An Investigation Into Teacher Talk Of English Teachers In Secondary Vocational Schools In Shanghai

In China, nowadays, classroom is still the main place for secondary vocational school students to study English. The amount and quality of teacher talk in the language classroom have a great effect on the success of the students (Hakansson,1996). TT (Teacher Talk) is very important in English teaching. Not only is TT a tool for teachers to carry out the teaching plan, but also an important source for language input. It plays an important role in the organization of class teaching for English teachers and the process of students’language acquisition. Therefore, it is meaningful to do research on TT.Through the study of a large amount of research carried out by English teachers, the author finds out that the focus of the research is mainly on teaching methods and very few focuses on TT, let alone the TT of secondary vocational school teachers. According to the author’s years of teaching experience and the experience of observing a large number of classes, the author finds out that the language used by teachers in class is randomly used and teachers are not aware of the importance of TT. The study is based on the second language acquisition theories:Krashen’s comprehensible input hypothesis, Swain’s comprehensible output hypothesis and Long’s negotiation of meaning theory. This study analyzes the classroom from The Shanghai Secondary Vocational School Teaching Method Competition. The data is collected and analyzed through observing the video recording and changing the video recordings into written words. The author of the present thesis makes a quantitative and descriptive analysis of TT of award-winning classes and classes without awards. The study mainly studies and discusses the aspects of the amount of TT, questioning, interactive modification and negotiation of meaning and feedback of TT.The present study is intended to reveal the features of the amount of TT, questioning, interactive modification and negotiation of meaning and feedback of TT in award-winning classes and classes without awards and to provide an opportunity for the secondary vocational school English teachers to get to know the situation of TT and raise teachers’language awareness and language quality. The author of this thesis wishes that English teachers from secondary vocational school can pay more attention to the language they use in class and adjust their own language in order to promote the learners’second language acquisition. The author believes that this research is a good supplement of the study of TT and offers advice and inspiration on how to improve TT and secondary school English teaching quality.