A Study Of The Mediation Of Junior High School English Teachers In Classroom Teaching

With the spreading of social interaction learning theory and promotion of educational revolution,more and more educators started to change their minds.They came to realize that traditional teacher's role that teacher as instructor and transmitter of knowledge should be turned into teacher as helper and promoter of meaning construction.Mediation is a significant concept of social interaction theory.Israel's psychologist Feuerstein put forward 12 mediation characteristics which made theoretical frames for mediation on teachers.In teaching practice at English lessons,teachers should let students be a principal part in classroom activities and create various situations actively.Hence,fully playing teachers' role of mediation is quite significant during student's English learning.The research questions of these thesis are listed below:1)How is the English teachers and students' understanding of the importance of the teachers' mediation?2)How is the English teachers and students' assessment to the practical implement of teachers' mediation?3)How is the English teachers' using status of teachers' mediation in English classroom?Feuerstein's mediation theory is the theretical base and triangulation method which includes questionnaires,interview and classroom observation is research method of the research,aiming at investigating the English teachers and students' cognition towards teachers' mediation and practice of teachers' mediation in classroom in junior high school.The subjects of questionnaires are from three junior high schools including 33 teachers and 187 students in Nanning.The analysis of questionnaires shows that 1)English teachers regarded mediation features of“significance”and“transcendence”quite important while they regarded features of“sharing”and“sense of belonging”are less important.2)students regarded“transcendence”and“awareness of change”less important while they regarded“sharing”,“sense of competence”and“control of own behavior”important.3)there are tremendous differences including“sense of competence”,“control of own behavior”and“sharing”between teachers and students.In order to verify how the mediation theory embodies in class,a detailed classroom observation was conducted,aiming to investigate how English teachers play the role of mediation in classroom teaching in junior high schools.The results of questionnaires and classroom observation show that teachers and students at junior high schools have certainly realized the importance of teachers'mediation during English teaching,and part of teachers play roles in the aspects which they consider are vital.However,teachers are short of sufficient cognition on mediation in developing students' autonomous learning ability,cultivating students' sense of confidence and learning strategy.Therefore,some suggestions for English teachers at junior high school are put forward:1)Teachers should give more support and encouragement to build students' sense of competence.2)Teachers should enhance the interactions and corporations between teachers and students and among students,encourage students to express their opinions freely in class and develop students' ability of cooperative learning.3)Teachers should treat every student equally and develop students' sense of belonging.4)Teachers should consciously cultivate students'autonomous learning strategies and improve students' learning initiative.5)Teachers should train students' ability of goal-setting.