English Classroom Interaction in Middle School
Abstract：In China, the realization of the English teaching goal depends mainly on classroom instruction.
The ultimate aim of English teaching is to cultivate students' ability of using English. English classroom has special features, because it is the most important place for many students to learn English. Language course is a course which is more practical, so good classroom interaction is the best opportunity for students to practice using language, that is to say, classroom interaction is the real process of language classroom teaching. In the process of teaching, a good teacher-learner relationship and a comfortable interactive environment are helpful to the language learning. However, the present language teaching is far from realizing this goal, the effect of classroom interaction is not so ideal. Therefore, how to make the classroom interaction function effectively is a very big problem that needs to be solved. In this essay, the author analyzes the improper interact phenomenon and gives some suggestions on the strategies for the significant classroom interaction.
Key Words：English language teaching; classroom interaction; strategies
Contents
1. Introduction...............................................................................................................3 2. Improper English classroom interactions in middle school.....................................4 2.1 Teacher-centered classroom............................................................................4 2.2 Aimless classroom interaction............................................................................5 2.3 The disordered classroom interaction.................................................................5 2.4 Imbalanced teacher-students interaction and students-students interaction.......6 3. Possible strategies for meaningful classroom interaction.........................................7 3.1Curiosity leading strategy.....................................................................................7 3.2 Cooperation strategies.........................................................................................7 3.2.1. Pair work performance.............................................................................8 3.2.2 Group discussion........................................................................................8 3.2.3 Role-play....................................................................................................9 3.3 Question-raising strategy....................................................................................9 3.4 Resource-utilizing strategies..............................................................................10 3.4.1 Newspapers and magazines.......................................................................10 3.4.2 Videos and movies.....................................................................................11 4. Conclusion...............................................................................................................11 5. Acknowledgement...................................................................................................13 6. References................................................................................................................14
1. Introduction
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With the entry into WTO and its successful holding for the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, China is in urgent need of many different kinds of professionals with a superior level of English language proficiency. English as an important international language has gained increasing attention from Chinese educational institutions of different levels over more than two decades. So how to let the students learn English well is to become one of the most important jobs in our country at present. As far as most of Chinese students are concerned, classroom learning is still the main channel for them to receive language input, so how to improve classroom teaching quality becomes so important. However, many middle school students show no interest in English. They lack interaction and need the teacher’s help to push them forward. Interaction is the key to student learning. It is so vital for successful teaching that teachers should try to understand interaction theories and then convert them into coherent programs of action that fit their existing routines. Differing from the traditional English teaching methods, in the interactive classroom, the teachers should change their original roles so as to create an environment to promote interaction in English classroom. The interaction does really benefit the English teaching and learning. Thus \should teach the language in the way it is used in the real world\conditions in which learning can take place. And it is true that \is a partnership between teacher and students\(Harmer, 2000). There are many reasons for using activities which promote classroom interaction. First of all, teachers can make the full use of the most valuable resource—the students themselves. Not only are the students ready and willing to work together but they tend to learn better in a comfortable environment. Secondly, it seems that the students only exchange information on a specific topic, but while doing this, the students will focus on what they are saying rather than how they are saying it. That will help them to dispel any self-consciousness or inhibitions they might have in speaking English. Thirdly, the students may be more interested in the new words and phrases offered by movies, videos, etc. rather than the words and phrases they have learned in the textbooks. So when
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scenarios are set in the classroom, the related interaction will help the students to enlarge their vocabularies and broaden their minds by exchanging information. In addition, it is very motivating for students to realize that, even at this early stage, they can communicate information successfully in English. It promotes a tremendous feeling of achievement and gives them immediate confirmation that they are making progress. Therefore, it is necessary and important to promote interaction in English classroom.
2 Improper English classroom interactions in middle school
2.1 Teacher-centered classroom
In traditional English teaching methods, teachers strictly control over the class, while students have little chance to practice English. In such kind of teaching classroom, \too much TTT(teacher talking time) and not enough STT\(student talking time)( Harmer, 2000) , and the whole class time is taken up by the teacher’s presentation and explanations, there is still a Speech Supremacy phenomenon, while the students are just given few chances to answer the nominated questions. In English classroom teaching, some know how to attract the attention of the teacher; and some others know how to make others speak out their ideas and get help, while the others are keeping silence. The weak students express their opinions only to their teachers' questions. They dare not to express their feelings and ideas positively and freely. So little by little, they find that there exits some obstacles when they want to communicate with others in English. Therefore, they are unwilling to speak English for they think their English is poor, and \lose their face\teaching, the main practitioner is the teacher, not the students. And the students play the passive roles while the teacher plays the active role. Under such kind of condition, the students' interests can not be aroused and they will feel it tedious in classroom. As a result, the teaching aims can not be achieved as the original purpose.
2.2 Aimless classroom interaction
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At present time, on English classroom in middle school, we can find that there are lots of
classroom interactions. Such as teacher asks questions and students respond to it, activities between students and teacher or between students. The teacher raises the questions constantly, and students answer the questions immediately without any thinking. And among these questions, many questions are valueless for learning, while some questions are unfit for the learners’ level. In such teaching model, the teacher just focus on the interaction forms rather than the interaction contents. Under that situation, the students have achieved a little, they become the sacrificial lamb of teaching. There is no doubt that students should be active in classroom teaching, but here, the aim is not obvious and it may make the interaction meaningless. As for middle school students, their thoughts and mode of thinking are independent. Very often they are not satisfied with teacher’s requests or behavior. So before the class, the teacher should think over the feasibility of the interactive activities, and take the students into consideration. If the students can not involve in, the interaction will be meaningless or may take some side-effect.
2.3 The disordered classroom interaction
English as a foreign language, which is not familiar to middle school students. For most
of them don’t know what the teacher is speaking in class except those who are good at or interested in English. \together so that learning can be more effective \，2006).So the teacher would like to take some actions to change the situation. As for this purpose, the disordered classroom interactions take place. Such as asking students to read some new words or a paragraph of the text, etc. In this section, some students may pay more attention to the teacher because they are afraid of been chosen. In middle school, students do not like that kind of teaching method because they want to attach something they are interested in. Usually, in ordered to arouse students’ interest, teacher may ask them to take part in some activities which he/she doesn’t think about whether the activities are proper or not. In some language classroom, students walk around the classroom freely and often make some noise, while the teacher just be an
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