A Research On Teacher As A Mediator In English Grammar Teaching In Junior Middle School

The new curriculum standard put forward higher requirements for English teaching in junior middle school.It emphasizes that the teacher is not only the organizer,the guider,the transfer of knowledge,but the mediator in students' learning process.Grammar learning plays an important role in junior middle school.Therefore,teachers should be a mediator when students learn grammar in order to help students solve grammar problems independently,cultivate grammar consciousness,and improve their autonomous learning ability.Based on Social Constructivism and the theory of mediation,the thesis tried to investigate teachers' mediation role between learners and materials,learners and tasks,learners and peers.In this research,65 English teachers from six middle schools in Shanxi province were selected for questionnaire,six teachers from three of the schools were observed for 24 classes,and the six teachers were interviewed,which are used to investigate teachers' perceptions,performance,and the factors of influencing teachers' mediation in grammar teaching in junior middle school.The research questions are as follows:(1)What are teachers' perceptions on teachers' mediation in English grammar teaching in junior middle school?(2)What's performance of teachers' mediation in English grammar teaching in junior middle school?(3)What are the factors influencing teachers' mediation in English grammar teaching in junior middle school?It is shown that: From perceptions,teachers generally believe that it is necessary to be a mediator in English grammar teaching in junior middle school.Compared with ordinary schools,teachers from key schools emphasize on teachers' mediation in grammar teaching;and teachers attach much importance on teachers' mediation between learners and tasks.Specifically,teachers consider the most important mediation roles are guiding students to migrate grammar knowledge in materials,designing consolidated grammar tasks and offering concrete grammar instructions during activities.As for the performance aspect: Teacher as a mediator between learners and tasks in grammar teaching is frequently.It presents specifically from the following three dimensions:(1)Performance of teachers' mediation role played between learners and materials-when teachers integrate the materials,they sort out grammar difficulties in materials according to students' characteristics frequently,but less adjustment ofteaching material is made according to grammar contents,such as “deletion” “supplement” or“ordering”.In the process of presentation of bidirectional knowledge,teachers always take the teaching material as the “dialogue text” and carry out the “teacher-student dialogue”.However,it is seldom for students to gasp grammar learning strategies.When the grammar knowledge is migrated from materials,practicing actual dialogue with target grammar is the typical mediation for teachers,but less extension of materials and the grammar function are asked by teachers.(2)Performance of teachers' mediation role played between learners and tasks-When designing grammar tasks,teachers pay more attention to consolidation and application,but multi-level and interest of grammar tasks are ignored easily.(3)Last is for the mediator between learners and peers-teachers often gives specific grammar guidance among groups,nevertheless teachers rarely play mediation role on multiple evaluation after activities.As for the factors of influencing teachers' mediation: Teacher is as a mediator between learners and materials,tasks and peers,which is embodied in the three aspects: adjustment of teaching material,interest of grammar task,and peer-evaluation.Through the interview,the factors are as follows: Unfamiliarity of materials and learners,less cohesion between materials and learners' cognition;Stricture of grammar task design,lag of grammar task idea;unspecific evaluation,and unclear evaluation criterion.Based on the above factors,the thesis considered teacher' mediation role should be played in the followings ways: First aspect is to cultivate teachers' curriculum consciousness and build a bridge between students and grammar knowledge in materials;secondly,it' s vital to innovate grammar task design infiltrating moral education;last,improving evaluation feedback after group activities,which help students solve grammar questions with peers.It can be expected that students could learn the grammar autonomously and apply them into life.