ABSTRACT

As one of the most important part of teacher behaviors, teacher talk is used to impart knowledge and organize classroom teaching (Nunan, 1991). In junior high school, teacher talk plays a crucial role in English classroom teaching. It is not only a medium of teaching which represents the teaching method and implements the teaching plan, but also a target language which is an important source of language acquisition for students. 

In this paper, the author adopts the main research methods of classroom observation and questionnaire to analyze the teacher talk in three classes of one junior high English teacher. The author analyzes data from the amount of teacher talk, forms of teacher talk and turn-taking respectively. It is found that the teacher talk in English classroom of junior high school has the following characteristics:

1. The amount of teacher talk in junior high school English class takes much higher proportion than the amount of student talk.

2. Among the five forms (greeting words, instruction words, questioning, cohesion words, and feedback) of teacher talk in this study, instruction words take the highest proportion.

3. Turn-taking is distributed mostly from the teacher to students, rarely from students to the teacher, and the teacher always interrupts students when they talk. 

The findings of the study provide some implications for junior high school English teaching: the amount of student talk and teacher talk should be in balance. The teacher should notice that instruction words could lead to negative class environment and should give students more chances to display themselves.

Key words: teacher talk; junior high school English class; turn-taking

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One   INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two   LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 Difinition of Teacher Talk-3

2.2 Researches on Teacher Talk Abroad-3

2.3 Researches on Teacher Talk in China-5

2.4 Summary-6

Chapter Three   RESEARCH DESIGN-7

3.1 Research Questions-7

3.2 Research Subjects-7

3.3 Research Methods-8

3.4 Summary-8

Chapter Four     DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS-9

4.1 The Amount of Teacher Talk-9

4.2 The Forms of Teacher Talk-11

4.2.1 Greeting Words-11

4.2.2 Instruction Words-12

4.2.3 Questioning-13

4.2.4 Cohesion Words-15

4.2.5 Feedback-16

4.3 Turn-taking-18

4.4 Findings-18

Chapter Five   CONCLUSION-20

REFERENCES-22

Appendix I Example of the lesson transcription-24

Appendix II Questionnaire to the students-30