A Comparative Study Of Teacher Talk Between Regular Classes And Demo Classes In Junior High School English Teaching

The classroom is an important place for learning English and teacher talk dominates English classroom teaching.It is not only a tool for teachers to plan their teaching,but also an important medium for students to acquire language.Therefore,the study of teacher talk has attracted the interest of many scholars.However,most of the comparative studies on teacher talk have focused on the high school and university levels,while few studies have been conducted on teacher talk at the junior secondary level.Moreover,most previous studies have compared the classroom talk of novice teachers with those of expert teachers,and little attention has been paid to the comparison of teacher talk in demo classes with that in regular classes.However,in teaching practice and teaching research activities,it can be found that students’ participation was high in demo classes and low in regular classes,and different teacher talk was one of the most important factors leading to different levels of student participation.Therefore,a comparative study of teacher talk in regular classes and demo classes can not only draw differences between the teacher talk in the two kinds of classes,but also provide a reference for improving the quality of the classroom talk of junior high school English teachers in regular classes.The aim of this study is to explore the comparison of the talk of teachers between regular and demo classes and to make certain suggestions on improving the quality of teacher talk of regular classes.The specific research questions include:(1)What are the differences between the types and directions of teachers’ questioning in regular classes and demo classes in junior high school English classrooms?(2)What are the differences between teachers’ feedback in regular classes and demo classes in junior high school English classrooms?(3)What are the possible reasons for the differences of teacher talk between regular classes and demo classes in junior high school English classrooms?This study uses qualitative research method,which includes classroom observation and interview.The subjects of this study are four English teachers from a junior high school in Nanjing,Jiangsu Province and four English teachers who are the winners from junior high school high-quality English classes in Jiangsu Province in 2019.In the study,the four English teachers from a junior high school in Nanjing,Jiangsu Province were the subjects of the regular class and the four English teachers from the quality class in Jiangsu Province were the subjects of the demo class.To control for certain variables,the classes selected were all reading classes.To better analyze the possible reasons for the differences of teacher talk between regular class teachers and demo class teachers,the researcher also initiates an interview with the four English teachers from a junior high school in Nanjing,Jiangsu Province after the research,and then conducting a comparative analysis.The main findings of this study are as follows:(1)The differences in the types of questions asked by teachers in junior high school English regular classes and demo classes are that teachers in regular classes use more display questions,while teachers in demo classes ask more referential questions.In terms of the direction of questioning,teachers in regular classes prefer nominating and collective answering,while teachers in demo classes prefer voluntary answering.(2)Both teachers of the regular and demo English classes give positive feedback,but they differ in the way they give feedback.Teachers in the regular class often use simple,general praise;whereas teachers in the demo class adopt a variety of positive feedback methods,such as praising plus repeating students’ answers;praising plus follow-up questions;and praising plus evaluating the questions answered by students.Teachers in both types of classrooms use less negative feedback;teachers in regular classes give more direct negative feedback,usually by inviting other students to answer,while teachers in demo classes are more euphemistic,and they usually guide students to self-correct.(3)The possible reasons for the differences of teacher talk between regular classes and demo classes in junior high school English classrooms are as follows:teacher-centered teaching idea;result-oriented evaluation system;students’ unwillingness to share ideas with age growing and so on.Based on the results of the above study,it can be drawn that there are some differences in the characteristics of teachers’ questioning and teachers’ feedback between regular classes and demo classes.Demo classes have more classroom interaction and student output,and the classroom teaching atmosphere is more harmonious,so teachers should constantly update their ideas and improve the quality of teacher talk,so as to improve the quality of teaching.