A Case Study On Differences Of Teacher Talk Between Male Teachers And Female Teachers In English Course For English Majors

It is widely admitted that teacher talk plays a vital role in English teaching in that it is not only a tool for teaching,but also one of the main sources of input for learners.Many scholars conduct researches reporting features and functions of teacher talk,but few studies explore the gender differences in teacher talk.To have a better understanding of teacher talk and improve the English teaching,the study aims to explore the gender differences in strategies of teacher talk in Comprehensive English Course for English majors.8 teachers from 8 parallel classes were selected and 1 class of each were recorded and transcribed.After the data collection,the author discussed the results from the amount of teacher classroom discourse,teacher questions,interactional modification,teacher feedbacks as well as the use of the first language.Besides,a questionnaire and interview were conducted to get students’ opinion and preferences for the five aspects of teacher talk.The research findings show differences in teacher talk between male teachers and female teachers.Male teachers produce larger amount of teacher talk and use more first language;more questions and positive feedbacks are offered by female teacher s;male teachers and female teachers have different preferences on devices of interactional modification.Findings of questionnaires show students think teacher talk between male teachers and female teachers is different.Besides,t hey also express their wishes from the five aspects of teacher talk.The research is expected to be noticed by teachers who undertake English language teaching.And the author also hopes it could enrich the data of research on teacher talk and help improve the English language teaching in China.