role as knowledge imparters in students’class presentation. On the other hand, there are indeed obvious gaps between postgraduates’expectations and teachers’ expectations of teachers’roles. These gaps are caused by the different concepts between students and teachers, the ambiguity of role orientations, the lack of communication and the intrinsic distinctions of individuals. And methods such as changing concepts, knowing expectations, increasing communication and promoting cooperation are useful to effectively reduce the gaps.By studying the differences of role expectations between students and teachers in MA students’class presentation, the research is in the hope of helping teachers have clear understandings of both their own roles and students’role expectations so that teachers will consciously change their roles in order to meet students’needs and coordinate the conflicts caused by the differences of role expectations. Therefore, teachers can play more effective and efficient roles in students’class presentation in the future.