A Research On Students’ Silence In College English Classroom

A great number of researches have proved that Chinese students’silence is an outstanding characteristic in EFL class. Silence, a basic pattern of human communication, is considered to possess its connotative meaning of the speech community. Through comparing the previous studies on silence abroad and at home, it is obvious that the degree of depth and breadth of the researches abroad is better than China. Therefore, further studies on silence in China are of great necessity.Under the present situation, students are reluctant to participate in classroom activities in EFL context, which exerts a negative influence on teaching results. In fact, the process of teaching and learning requires students’active participation. The interaction between students and teachers can develop students’language competence and proficiency and help realize the teaching objectives in the target language. Silence, on the contrary, hinders the development of students’capabilities in class.The thesis aims to dig out the internal and external causes of classroom silence in Chinese EFL context. Classroom observation, interview, and questionnaire are used for careful investigation. The study will testify the following two hypotheses:(1) In the process of foreign language learning, the college students in China usually form the habit of keeping silent in college English classroom.(2) There exist different understandings of students’silence in teachers and students.Having analyzed the reasons of students’silence, the thesis puts forward some available suggestions to lessen this ubiquitous phenomenon. The student-centered teaching philosophy can motivate students’initiatives in the process of teaching and learning. Both students and teachers should take efforts to create an active and harmonious classroom environment on the ground that teaching and learning is a closely related bilateral activity.