interest in learning and cognitive reaction and retain autonomic motivation of learning. They respectively demand more “praise of other” and more “dispraise of self”. The nature of them is to find more merits of others and more demerits of self. Just as maxim of tact and maxim of generosity, these two maxims are two aspects of a thing. So the author calls them maxim of approbation-modesty. Teachers should apply the maxim of approbation-modesty to the progress of college English teaching. The current idea of recognition education is exactly based on maxim of approbation-modesty. Nowadays college students have strong sense of self-respect and self-awareness. Generally speaking, as students, they long for approving and praising from teachers. That is to say, teachers had better praise their strong points and let them be more confident in different aspects. Teachers must avoid any devaluation that maybe cast a shadow in their life by all means. What?s more, it is known that teachers? reputation and authority are built up not by brag and boast, but genuine talent, sturdy knowledge and convincing morals. However, a few teachers like boasting of learning to highlight themselves in front of students which will cause antipathy. Therefore, in college English class teaching, teachers should observe modesty maxim to establish harmonious relationship between teachers and students for high teaching quality.
An ancient Greek philosopher said, it is more likely successful to make good use of motivated and persuasive words than legal restraint to train one?s morals. Obviously, the function of praise is great. The following example is typical for maxim of approbation. In two college English classes, faced with the same situation, two teachers adopt different teacher talk. After two poor students make their free talks which is used to practice oral English and capability of communication, teachers? comment are like this:
Example 7
(1) Your oral English is not good. You should practice more.
(2) Your speech gives us a particular aspect and shows your talent. You?ve
done a good job. I hope you can make greater progress next time.
17
(Zeng Yan：2010)
It is evident that (2) is better than (1). (1) is plain and harmful to the student?s enthusiasm, while (2) not only discusses the student?s speech to the full, but also gives him a fair praise that encourages him to work harder. For students, reasonable approbation is beneficial; for teachers, right approbation promotes teacher-student?s emotion and facilitates college English teaching.
As a saying goes, teaching others teaches oneself. Teachers also benefit from the teaching progress. Thereby teacher talk demonstrates teachers? attitude toward education and maxim of modesty in teacher talk reveals their characters. For instance, when a student makes a mistake because of misunderstanding what he learned, the teacher may say, “Well, maybe I didn?t make my point clear” or “Perhaps I forget to emphasize this point”. In this way, the teacher lowers the position but saves the student?s face. Sometimes teachers are asked questions that they can not give answers immediately for they do not know or answers are ambiguous. They had better say as follows:
“I?m sorry, but I can?t give you an exactly correct answer now. Please give me some time to check other books for the answer.”
Teachers with solid knowledge are appreciated, and teachers who are honest and modest, and admit their shortcoming bravely are respectable. To conform to maxim of modesty is to guarantee the smooth class teaching and to set an example for students. 3.3 Maxim of Agreement in College Teacher Talk
Maxim of agreement tries to minimize disagreement between self and other and maximize agreement. In college English classroom teaching, it means that teachers should pay attention to teacher talk as well as their and students? positions and try the best to minimizing the difference between teachers and students, in order to narrow down the gap between teachers and students and reach a harmonious situation. Liu Senlin(2007: 162) points out that agreement maxim is an effective pragmatic strategy
18
making use of the exaggeration of common points existing between self and other, and through expressing pity or partial agreement reduce disagreement. Just as Shakespeare said “There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people?s eyes”, different students have different ideas upon the same matter. During the college English teaching process, divergences between teachers and students are inevitable. When divergences appear, applying agreement maxim will be a wise choice. Teachers use it properly and lead students to seek common points while reserving difference so as to make sure effective communication and make the class stable. After students express their own opinions, teachers should not deny them just because the answers are not the one in reference books, but respect their face. Total negation will make students frustrated, even lose confidence.
College oral English class is a better place for students to practice speaking English. There will be a topic to discuss in the class and every student could have different ideas. The teacher should encourage them to stand up bravely and listen to what they say with patience. What the teacher definitely can not do is to look upon his or her thought as the only right one. Here are three responses from three different teachers. Let?s see how different they are.
Example 8
(1) Er, your answer is not the one I want, please sit down and think it twice. (2) I agree with parts of your explanation, but for the rest parts, I consider
them from another aspect. I would like to share with you that …
(3) It makes sense, but I think it?s better to understand from another aspect
because…What do you think of it?
(Lu Xiao：2011)
It can be seen that (2)(3) are easy to accept for students than(1). (1) is just a simple response and indicates the teacher is not satisfied with the student?s answer, which may make the student feel depressed. However, with (2)(3), teachers try to find something in common, which protect students? pride and their innovation ability.
19
Besides, students feel being understood and they will be willing to think about teachers? advice for the further thought.
To some extent, teachers should be skillful with agreement maxim to control class teaching. For example, smart personal pronouns such as “let?s” or “we”, could make students feel that the teacher stands by them. In all, as college English teachers, they are responsible for building up a friendly environment for students to learn English.
3.4 Maxim of Sympathy in College Teacher Talk
Maxim of sympathy is to minimize antipathy but maximize sympathy between self and other. Its essence is to diminish antagonism between speakers and listeners. Speakers are expected to have less disgusting and sick words and show more sympathy for listeners. This asks college students to treat students equally without discrimination, and judge them with their scores. Even though teachers are not contented with some students, they can?t show their complaints. Besides, teachers should put themselves in students? position and know students? feelings, which lets students be aware of teachers? attitude towards them and gives them a sense of safety. Students know that their teacher are together with them and support them, and then they become more confident than they were before.
Sympathy maxim could find expression in the starting and the ending of an English lesson. Here the starting of a lesson is the prelude before a class. When a college English teacher starts a lesson, he or she will say “Good morning, class/boys and girls!” which implies that the teacher and students have access to a normal social environment. Usually, when in class after a holiday or a weekend, the teacher will ask “How was your weekend?” or “How did you spend the National Day holiday?” These words seem casual, but create an equal teaching circumstance and remove students? worry and anxiety. The two sentences keep to maxim of sympathy. With these greetings, the teacher abandons hierarchy, which reduces the distance with students, increases uniform in emotion and makes classroom atmosphere more lively and free.
20
As it?s known, in China, a lot of college students, especially these students from countries just paid close attention to English words and grammars stiffly before they went to the college. Their oral English is pretty poor even they do not know how to express themselves in English. They are reluctant to associate with others. So teachers should make full use of sympathy to open their mouth. Just as a former Soviet Union educator used to say that compassion is sincere solicitude to people and the foundation of human happy feelings and this is the flesh and blood of education. Therefore, in college English class, teachers must avoid criticizing students rudely. Even they make some mistakes, teachers should spend more time thinking the reasons why they make mistakes, and give them more time to reflect on themselves.
For instance, in a college English debate class, students are asked to discuss a topic about family and career in English, but several students still use Chinese. The teacher has to remind them and ask with a smile, “Excuse me, what is the language that you are speaking?” The teacher does not tell students that they should speak in English directly. It is believed that when faced with the teacher?s smile, the students can understand the meaning and change their language. For another example, when some students? exam results are not good, teachers may comfort them with “Never mind, you can make it next time, I believe you”. By this way, they build a good rapport with students. Otherwise, blind criticism increases public antipathy.
21