On Classroom Interaction Features Of Excellent English Teacher Talk In Middle Schools

The primary aim of learning a language is to use it in communication and learner-teacher conversational interaction is a key to reach that goal. Teacher Talk (TT) is so important, especially in a second language classroom, not only because it is the medium language to organize the lesson, to teach new knowledge and to manage the classroom, as well as to implement the teaching plans, also because it plays an vital role in serving as the main source of comprehensible input for learners to receive and as an standard example for them to imitate. Under the background of foreign language teaching in China, teacher talk is of great significance for the reason that English classroom setting is the main place where Chinese students can be exposed to the target language. However, the main focus of EFL teaching in China has been put on the teaching approaches and instructional plan, few on the TT, especially on interactional features of TT in middle school. Therefore, it is of vital importance both in aspects of theoretical and practical value to make further research on TT in EFL classrooms in the situation of China.In this way, the writer gathered data of teacher talk to identify characteristic features in classroom along with four analytic dimensions:the amount of Teacher Talk, teachers’ questions, teachers’ feedback and meaning negotiation of Teacher Talk. The study was conducted in Hangzhou. Six excellent English teachers were chosen as the subjects of this study. Based on Comprehensible Input Hypothesis, Interaction Hypothesis and Output Hypothesis, as well as negotiation of meaning, the present study attempts to find out some features of TT and the impact on classroom interaction. Meanwhile, in order to get a whole view of interactional features of TT, this study has made a survey by a questionnaire composed of twenty items to collect information on students’attitude towards TT, and by a semi-structured interview with the teachers to gain the view in teachers’aspect. In a word, this research attempted to answer the following questions:1) What is the frequency of Teacher Talk (TT) and Student Talk (ST) in excellent teachers’classroom?2) How do excellent teachers utilize the types of question to promote classroom teacher-student interaction?3) What are the interactional characteristics of excellent teacher talk in terms of negotiation of meaning?4) What are the excellent teachers’and students’preferences to the different types of teacher feedback? And how do they influence classroom interaction?This thesis has submitted the findings related to the four questions as follows:1) The amount of the students’talk time exceeds that of teachers’in excellent English teachers’classroom.2) The excellent teachers opt to ask more referential questions than display questions.3) The study of meaning negotiation shows that excellent teachers tend to use more confirmation checks than comprehension checks in their classroom interaction. Teachers from grade 8 use more meaning negotiation during the class than teachers from grade7.4) Teachers are fond of giving positive feedback, and teachers from different grades have different preferences of feedback types.The present study has shed lights on the quantity and quality of Excellent TT in middle school classroom settings in terms of international features. And eventually come up with some pedagogical implications and some suggestions for further study.