A Comparative Study Of Modifications In Teacher Talk Between Demonstration And Regular English Reading Classes In Senior High Schools

The modification in teacher talk has been discussed for a number of years in the field of EFL. Most researches show the modifications and simplifications contribute to provide comprehensible input for learners. Moreover, some features of modified teacher talk have been found. But, in China, related studies are relatively few. especially comparing it among different types of classes in senior high schools.Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the difference of modifications in teacher talk between demo classes and regular classes in senior high schools. It includes two parts:linguistic modifications and interactive modifications. The former are reflected in modifications in speech rate, speech pause. pronunciation. vocabulary. subordinate clauses, statements and questions and self-repetition. The latter refer to comprehension check, confirmation check and clarification request. Data are collected by observing five demo classes and five regular classes, and interviewing ten teachers and their twenty students.The study yields two major findings:firstly, the distribution of linguistic modifications is different between demo classes and regular classes. The demo classes are marked with slower speech rate, fewer pauses, fewer self-repetitions, few statements, more subordinate clauses and questions. Oppositely, the regular classes are marked with higher speech rate, more pauses, more self-repetition, more statements, few subordinate clauses and questions. For the pronunciation, teachers’ level is better in demo classes while changeable in regular classes. It also discovers the complexity of vocabulary is similar between demo classes and regular classes, with low type-token ratio. Secondly, on the whole, interactive modifications appear more frequently in demo classes than those in regular classes. In demo classes, the confirmation check appears most frequently, followed by clarification request and comprehension check. In regular classes, the comprehension check appears most frequently while the clarification request least frequently. Between demo classes and regular classes, the proportion of comprehension check in demo classes is lower while the proportions of confirmation check and clarification request in demo classes are...