A Study Of Teacher Talk In English Reading Classes In Senior High School From The Perspective Of Scaffolding Theory

Originated from the influence of Vygotsky' s Sociocultural Theory,the Scaffolding Theory has been extensively employed in the English teaching.The scaffolding in teaching is the process that enables a learner to solve a problem,carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts.Besides,with the further development of education reform,reading teaching has been playing a crucial role in senior high school English curriculum and it pays more attention to develop students' reading and thinking ability as well as the capability of output.What's more,as the vital component of class,teacher talk is a significant communicating approach for inputting,delivering and sharing information between teachers and students.Effective teacher talk can not only arouse students' learning interest,but also can open their minds so that students can be actively involved in classroom activities.The current research lists the primary purpose of knowing about the current situation of scaffolding in English reading classes teacher talk of senior high school and discovering how to promote students' reading comprehension and language acquisition through teacher talk.The present study is designed to answer the following four questions:(1)What types of scaffolding exist in teacher talk of English reading classes?(2)What is the distribution characteristics of different types of scaffolding in teacher talk of English reading classes?(3)What are functions of scaffoldings in English reading classes' teacher talk?(4)What are the major factors that influence the formation of scaffoldings in English reading classes' teacher talk?With the aim of resolving these research questions,altogether 5English teachers from No.1 Senior School of No.1 Machinery Group and10 English reading classes conducted by these 5 teachers as the research subjects.Besides,classroom observation,video-recording and teacher's interview were employed together as the main research instruments.The summary of major findings is as followings:(1)All of the 7different scaffolding types(modeling,prompting,bridging,clarifying,challenging,cognitive and validating)occurred in teacher talk of English reading classes in senior high school.The distribution of each types of scaffolding in teacher talk is different.The encouraging scaffolding plays a primary role in teacher talk and modeling scaffolding was found to take up a smallest share of all.(2)Each type of scaffolding in teacher talk can produce great effects on students' reading comprehension as well as language acquisition.They triumphantly achieve functions on thedevelopment of students' reading comprehension ability,language ability,cognitive competence,and emotional attitudes.(3)The major factors that influence the formation of scaffolding in English reading classes' teacher talk can be external factors and internal factors.External factors are reading material,students' development level,the specific teaching situation,the limited class time.Internal factors are teachers' characters and teaching styles.