TeacherTalkandEnglishTeaching

,,,,:Johncanbereliedon.Heeatsnofishandplaysthegame.,,eatsnofishplaythegameHecanbereliedon,toeatnofishtoplaythegametoeatnofish,,,,toeatnofishtoplaythegame,toplayfair(),,,,,,,,-,,,:1.,,:(1);(2);(3);(4);(5);(6);(7),,,,2.,,,,,,,,,,,,,TeacherTalkandEnglishTeachingSONGYin2xiu(DepartmentofEnglish,WeinanTeachersCollege,WeinanShaanxi714000)Abstracts:TeachertalkisofcrucialsignificancetoEnglishteaching.Thispaperdiscussesthetypesofteachertalk,analyzesthevariousfactorsaffectingteachertalk,andputsforwardsomesuggestionstomaketeachertalkmoreeffectiveandefficient.Keywords:teachertalk;EnglishteachingCLCnumber:H319Document:AArticle:10095128(2002)S0004502Teachertalk(TT)isofcrucialsignificanceforallclassrooms,especiallytheEnglishlanguageteachingclassroom,becauseinEnglishteaching(ET),languageisnotonlytheobjectiveofthecourse,butalsothemediatoachievetheobjective.Boththeorga2nizationoftheclassroomandtheprocessofacquisitionareachievedthroughTT.WhetheranETclassissuccessfulornotdependstoalargedegreeontheeffectivenessofTT.TypesofteachertalkinEnglishteaching(1)ClassroomEnglish.OneoftheteachersrolesintheETclassroomistobeanorganizer.Whetherheisaqualifiedorganiz2erornotdetermineswhetherhisteachingwillbesuccessfulornot.Consequently,apartoftheTTintheETclassroomisrelatedtoclassroommanagement,suchasgreeting,dividingthestudentsintogroupsorpairs,etc.(2)TeacherfeedbackEnglish.AteachertalksintheETclassroominordertoinstruct,tomanagetheclassroom,andtogivefeedbackonthestudentsperformanceaswell.FeedbackgiventhroughTTcanbeclassifiedaspositiveornegative.Positivefeedbackletsstudentsknowthattheyhaveperformedcorrectlyandincreasestheirmotivationthroughpraise.Itsmuchmoreeffectivethannegativefeedbackinchangingthestudentsbehavior.However,fewteacherscanprovidefeedbackfairly.Whenhigh2achievingstudentsgavearightanswer,they2002(7)Vol.17S©1995-2006TsinghuaTongfangOpticalDiscCo.,Ltd.Allrightsreserved.werepraised12percentofthetime.Low2achievingstudentswerepraisedonly6percentofthetimefollowingarightanswerSimilarly,lowachieversweremorelikelytobecriticizedforwronganswers.Theywerecriticized18percentofthetime,andhighachieverswerecriticized6percentofthetime.Furthermore,teachersweretwiceaslikelytostaywithhigh2achievingstudents(repeatthequestion,provideaclue,askaquestion)whentheymakenoresponse,saidIdontknow,oransweredincorrectly.(Good&Brophy,1987)(3)Askingquestions.AnothertypeofTTisaskingquestions.Thisisafundamentallinkoftheteach2ingprocess.Whetheraquestionisaskedproperlydependsonlotsoffactors,suchaswhentoaskaquestion,whomtoaskthequestionto,whattypeofquestiontoask,etc.Unfortunately,manyineffectivequestionsareaskedinEnglishclass,suchasfactu2alquestions,closedquestionsanddisplayingquestions.Afteraskingaquestion,itisimportantfortheteachertowaitforamo2ment.Duringthewaittime,TTplaysaveryimportantrole.Howlongtheteacherwaitsafteraskingaquestiondeterminestosomeextenthowwellthestudentsrespond.(4)Code2switchingbetweenthefirstandtargetlanguage.MostEnglishteachersinChinaspeakChineseastheirmothertongueandEnglishistheirtargetlanguage.Itsquitecommonfortheseteacherstoswitchtheirspeechbetweenthefirstandtargetlanguage.Itsimportantforteacherstobeawareofhisowncode2switchingandanalyzesitsappropriateness.Otherwise,blindcode2switchingwillhindertheprogressthelearnerscanmake.FactorsaffectingTTTherearedifferentfactorsaffectingTT,suchasstudentsbeliefs,studentslinguisticcompetence,sizeofclassesandfactorsconcernedwiththeteacher,thatis,teachersbeliefs,theapproachestheteacheradopts,thetypeofclassestheteachergivesandteacherspersonalities.WhatthestudentsbelieveinevitablyaffectsTT.InChina,studentsareaccustomedtotheenormousamountofTTinallkindsofclasses.OnlythroughdominatingTT,thestudentsbelieve,cantheylearnsomethingofvalue.Otherwise,theymayre2gardtheirteachersaslazyornotperformingtheirduties.ThisisthecaseintheEnglishclassroom.Ontheotherhand,studentslinguisticcompetenceaffectstheirresponses,andtheirresponsesaffectTTinavarietyofways.Forinstance,theadvancedstu2dentscantalkinEnglishquitesmoothly,andtheycangivelongerandmorecomplexresponses.ThiscanaffecttheamountofTT.Thirdly,TTinaclassof20studentsdiffersfromthatinaclassof100.Teachersmaytalklessaboutclassroommanagementandprovidemoreinputinalargeclass.WhatevertheteacherbelievesaffectshisbehaviorandTT.Ifateacherbelievesthatagoodteachershouldbetalkativeandeloquent,probablyhellbecomeanexcessivetalkerintheEnglishclassroom.Ifateacherbelievesthatagoodteacherisonewhoneversaysmorethanwhatheshouldsay,heslikelytotalkmuchless.Inaddition,theapproachestheteacheradoptsandthetypeofclassestheteachergivesalsoaffectsTT.AteacherwhoadoptstheCommunicativeApproachislikelytospeaklessthanhiscounterpartwhoadoptstheGrammar2Translationmethod.AteacherusingtheTeacher2centeredapproachmostprobablytalksmuchmorethanoneusingStudent2CenteredApproach.Ateachergivinganintensivereadingspeaksmuchmorethanateachergivinganoralclass.Thisisdeterminedbythenaturetheclass.HowtomakeTTmoreeffectiveandefficient(1)Changepeoplesbeliefs.Peoplelearnanewlanguagebyusingthelanguage,notbytheteacherteachingit.Sostudentsmustde