Comparative Study On English Teaching Behaviors Of Junior Middle School Teachers Between Demo Class And Regular Class

The implementation of Senior Middle School English Curriculum Standards puts higher requirements for teachers’ teaching behaviors.Recently,studies on teachers’ teaching behaviors focus on two aspects: studies on the effectiveness of teaching behaviors,and comparative studies between novice and expert teachers.Besides,few studies are conducted to put more emphasis on English demo classes and regular classes.Therefore,on the basis of the Behaviorism Theory and Constructivist Learning Theory,this thesis aims to answer three questions in terms of speech presentation behaviors,text presentation behaviors and interactive behaviors:1.What are the differences on teaching behaviors between demo class and regular class in junior middle school?2.What are the factors that might be affecting these different teaching behaviors?3.What are the teachers’ teaching behaviors which should be avoided in regular classes because of their negative effects in teaching?20 lessons in demo class and regular class are observed from a key junior middle school in Hefei,Anhui Province.Four lessons from each kinds of class are selected as research cases.The 10-minutes interview with teachers is conducted after each lesson.Teachers’ teaching behaviors selected for observation are adapted from Instructional Theory by Shi Liangfang and Cui Yunhuo.Classroom observation worksheets are adopted with some slight modifications on basis of observation worksheet of Minnesota University and the questioning behaviors proposed by Tang Weihai(shown in the appendix I and II).At last,the data collected from the comparative studies between demo class and regular class are presented,and the statistical findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of Behaviorism Theory and Constructivist Learning Theory.Major findings are summed up as follows:As for speech presentation behaviors,teachers in demo classes present knowledge more logically than those teachers in regular classes to help students construct their own knowledge,especially in lead-in steps.As for text presentation behaviors,teachers in demo classes make better use of blackboard design structures when reinforcing the students’ knowledge,whereas teachers in regular classes often ignore the importance of them,which usually leads to the disorganized presentation of text.In terms of interactive behaviors,teachers in demo classes are more effective in using different questioning strategies.They often take students’ needs into consideration.In regular classes,teachers ask a large number of questions which are mostly at low cognitive levels.Additionally,the waiting time usually is not long enough and the teacher’ s feedback is not as effective as those given in demo classes.The implications of this research are:(1)Teachers should improve their speech expression skills.(2)Teachers should improve their text presentational skills on blackboard to help their students develop critical thinking.(3)The cognitive level of the questions asked in classes should be improved,and teachers should improve their questioning strategies and give more positive feedback to their students.