A Comparative Study Of Teacher Talk In College English Intensive Reading Classes

Teacher talk remains as one of the most significant aspects in language teaching,which is not only the major instrument for teachers to transmit information and organize classroom activities,but also the crucial source for learners to get access to language input.And in recent years,there are more and more scholars who have analyzed teacher talk from different perspectives.However,relevant researches at home were mainly focused on descriptive studies in a single type of class,but few conducted comparative studies between different class types,say,studies comparing between two kinds of college English intensive reading classes,national elite college English classes and normal college English classes.On account of this,it is of great significance to study teacher talk between them from a comparative orientation.To investigate the current situation of teacher talk in the two kinds of classes and its effects on students,the author randomly selected 6 national elite college English classes and 6 normal college English classes as the research subjects,collected the data through a number of methods like audio recording,classroom observation,transcription,interview and so on,and made a quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis on the features of teacher talk between the two kinds of classes from four dimensions,including the amount of teacher talk,teacher's questioning,interactional modification,and teachers' feedback.The results indicated that: 1)The amount of teacher talk is larger than the amount of student talk in both kinds of classes,while the amount of student talk as well as teachers' use of English is larger in national elite college English classes;2)The amount of display questions are more than the amount of referential questions in both kinds of classes,and the predilection for display question is more distinct in normal college English classes;3)The method of interactional modification used the most frequently is comprehension check while the method of interactional modification used the least frequently is clarification request,which is the same in both kinds of classes,but teachers from national elite college English classes apply more confirmation check and clarification request and lesscomprehension check than teachers from normal college English classes;4)There are more positive feedback than negative feedback,and the method of positive feedback applied the least is praise with comments in both kinds of classes.But teachers from national elite college English classes employ the method of praise with repetition the most often while teachers from normal college English classes employ simple praise the most often.As a result,there are similarities and differences existing between both kinds of classes,and it is expected that the results of the research can contribute to the improvement of the quality of teacher talk in college English intensive reading classes in the future.