Improving Teacher–Student Interaction in the English Classroom
Title
Improving teacher–student interaction in the English classroom
Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge all the students and the teachers from Newman Catholic College who helped and guided me to formulate my research topic, as well as, the process of carrying out the action plan.
Abstract
This paper offers an example of how to apply action research to improve and explore the patterns of teacher-student verbal communication that existed in my classroom. Pre and post survey and teacher observation were used to record changes in the classroom interaction during the one-month study period.
The purpose of this research was to examine the existences of teacher-student verbal communication in my classroom and explore the reinforcing strategies that can stimulate students’ involvement in the classroom, as well as, create a more interactive teacher-students environment in one on my Secondary 4 class. In this study, I investigated the reason behind the “silent” during the teacher-student verbal interaction and how creating a safe language learning environment can fuel student’s motivation in raising their voice in the classroom.
Introduction
Teaching English as a second language in Hong Kong is both challenging and exciting. Students are generally eager to learn. However, one of the frustrations that teachers often complain about is students' reluctance to adopt active speech roles in classrooms, where students are unresponsive and avoid any interactions with the teacher in the classroom. This is especially true when a teacher seeks interaction in the teacher-class dialog, such as asking questions to the class as a whole and expecting students to respond and give feedback. There will be times when no student can answer a teacher’s question, but often students do not answer even if they understand the question, know the answer and are able to produce the answer, furthermore, students are often reluctant to give feedback or ask a question in the class.
School and
Improving teacher–student interaction in the English classroom
Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge all the students and the teachers from Newman Catholic College who helped and guided me to formulate my research topic, as well as, the process of carrying out the action plan.
Abstract
This paper offers an example of how to apply action research to improve and explore the patterns of teacher-student verbal communication that existed in my classroom. Pre and post survey and teacher observation were used to record changes in the classroom interaction during the one-month study period.
The purpose of this research was to examine the existences of teacher-student verbal communication in my classroom and explore the reinforcing strategies that can stimulate students’ involvement in the classroom, as well as, create a more interactive teacher-students environment in one on my Secondary 4 class. In this study, I investigated the reason behind the “silent” during the teacher-student verbal interaction and how creating a safe language learning environment can fuel student’s motivation in raising their voice in the classroom.
Introduction
Teaching English as a second language in Hong Kong is both challenging and exciting. Students are generally eager to learn. However, one of the frustrations that teachers often complain about is students' reluctance to adopt active speech roles in classrooms, where students are unresponsive and avoid any interactions with the teacher in the classroom. This is especially true when a teacher seeks interaction in the teacher-class dialog, such as asking questions to the class as a whole and expecting students to respond and give feedback. There will be times when no student can answer a teacher’s question, but often students do not answer even if they understand the question, know the answer and are able to produce the answer, furthermore, students are often reluctant to give feedback or ask a question in the class.
School and
Bibliography: Amidon, J. & Flanders, N. (1971). The role of the teacher in the classroom (rev. ed.). St. Paul, MN: Association for Productive Teaching. Bloom, B. (1976). Human characteristics and school learning. New York: McGrew-Hill. Cullen, R. (1998). Teacher talk and the classroom context. ELT Journal, 52(3), 179-187 Helgesen, M Jarvis, J. & M. Robinson. (1997). Analyzing educational discourse: an exploratory study of teacher response and support to pupil’s learning. Applied Linguistics 18(2):212-228. McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse analysis for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.