A Study Of Teachers’ Mediation In Independent College ELT

In recent years, with the reform of college English teaching in China, the students’ learning characteristics and teaching objectives in independent colleges have also set higher demands, which requires English teachers to put emphasis on the cultivation of students’ autonomous learning abilities. How can English teachers properly guide students to become effective lifelong learners? According to Feuerstein’s mediation theory, language teachers should provide appropriate stimuli for learners by playing their mediation roles effectively.Based on Feuerstein’s mediatic i theory, the author carried out a study on independent college English teachers’mediation in ELT. Firstly, the study surveyed20English teachers and100non-English-major students in two independent colleges, which aimed at investigating their perceptions on the importance and the practical implementation of English teachers’mediation; secondly, the author compared and analyzed the data collected from the questionnaires and interviews; thirdly, the author carried out the practical teaching experiment by comparing experimental classes with control classes in order to figure out the effectiveness of teacers’mediation in practice.The study finally draws the conclusion that both the teachers and students in independent colleges have realized the importance of teachers’mediation in ELT. Most teachers have played their mediation roles in the aspects which they attach importance to. Furthermore, during the teaching experiment, the author finds that the teachers’mediation does have great effectiveness in cultivating students’learning interests, developing their autonomous learning abilities, and training their learning strategies. However, in the meantime, the author also finds that both the teachers and students in independent colleges still lack sufficient understanding of teachers’mediation in English teaching and learning.The findings of this study suggest that English teachers should change their traditional roles and fully play their mediation roles to develop students’learning ability and help them reach a higher language level. The author believes the application of mediation-based English teaching method will follow the trend of education reform much better.