An Investigation On Directives Used By Novice Teachers In Middle School EFL Class:A Case Study

The in-class directives play an important role in a high-quality English class,and they are used for guiding students' participation in class activities,and forming better interaction between teachers and students.In the investigation,the in-class directives are studied from the following three aspects: 1)What are the features of in-class directives used by novice teachers in a junior English class? 2)What problems exist in the use of in-class directives of the novice junior English teachers? and 3)What are the main reasons for the problems?With a case study of three novice English teachers from a junior middle school in Yueyang,Hunan Province,the investigation focuses on the in-class directives used by novice English teachers of junior middle schools.With the help of class observation,video and data collected from transcription,the characteristics of directives used by novice English teachers of junior middle schools were analyzed.Based on the Speech Act Theory,Krashen's Comprehensible Input Hypothesis,the problems of in-class directives used the novice English teachers of junior middle schools are analyzed in terms of the structures and the functions of the directives.The study also analyzes the factors contributing to these problems.The study finds that novice English teachers of junior middle schools use more direct directives than indirect directives.In addition,the directives are mainly instructions,with some other ones with additional functions.There are four problems in directives used by novice English teachers in class: redundant use of words(mechanical repetition of verbal directives),vague wording,unnecessary complex sentences and unclear non-verbal directives.The problematic directives the novice teachers used affect the students' understanding and executing of the instruction.The main reasons for the above problems are the lack of thorough understanding of the teaching material,inadequate teaching experience and immature teaching techniques.The result indicates that novice teachers need use more directives of other types so as to provide students as much as correct and efficient directions.They also need to perfect directives according to the specific teaching content,leading students to understand and execute them.It is hoped that novice teachers will pay special attention to the in-class directives and improve the used of them.