Keywords English teachers' classroom environment, features of teachers' discourse function
China Library Classification. H3 19.3 Document ID A1674-4810 (2012) 02-0026-02.
introduce
Teacher talk is a language with special functions and characteristics used by teachers in the teaching process. In classroom teaching, teachers mainly use words or language to impart knowledge, answer questions and arrange teaching activities, so they have certain authority and majesty. Teacher talk in English classroom refers to the language used by teachers to organize and engage in teaching in the classroom of second language or foreign language learning. Noonan pointed out: "Teacher talk is very important to the organization of classroom teaching and students' language acquisition, not only because the teaching content can only achieve the ideal teaching effect through the perfect organization and teaching of teacher talk, but also because it is another important way for students to input language as a demonstration of the use of the target language. "The quantity and quality of teacher talk will affect or even determine the success or failure of classroom teaching (Hakansson, 1986). As a special subject, English teachers' classroom discourse naturally shows different functions and characteristics from other subjects.
Second, the function of English teachers' classroom discourse
The discourse functions of English teachers in the classroom can be summarized as: teaching function, interaction function, evaluation function and feedback function.
1. Teaching function
One of the most obvious features of teaching function is that teachers impart knowledge to students through their own language, which exerts a subtle influence on students' language behavior. Teacher talk (TT) is the language used by teachers to organize teaching and impart knowledge in the second language learning class. In foreign language teaching, language is both the purpose of learning and the medium of teaching. In recent 20 years, linguists have paid more and more attention to learners' success in class, which largely depends on the language used by teachers and the interaction between teachers and students.
Most of the languages used by English teachers in the classroom teach students a knowledge point or grammar point directly or indirectly in some way. For example, after the text of cultural shock is finished, teachers often ask: What is cultural shock? On the basis of summarizing the students' views, the teacher may say: cultural shock comes from cross-cultural communication. When a person has to work in a brand-new environment, conflicts between different cultures will occur, which can be described as anxiety and surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, emotional pain and other feelings. In fact, this passage tells students the definition of cultural shock and achieves the purpose of teaching.
Besides, in class, if the teacher wants to ask the students questions, he may use: Can you ...? After using it more, students can't help but remember this sentence pattern and understand that it is often used when asking for other people's opinions or inviting someone to do something. In addition, this sentence is a general interrogative sentence, which needs to be raised in tone, so that students can not only know its usage, but also understand its intonation, which has played a good teaching demonstration role.
2. Interactive function
English teaching is inseparable from interaction. Without interaction, the classroom atmosphere is dull and inactive, and students' oral English and knowledge level can not be fully exerted.
Teachers mainly use monologue language when explaining texts or knowledge points. This language requires a high degree of consistency, completeness and accuracy. However, when teachers organize questions and answers in class, they should use conversational language to facilitate the interaction between teachers and students. For example, teachers ask questions, and students' answers are one of the interactive ways.
After understanding why we have to venture into space. Then there is a question: what is the primary goal of space exploration? Students can find answers by reviewing texts or answering questions according to their basic common sense, which can form interaction and help to improve students' learning enthusiasm.
3. Evaluation function
Teachers' evaluation mainly includes the evaluation of a short essay or text, as well as the evaluation of students' opinions and homework. For example, an open question, what do you think of the Internet? Obviously, there is no fixed answer to this question. The internet has both advantages and disadvantages for us. We can talk about advantages, disadvantages or both, but we must prove ourselves.
This kind of problem has great flexibility. When evaluating, English teachers should point out the advantages and disadvantages of students' speeches, let students know their own shortcomings, and then correct and make progress.
4. Feedback function
Another function of teacher talk is to give feedback to students' classroom performance. Without feedback, teachers don't know the advantages and disadvantages of their own teaching, and they don't know whether their teaching methods are suitable for students, which is not conducive to the improvement of teaching methods and teaching quality.
There are many ways of feedback, which can be positive or negative; It can be aimed at the content and form of students' discourse. Practice has proved that positive feedback is more helpful to improve learners' behavior and learning methods than negative feedback. After students finish reading words or answering questions, they should try to use a series of degree words, such as good, very good, excellent, great ... to enhance students' enthusiasm for learning and improve their self-confidence.
Third, the characteristics of English teachers' classroom discourse
English teachers' classroom discourse has dual characteristics, namely, * * * and individuality, that is to say, in addition to the similarities with teachers' discourse in other disciplines, it also has its particularity and uniqueness.
1.* * *
English teachers' words, like those of other subjects, have three characteristics: a large amount of information, a large space for thinking development and conciseness.
The teacher's words contain a lot of knowledge. In class, teachers should not only teach students the knowledge in books, but also supplement some relevant extracurricular knowledge to broaden students' horizons. Therefore, teachers must impart the most abundant information to students in the most limited time. When talking about the differences between Chinese and western food cultures, teachers should not only stay in the aspect of eating habits, but also introduce some other aspects that can reflect the differences between Chinese and western cultures, such as ways of thinking, greetings, farewell and so on. So as to increase the amount of information in the classroom and improve the teaching quality and efficiency.
In addition to imparting knowledge to students, it is more important for teachers' words to have room for thinking extension, that is, on the basis of the original knowledge points, to stimulate students' association and imagination and open up space. For example, an open question mentioned above, what do you think of the Internet? It is an example of expanding students' thinking space. On the question of whether the network is good or bad, students can play their own association and imagination and expand their thinking space.
Conciseness is also a form and expression of teachers' discourse. Because classroom teaching is carried out within the specified time, teachers must use the most concise language to clarify knowledge. If the teacher's words exceed the students' ability, they will feel mentally tired, distracted and even lose their confidence in learning.
2. Personality
In the process of foreign language teaching, teacher talk is mainly organized in the form of target language, so compared with other subjects, English teachers' classroom talk has its own characteristics. After summarizing the research results of teacher talk in the second language classroom, Chauderon proposed that the characteristics of teacher talk are mainly manifested in the following aspects:
First, the teacher should speak slowly, because the target of English teachers is the students in the class. They use bilingualism, mostly in the target language. Therefore, in order to make the whole class learn well, we must slow down.
Second, the teacher should repeat more. Repetition can increase students' language input, help to form a sense of language in students' minds and improve students' efficiency in doing problems. At the same time, it can also make more students understand and master the classroom content.
Third, the pause of the speaker's thought should be frequent and long. There is a huge difference between the target language and the mother tongue. Students have no foreign language learning environment and may think slowly, so English teachers must pause for a long time.
Fourth, clear pronunciation is the key to English classroom teaching, and it is also directly related to whether students can understand it. If the pronunciation is ambiguous, it will lose the meaning of English teaching.
Fifth, the choice of vocabulary should be simpler. In the process of English teaching, teachers use spoken English. Choosing simple vocabulary can make students understand the teacher's meaning more easily and improve their confidence in learning English.
Sixth, the degree of subordination is low (that is, less subordinate sentences are used), and excessive use of complex sentences or complex sentences will make students feel bored, which is not conducive to students' mastery of knowledge and improvement of their ability.
Four conclusions
The teacher's words largely determine the efficiency of students' listening and learning in class. Only a well-designed and well-prepared teacher language with its own personality can make vague things clearer, boring things more vivid, stimulate students' thinking, exploration and pursuit, and make students' thinking active forever and their brains more flexible.
In a word, English teachers' classroom discourse is different from daily conversation, drama language and teachers' discourse in other disciplines. Therefore, attaching importance to the research and exploration of teachers' discourse is conducive to teaching activities and improving students' learning efficiency.
refer to
Chauderon. Second language classroom: teaching research [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988
[2] David Noonan. Language teaching method: teaching materials for teachers [M]. Englewood Cliff. New Jersey: PrenticeHall Company, 199 1
[3] Gillian Brown & George Yule. Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000
[4] Richards, J. & Lockhart. Reflective teaching in the second language classroom [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996
[5] Zhao Xiaohong. Investigation and Analysis of Teachers' Discourse in College English Reading Class [J]. Foreign Language Circle, 1998(2)
[6] Zhou Xing, Zhou Yun. Investigation and Analysis of Teachers' Discourse in College English Classroom [J]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 2002( 1)
[Editor: Li]