Part 1 Introduction
1.1The Problem
In terms of English teaching and research, in recent years, the domestic and westernresearch on foreign language teaching have been gradually similar, but China’sforeign language teaching has been emphasized on the contents and results as thecenter for many years, paying attention to the acquisition of knowledge, but ignoredthe learning process. So attention is still attached to the psychology of languagelearning and ignoring the actual process in the classroom. The literature shows,scholars in our country have not paid enough attention to the teachers’ speech acts inforeign language classroom, especially in the universities or colleges, let alone thesystematic investigation and study. The existing studies provide some guidance andreference for the majority of English teaching counterparts, but most also only stay inthe general description or scattered collection of the materials, a systematic study islittle, therefore, teachers’ behaviors need to be explored more.Researchers applied various methods to study teachers’ speech acts in different fields.However, there are limitations to the previous researches. The existing researches paidlittle attention to the application of pragmatic theories to the teachers’ speech acts inthe EFL classroom. Therefore, in this paper, the author will study the teachers’ speechacts in the EFL classroom based on the adaptation theory.
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1.2Research Questions and Objectives
In the study, the following three questions are proposed to examine teacher’s speechacts based on the adaptation theory in the EFL classroom. The present study is guidedby the following questions:1. What are the characteristics of teacher’s speech acts in the EFL classroom?2. How can teachers optimize the teaching effect?3. What strategies do teachers adopt to adapt to different situations?The teachers’ speech act in the EFL classroom plays an important role in the languageteaching. However, research on foreign language teachers’ speech acts in the EFLclassroom has just started in china. This study uses relevant literature as its theoreticalbasis, and the classroom observation, questionnaires and interviews as the practicalbasis, the objective of which is to analyze the present situation of teacher speech actsin the EFL classroom and the existing problems. It is also aimed at analyzing thecharacteristics of teachers’ speech acts, and providing some strategies and suggestionsto improve their speech acts.
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Part 2 Theoretical Framework and RelatedLiterature
2.1 Theoretical Framework
Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, his Affective Filter Hypothesis and Long’s Interactionhypothesis are necessary to analyze the teacher’s speech acts in the EFL classroom.These three hypotheses along with Verschuren’s adaptation theory together influencethe students’ acquisition and achievements and thus enhance the teaching in the EFLclassroom. Stephen Krashen is a specialist specializing in theories of language acquisition. Mostof his research has included the research of non-English and bilingual languageacquisition. His well-accepted theory of SLA has had a large influence on all fields oflanguage research and teaching as well since the 1980s. We can see his combinedmodel of acquisition and production as follows: The Input Hypothesis is the most significant one of Krashen’s theories of SLA, whichtries to give an explanation of how learners acquire a second language. Or we can alsosay that Input Hypothesis is Krashen’s explanation of how SLA takes place. Krashenholds that it is essential not to concentrate on strict grammatical structures andlearning activities but rather to take up classroom time with acquisition assignmentsor activities. Thus, the Input Hypothesis is only related to “acquisition”, not“learning”. Considering the validity of the Natural Order Hypothesis, there is onequestion: how do acquirers move from a stage to another? Or we can put it in a moregeneral way, how do acquirers move from stage “i”, and here “i” represents thepresent competence, and “i+1” represents the next level? There is a claim about theInput Hypothesis: a necessary (but not sufficient) situation to move from stage “i” tostage “i+1” is that acquirers understand input that includes “i+1”, where“understanding” means that acquirers concentrate on the meaning but not the structureof the information. According to this hypothesis, acquirers make a progress along the“natural order” as they receive second language “input” which is one step beyondtheir present stage of linguistic competence which is done with the aid of context orextra-linguistic information.
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2.2 Related Literature
In this chapter, the author will introduce some theories that are pertinent to the purpose of the present research. The literature review consists of two parts; the firstpart begins with the introduction to the teacher’s speech acts, the second part presentssome knowledge about adaptationThe author arranges the contents of this part orderly. 2.1.1 presents a review of theteacher’s speech acts. Then in 2.1.2, we can see the relevant studies on the teacher’sspeech acts abroad and at home. Finally, in 2.1.3, the author mentions the input andoutput of the EFL classroom because they are related closely to the teacher’s speechacts. Speech act theory is the first important theory in pragmatics, put forward by J. L.Austin (1962) and afterwards developed by Searle. Austin holds that when speakersutter some units of language with some meaning, they are carrying out things orperforming speech acts. In the book How to Do Things with Words (1962), Austinsays that we use language in communication for two aims: expressing the speaker’sopinions and performing acts to fulfill the speaker’s purposes.
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Part 3 Method ......... 22
3.1 Participants .... 22
3.2 Instruments .... 233
3.3 Procedures ..... 25
3.4 Data Collection.... 25
Part 4 Results.... 27
4.1 Introduction ......... 27
4.2 Results of the Adaptation to the Students’ Factors.... 27
4.3 Results of the Adaptation to the English Teaching Objectives ......... 35
4.4 Results of the Adaptation to the Positive and Active Classroom ...... 37
Part 5 Discussion .... 41
5.1 Introduction ......... 41
5.2 Discussion about the Adaptation to Different Situations ...... 42
5.2.1 The adaptation to the general situation of college English education........ 42
5.2.2 The adaptation to the specific situation of college English education ....... 44
5.3 Implications......... 45
Part 5 Discussion
5.1 Introduction
Teachers’ speech acts play a dual role in the language classroom. It is an importanttool for teachers to organize the teaching, and is also an important source of students’language acquisition. The proper use of teachers’ verbal behaviors in the organizationof teaching can stimulate students’ interest in learning, and improve students’confidence in learning the target language; at the same time, teachers with the targetlanguage provide language input to learners, and can develop good habits of languageand the ability to use language. In the English class, teachers’ speech is the importantinput of information. The correct and effective use of teachers’ speech acts plays animportant role in foreign language teaching. The quantity and quality of teachers’speech acts will influence the success or failure of the teaching in the classroom.
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Conclusion
The comparison and the investigation of the teachers’ speech acts is not to evaluatewhich teacher is good or not, whose aim is to help teachers to fully be aware of thesignificant influence of their speech acts on the students’ target language learning. Asfar as the teachers’ speech acts in the EFL classroom in China are concerned, there aremany things worth attention and improvement. Therefore, in the teachers’ training anddevelopment, we should attach great importance to the teachers’ speech acts inclassroom, emphasize the relationship between teachers’ speech acts and learners’output, control the teachers’ quantity of speech acts, improve teachers’ quality ofspeech acts, reduce the closed questions, encourage students to develop thinking, bebrave to express their opinions, actively participate in classroom interaction, and payattention to the strategies to deal with errors.
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Reference (omitted)