论中学英语教师课堂用语的有效性(一)

论中学英语教师课堂用语的有效性
厦门外国语学校  吕妹仔
【Abstract】 In secondary schools, English teachers’ classroom language takes an important role in students’ language learning. There is plenty of room for improvement in teachers’ classroom performance, as most of them are suffering from language inadequacy. Ideal teachers are supposed to make good use of their voices to stimulate students to learn as well as have an adequate command of the language they are teaching. Great attention should be attached to the creativity and flexibility in teachers’ language. Besides, English teachers are expected to seize every chance to have natural communication with students in the target language. The quality of English teachers’ classroom language, to a large extent, determines how a lesson can progress and how effectively the students can learn the target language. It can be believed that a pleasant and effective classroom environment will be set up through English teachers’ efforts.
【Key Words】 classroom language; effectiveness; real communication; language learning；Input Hypothesis; classroom environment
 【摘  要】 英语教师的课堂用语对学生的语言习得起着至关重要的作用。因为目前大多数教师存在着语言能力的.不足，所以教师在课堂用语方面还有很大的空间以待提高。优秀的教师应当很好地利用他们的嗓音去调动学生的学习激情，应当在所教授的语言方面有扎实的功底。语言的创新和多样性应当为教师所重视。此外，英语教师应当在课堂上把握任何一次同学生用目标语言交流的机会。英语教师课堂用语的质量高低在很大程度上决定了一堂课的进展情况，决定了学生们能否有效地掌握目标语言。我们有理由相信，通过英语教师的努力，学生们将拥有一个愉悦且有效的课堂语言环境。
 【关键词】 课堂用语; 有效性; 真实交流; 语言习得; 语言输入假说; 课堂环境
 1. Introduction
 As an English teacher in middle school, the author got to realize the significance of teachers’ outstanding classroom language, which urges the author to have discussion in this essay. Through this thesis, the author mean to give a brief analysis to the existent problems and more significantly, seek to find appropriate ways for improvement in English teaching of secondary schools in China. This essay might be, to some extent, helpful for middle school English teachers to improve the quality of their classroom language. From the point of students’ language learning, teachers are supposed to establish ideal models for students through fluent presentation. Apart from this, the communication between teachers and students is essential because of its emotional impact on students’ motivation to learn a second language. Ideal classroom environment will be set up provided English teachers use classroom language effectively.
 2. Language inadequacy non- native speaker English teachers suffer from
 As a fundamental quality of an English teacher, he must have an adequate command of the language he is teaching. If he suffers from hesitations and uncertainties in his control of the language that are recognized as such by his learners, if he makes errors or is inconsistent in his control of grammar, meaning or usage, then his grasp of the language is inadequate for his job and it becomes an impediment to the learning of his pupils (Strevens, 1977:31). According to the author’s observation and survey, most English teachers in middle schools of China are in an embarrassing situation, suffering from such language inadequacy, which urgently needs transformation.
 The major drawbacks of English teachers’ classroom language are as follows:
 Too much Chinese in class
 Occasionally, mother tongue may still be useful in an English lesson, especially when it would take a long time to explain the meaning or use of a new word in English. However, too much Chinese should not be allowed, as it would undermine the language atmosphere.
 By speaking too much Chinese in class, teachers fail to establish English as the main language of communication between their students and themselves. Because of cultural differences, mother tongue sometimes becomes an obstacle in learning a second language. That is why Chinese students speak and write a lot of Chinglish.
 2.2  Monotony and boredom
 In English class, mere repetition of an expression would bore students. Some teachers give the same feedback, like “good” to students’ answers every day, so that their students fail to learn that there are so many vivid expressions for appreciating something, such as “marvelous”, “fantastic”, “wonderful”, “cool” and “well done”. What’s worse, it will result in students’ loss of interest in English.
 In most classrooms there is very little reason or opportunity for students or teachers to reveal themselves to each other: the relationship is a formal and formalized one for which conventionalities suffice. The teacher is there to teach; the students are there to learn what the teacher or the administration thinks they should learn. The usual greetings are exchanged, conventional questions are asked about materials presented aurally or graphically, and conventional answers arising from the material are expected. Common remarks that may be heard are: “Come to the point, Johnny. We’re not interested in your personal history’, “Don’t ask silly questions’; “That’s nothing to do with it. Didn’t you hear the questions?” As John Holt describes, students may employ mechanisms to defend themselves in class and protect their real selves from the humiliation and embarrassment. The emotional needs of individuals must be understood by teachers if the students are to achieve their maximum potential.
 2.3  Non- real communication
 The real communicative practice between teachers and students are rare. In order to improve students’ oral English, teachers simply ask them to recite a large number of dialogues, without helping them to apply the language in real contexts. Thus, students’ communicative ability is not improved virtually.