ABSTRACT

EFL classroom is the main form for Chinese students to learn English and communicate with others in English. And English teachers in EFL classroom play an important role in students’ English learning and the development of English communication ability. Teacher talk runs through the whole classroom, which is not only teachers’ instrument to carry out teaching plan but also students’ important language input source. Based on Krashen’s comprehensible input and Long’s negotiation of meaning, this study aims at pointing out the characteristics and problems of teacher and finding out some suggestions to improve the current situation. 

By use of questionnaire and classroom observation, the thesis analyzes teacher talk from the quantity and quality of teacher talk, teacher’s question and teacher’s feedback. From the research we have the following findings: (1) Teacher talk is the dominant position in class talk and teachers’ easy words are unable to attract students’ interest; (2) In the classroom, display questions are obviously over referential questions. Most teachers assign students to answer questions or ask students to answer questions together. And students are given little time to think. (3) Teachers are inclined to use simple and short words to praise students and prefer to provide a clue and expect self-repair when they treat students’ errors.

Key words: English teaching; teacher talk; senior high school

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 Teacher Talk-3

2.1.1 Definitions of Teacher Talk-3

2.1.2 Categories and functions of Teacher Talk-3

2.1.3 Characteristics of Teacher Talk-4

2.2 Related Studies on Teacher Talk-4

2.2.1 The quantity and quality of Teacher Talk-4

2.2.2 Questions of Teacher Talk-5

2.2.3 Feedback of Teacher Talk-6

Chapter Three THEORICAL BACKGROUND-7

3.1 Input Hypothesis-7

3.2 Interaction Hypothesis-7

Chapter Four RESEARCH DESIGN-9

4.1 Research Questions-9

4.2 Methodology-9

4.2.1 Questionnaire-9

4.2.2 Classroom observation-10

4.3 Data Collection-10

Chapter Five DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION-11

5.1 The Quantity of Teacher Talk-11

5.2 The Quality of Teacher Talk-12

5.3 Teacher’s Questions-13

5.4 Teacher’s Feedback-15

5.5 Pedagogical Implications-17

Chapter Six CONCLUSION-19

REFERENCES-20

APPENDIX-22