The Application of Classroom Talk in English Teaching

Teacher’s talk

Tough （1979： 80） emphasizes the importance of teachers’ dialogue in the children language learning classroom through some examples： teachers use language to organize students’ activities， facilitate comprehension of knowledge， communicate with students， and give some comments on their performance. Besides， in the words of Breines （2002： 213）， teacher talk is also extremely significant in the second language learning classroom， which provides assistance for L2 students in sociocultural and cognitive learning， because language is the source of effective input for L2 students. Ellis （1994： 582） lists some typical features of teacher talk in second language classroom. For example， （1） teachers tend to slow down the speed of the speech and wait for a longer time between each sentence when they talk to the L2 students. （2） Teachers would like to use the simple and short sentences while communicating with the less capable learners； （3） Teachers usually repeat their words for several times， in particular for skilled learners. From above， we can apparently notice that teachers are going to adapt the way of talking according to L2 student’s level in order to make them understand distinctly. There is no denying that sometimes students may give up learning once they could not catch up with teachers， which further causes gap between the capable students and the non-skilled ones. That is to say， the students who can competently understand teachers’ words grasp the knowledge key points， whereas the confused learners are lagging far behind.

Input in second language classroom

Teacher’s input at a certain degree of difficulty is vital in second language classroom （Mitchell & Myles， 1998： 126）， which promotes and encourages students to learn the target language. Krashen （1985： 2， cited in Mitchell & Myles， 1998： 126） also insists that students will learn the grammar independently if teacher’s input is comprehensible. In other words， students learn grammar unconsciously from what the teacher has said， and they will have a deep impression on the grammar because they learn it in the real context， not merely from their textbooks. No matter it is a teacher-fronted class or learner-dominated one， teachers have to use the language to in a variety of ways. As to learners， they unconsciously imitate teachers’ talk during the whole classroom time. Initially， they keep those words or sentences in mind， and later on they repeat and try to use them. As time goes by， they may adopt that language as their own.

Teacher’s questions

According to Mercer （2002： 160， cited in， Daniels， 2001： 123）， ‘the cycle of questions-and-answers is commonly exploited by teachers， and the purpose is not only to examine the students’ comprehension， but also instruct learners to develop further’. In other words， teachers check students’ comprehensible levels by enquiring questions， which is actually considered as a learning impetus for the L2 students， since once students have no idea of solving the problems， they will be more curious about them. For example， once L2 learners do not know how to reply the questions in the target language or how to express one word， most of them are about to explore the solutions. As Nizegorodcew （2007：60-61） demonstrated， there are different methods of questioning by teachers， but the main purpose is to give L2 students positive reflections and enhance their confidence. For instance， students will have a sense of achievement if they could answer the questions correctly； teachers repeat students’ answers in order to consolidate their impression on the right responses. In the view of Nizegorodcew （2007： 48）， teachers turn to use the L1 when teaching the grammar and vocabulary in second language classroom in order to let all the students at the diverse levels understand their meaning. In addition， Krol （2004， cited in， Nizegorodcew， 2007： 48） elaborates on the importance of both using the L1 and the L2 as one teacher talk technique， since the L1 makes student clear about the meaning， while L2 provides learners with useful language input. Teachers translate the questions from L2 into the L1 in hopes of facilitating the less capable learners to fully comprehend. However， all teachers’ questioning approach is not only aim at making them understand， but also promote the students to answer.

For fear of making mistakes， students sometimes tend to express their meaning in short L2 sentences， and they only use the words or sentences that are very sure， especially for shy students. Accordingly， teachers need to motivate the students to extend their speech in the target language.

References：

[1]Tough，J.（1979）.Talk for Teaching and Learning.Plymouth： Drake Educational Associates.

[2]Breines，H.T.（2002）.The Role of Teacher-Talk in a Dual Language Immersion Third Grade Classroom.Bilingual Research Journal.26（2），213-235.

[3]Ellis，R.（1994）.The Study of Second Language Acquistion.Oxford：Oxford University Press.