初中英語課堂新手教師與專家型教師的積極反饋語對比研究

章一超

摘 要：在眾多關于課堂教學的研究中，教師反饋語一直都是重點之一，但是業(yè)界很少用新手教師與專家型教師對比的視角來研究教師反饋語。本文將積極反饋語主要分為三類：簡單型積極反饋、評價型積極反饋和引導型積極反饋，筆者分別研究在閱讀、聽說、語法三種中學英語課堂中新手教師和專家型教師對不同積極反饋話語的使用。研究的問題圍繞專家型教師與新手教師在不同課型中對不同類型積極反饋語的態(tài)度展開，試圖在課堂觀察、課后訪談，及對數(shù)據(jù)作定性定量分析的基礎上，得出結論：積極反饋語被廣泛用于不同課型中，閱讀課中最集中，專家型教師用的比新手教師多；但是老師多使用簡單型積極反饋，易忽略評價型積極反饋?；谝陨涎芯?，筆者提出了一些建議。

關鍵詞：教師反饋語；積極反饋；簡單型積極反饋；評價型積極反饋；引導型積極反饋

Abstract： Among all the studies concerning classroom teaching， teacher feedback has long been one of the focuses， but the researches seldom use the perspective of comparison between expert and novice teachers. In this paper， the author divided positive feedback into three categories： simple， evaluative and instructive positive feedback， aiming to investigate how different positive feedback is adopted by the novice and the expert teacher in junior middle school in reading， listening & speaking and vocabulary class. The research questions focus on the different attitudes of an expert English teacher and a novice English teacher towards the choice of different types of positive feedback in different classes. According to the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data collected through classroom observation and interviews， a conclusion is drawn. Positive feedback is widely adopted in different class types， especially in the expert teachers class and in reading class， while the teachers often choose simple positive feedback and ignore evaluative type. Based on the study， some implications can be drawn.

Key words： teacher feedback； positive feedback； simple positive feedback； evaluative positive feedback； instructive positive feedback

1. Introduction

In recent years， one of the most important aspects of classroom-based researches becomes the classroom discourse， which refers to the language used in classroom. Swain （235-253） assumes that classroom interaction constitutes the environment in which second language students are exposed to target language samples. Thus， many related researches are carried out about teacher feedback. It is claimed that teachers use teacher talk to organize and initiate students to take part in various communications and express themselves （Anton 303-318）. Teacher feedback is a vital aspect in teacher talk and it is also a crucial source of input for students. The quantity and quality of teacher feedback in language classroom has a great effect on classroom teaching and is even a decisive factor to the success or failure of it. Students will be stimulated to further their thinking and achieve a sense of satisfaction when receiving positive feedback from the teacher. Different teacher feedback will lead to different classroom interaction and have ultimately an effect on students performance. By observing an expert teachers and a novice teachers reading， listening & speaking and vocabulary class， this paper aims to analyze how positive feedback promotes student language acquisition in middle school.

As is known to all， positive feedback can stimulate students study interest and help them build up self-confidence. In this paper， the author divides positive feedback into three sub-categories： simple positive feedback， evaluative positive feedback and instructive positive feedback. But the majority of responses are just simple type. Through investigation， the researchers claim that the teacher feedback is different by different teachers and in different lesson types （Lin Zhengjun & Zhou Sha 15-22）. But in domestic research， there are still not enough researches about positive feedback， not to mention the sub-categories of it， and the comparative studies of expert and novice teachers positive feedback are much fewer.

In order to fill in that blank， based on literature review， class observation and follow-up interviews， this thesis takes an expert teachers and a novice teachers positive feedback in reading， listening & speaking and vocabulary classes as its research focus， aiming to investigate how positive feedback is adopted to facilitate student language acquisition in middle school. Different from the previous study， this thesis not only focuses on teacher feedback， but also concerns the relation between positive feedback and class types， the differences lying between the novice teacher and the expert teacher when choosing and using positive feedback.

The thesis tends to answer the following questions： 1） What are the attitudes of expert English teacher and novice English teacher towards the choice of simple positive feedback？ 2） What are the attitudes of expert English teacher and novice English teacher towards the choice of evaluative positive feedback？ 3） What are the attitudes of expert English teacher and novice English teacher towards the choice of instructive positive feedback？

2. Literature review

2.1 Definition of teacher feedback

Teacher feedback is a kind of teacher talk. Teacher talk is composed of four categories： teacher talk of classroom management， teaching language， exchanging language between teachers and students and teacher talk as feedback（Lin Ruchang 10-15）.Sinclair and Coulthard （1975） identify teacher feedback as the third move in the I-R-F （Initiation-Response-Follow-up） exchange structure system in the analysis of classroom discourse. In Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics， teacher feedback is defined as any information， which provides a report on the result of behavior （Richards & Lockhart l88）. Feedback is the teachers evaluation of the student response （Cook，2000）.

Teacher feedback can be given by verbal action， like praise，any relevant comments or other encouraging form， or by nonverbal action， such as the eye contact， gestures， facial expressions or silence.

2.2 Definition of positive teacher feedback

From the perspective of function， teacher feedback can be divided into positive and negative feedback （Chaudron， 1988； Nunan， 1991； Zhao Xiaohong， 17-22）. As for the positive teacher feedback， there has been no official word， for different scholars may have defined the term from different perspectives， but we can summarize it generally. Positive teacher feedback， just as its name implies， is a kind of information that confirms the students right answer and praise the learners performance， such as “you are right”， “good job”， “well done”. It appears to be affirming， approving and agreeing. In the virtual context， Stemler（339） put forward that “it aims to make students know what progress they have achieved in figuring out ”.

Lyster and Ranta （37-66） quoted in Lightbown and Spada （103-105）， specifically divided teacher feedback into eight types. They are explicit correction， recast， clarification requests， elicitation， metalinguistic feedback， repetition， comment and expansion. Chinese researcher Zhao Xiaohong （17-22） further develops the positive feedback into simple feedback， feedback with more input and feedback with elicitation. Simple positive feedback refers to simple confirmation of students response like “well done”， “good” or just repeating the response. Positive feedback with more input means besides simple feedback there will be more comments given to students. Positive feedback with elicitation means the teacher accepts the students answer and then raises a further question based on it. In this paper， the author divides positive feedback into three sub-categories： simple positive feedback， evaluative positive feedback and instructive positive feedback.

2.3 Significance of positive teacher feedback

It can be concluded that the significance of positive feedback is far beyond providing and adding knowledge. It can also motivate students， draw their attention， create harmonious atmosphere for them， lead them to further their thinking and explore actively.

So far， little attention has been drawn to the influence of positive teacher feedback on students language acquisition， especially lacking the study of positive teacher feedback through different class types. Thus it is necessary to do a research on positive teacher feedback in different class types， including reading class， listening & speaking class and vocabulary class， in middle school English class. In addition， a comparative study of positive feedback between expert English teacher and novice English teacher has been rare. It means， to some extent， the research in this field is still remaining a margin. This paper uses the authentic data to analyze， thus it will add some empirical studies into EFL teaching. Such researches will be helpful to find out the weakness of both kinds of teachers in positive feedback and give some proper solutions to the problems. Therefore， this study is not just beneficial for English teaching and learning of middle English class， it can also give some enlightenment to other English classes.

3. Research Methodology

This paper tends to study on differences between expert teacher and novice teacher when choosing and using positive teacher feedback on different class types in junior middle school. In practical aspect， the research is finally cantered on Jinhua Foreign Language school， which is a key school and affiliated to its own high school. The teachers are Cheng Huan， a senior teacher with rich experience -- eight years in teaching English； and Chen Yating， who just graduated from Normal University 3 months ago and has been a new teacher. As for students， they are 26 from Class Four， Grade Seven， with16 of them female and 10 of them male， and 24 from Class Six， Grade Seven， with15 of female and 9 of them male. Their age ranges from 13 to 15.With the permission of the subject teacher， the whole process of classroom observation lasts for eight weeks from September 13th to November 5th. Reading， listening & speaking and vocabulary classes are all observed two periods respectively.

The effectiveness of positive teacher feedback can be tested through the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data collected through class observation and transcription. Two instruments are employed in this paper， including classroom observation and interview. The integration of various research methods can ensure the reliability of research results. Thus the research subject and methods are fixed， which are the very prerequisite of conducting the research.

4. Results and discussion

4.1 Different choices of simple positive feedback

Simple positive feedback refers to simple confirmation of students response with the utterances like “good”， “yes”， “that is right”， “excellent”， “good job”， “well done” and “thank you”， or just repeating the response. It is used frequently in current English class in middle high school. Limited by time， teachers use simple approval to show their agreement and praise students concisely in order to encourage them to involve in the topic actively. Actually， it is widely accepted that every time after the teachers in-class feedback to the common performance of the students， no time is given for the teacher to give evaluation or initiation. The focus will be soon passed to the next one.

The respective numbers of simple positive feedback between the expert teacher and the novice teacher used in different lessons are shown as follows：

4.2 Different choices of evaluative positive feedback

Evaluative positive feedback means besides simple positive feedback there will be more evaluation given to students and they can offer personal comments on students performance， for example， showing their opinions to students like understanding， appreciation， and comment on the answer instead of praising habitually or repeating simply.

Eg（1）：S： When I was six years old， I， I was throwing stones in a pool and throwing myself.

T： How brave you were！ （——Appendix II from the expert teacher in reading class）

（2）：S： We can get knowledge.

T： You are so clever！ （——Appendix II from the novice teacher in reading class）

Both teachers and students are participants in classroom conversation， and the teachers responsibility is far beyond evaluating students responses. They offer comment on students responses， which create a harmonious atmosphere to communicate with students. It also provide some comprehensible input to students， benefiting students language acquisition.

The respective numbers of evaluative positive feedback between the expert teacher and the novice teacher used in different lessons are shown as follows：

4.3 Different choices of instructive positive feedback

Instructive positive feedback means the teacher accepts the students answer and then raises a follow-up question or provides another perspective to further explore the topic.

Eg（3）：T： In English， That （challenge） means to do the things... impossible， right？

S： ...（ Very difficult）

T： Yes， maybe very difficult. To do many things difficult. So could you tell me the most challenging thing you have done？ （——Appendix II from the expert teacher in reading class）

（4）：T： …can you guess whats this？

S： Girls dorm building.

T： Girls dorm building，right. OK，can you describe my dorm building？ Its a building with.... With what？ Can you guess？ （——Appendix II from the novice teacher in reading class）

It means the teacher provides more information according to students responses in either form or content. He or she may reformulate or elaborate students responses. Instructive positive feedback is conductive to genuine interaction. Teachers expansion feedback enriches the content of communication.

The respective numbers of instructive positive feedback between the expert teacher and the novice teacher used in different lessons are shown as follows：

5 Conclusion

From the analysis of collected data， the main findings are summarized as follow：

Generally speaking， in each class type， both the expert teacher and the novice teacher have paid attention to students responses and adopted different kinds of positive feedback to encourage students to output. Indeed， of all types of class， the reading class accumulates the most positive feedback， which serves as a stimulation to help the students understand the context. In addition， of all these sub-categories of positive feedback， the percentage of simple approval technique is the highest one used by the two teachers in those three lesson types researched， as it can arouse students interest and strengthen their sensibility to the structure or content， even though it is not the most effective in language teaching and learning. Whereas， compared with other types of positive feedback， evaluative type is the least one used by both teachers in classroom interaction， which is even excluded by the expert teacher in listening & speaking class and by the novice teacher in vocabulary class during the observing periods.

When it comes to the differences， the expert teacher has used more positive feedback than the novice teacher， especially in listening & speaking class. Besides， the expert English teacher prefers positive feedback in listening & speaking class， while the novice teacher uses positive feedback most commonly in reading class. Unlike the expert teacher， who might pursue a balance among different types of positive feedback when responding to students performance， the novice teacher has her preference and depends too much on simple approval or repetition， which implies when giving feedback the novice teacher is likely to focus on the form rather than on the content.

In detail， when using simple positive feedback， although it is the most popular way for both teachers， the proportions taken by the novice teacher have deviated from the reasonable range， especially in reading class and in vocabulary class. The expert teacher prefers simple positive feedback most in reading class and least in listening & speaking class. By contrast， the novice teacher adopts it most commonly in vocabulary class and least in listening & speaking class.

As for the choice of evaluative positive feedback by the expert teacher and the novice teacher， the former one employs it often in order to appreciate the students who learn the new words quickly， so the proportion in vocabulary class is the highest， while that is still quite small under positive feedback in general. Whereas， the novice teacher is likely to see it as a buffer to relieve students anxiety of making mistakes in listening & speaking class. Regardless of it， the proportion is only a little more than one tenth. Bedsides， it is worth mentioning that no evaluative positive feedback is adopted by the expert teacher in such class during the period of observation. As for the novice teachers class， this type of positive feedback is also missed in vocabulary class. It clearly shows that in different types of class transcribed， the frequency of evaluative positive feedback has been very low. Limited by time， the teachers have difficulty adding personal comments on students response.

When choosing instructive positive feedback， the frequency used by the expert teacher， such as expanding the question or raising another question， is more than 6 times as many as the novice teacher. Although these two teachers choose it as the main technique to inspire the students to do further thinking in English listening & speaking class， the proportion varies greatly between the expert teacher and the novice teacher one.

To sum up， positive feedback has a significant effect in second language learning. Both the novice teacher and the expert teacher should adopt diverse and effective positive feedback according to different class types and its teaching goals. It is hoped that these findings will motivate teachers to identify that positive feedback promotes the interest of learning and provides the students a supportive learning environment.

6. Implications

Teacher feedback is one of the most important elements of teacher talk， and it can be served as resources of learners comprehensible input. Besides， effective positive feedback can arouse students interest in English， improve students output and involve students in the topic deeply There is no denying that both the expert teacher and the novice teacher have a consciousness of the significance of positive feedback. But both the novice teacher and the expert teacher are supposed to improve the quality of positive feedback and combine these three means better to explore a balance. According to the research some suggestions are drawn.

First of all， there are some suggestions for the novice teacher. From the aspect of frequency of positive feedback， the ratio of novice teacher and expert teacher is 0.56：1， so it is necessary for the novice teacher to use more positive feedback， as a sign to confirm the progress of the students performance and promote the interest of their learning. Furthermore， the charts show that the novice teacher depended too much on simple positive feedback， the proportion are 104/125 in reading class， 11/15 in listening & speaking class and 26/28 in vocabulary class. It is high time that the novice teacher was supposed to turn more attention from simple positive feedback to evaluative and instructive positive feedback She should adopt diverse types of positive feedback flexibly in class， which stimulate students in different ways and push them to output most. When one kind of positive feedback fails to achieve the aims， another one can be adopted to supplement.

On the other hand， when it comes to the expert teacher， lacking evaluative positive feedback is a common problem in all kinds of classes investigated. It is high time for her to increase awareness of evaluative positive feedback in a relaxing atmosphere in order to show her opinions like understanding， appreciation and comment on the students responses. Moreover， except in the listening & speaking class， the number of simple positive feedback balances that of instructive positive feedback， it differs distantly and extremely in the other types of classes. Therefore， the expert teacher is supposed to apply more instructive positive feedback in reading and vocabulary class.

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