英语课堂沉默现象研究学士学位论文.docx

英语课堂沉默现象研究学士学位论文.docx

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英语课堂沉默现象研究学士学位论文

Acknowledgments

IamgratefulinthefirstplacetomysupervisorProfessorWangYun,whohassupportedmeallthetimeduringtheprocessofwritingthispaper.Iappreciateherpatienceandcautiousness.Iwouldnothaveaccomplishedthisthesissuccessfullywithoutherconsistenthelp.

What’smore,Iwouldliketoacknowledgemyschool-SuzhouUniversityofScienceandTechnologyforgrantingmethepreciouschancetofurthermyEnglishstudy．

Inmyprocessofwritingandcompletingthispaper，Ihavebenefitedalotfromthepeoplearoundme.Iwanttothankyouforthesterlinghelpofmyfriends.BesidesIwanttothanktheauthorsofbooksandpapersthatprovidemewithplentyofinformationandreferences.

Lastbutnotleast,Iwillgivemygratitudetomyfamilymembers,whohavesupportedandencouragedmeallthetime.

摘要

随着英语课程改革，将学生作为课堂核心这一要求的提出，使得越来越多的教育学者关注英语课堂学生沉默现象。

然而国内在这方面的许多研究停留在理论方面,而缺少实证方面的深入研究。

因此，在相关理论研究的基础上，本研究以苏州科技学院英语专业的学生为研究对象，将问卷调查和课堂观察的方式结合，从学生角度进行调查，以实证为依据，探究导致英语课堂学生沉默的原因和解决方法。

通过研究，我们发现造成英语课堂沉默现象的原因不仅在于老师的教学方式、态度以及学生的态度、个性、动机等方面，同时还会受到其他因素的影响，这些因素已经变成提高英语课堂效率的阻碍因素，甚至还会造成更大程度、更广范围的恶性循环。

因此，解决课堂沉默问题是很必要的，不仅需要从师生双方探究原因，还要联系实际，最终打破沉默坚冰，构建和谐高效的英语课堂。

关键词：

英语课堂；学生沉默现象；课堂参与；实证调查

Abstract

AccordingtotheNewCollegeEnglishCurriculumRequirements（2007:

25）,thestudent-orientedpatternhasbecomethefocusofclassroomreform.Moreandmoreeducationworkersshifttheirattentiontothephenomenonofstudents’silenceinEFLclassroom.However,mostoftheresearchinthisareafocusesontheoriesandlacksdeepstudiesfromtheempiricalperspective.So,basedonrelevanttheoreticalresearch,thisstudytakesstudentsofSuzhouUniversityofScienceandTechnologyasourobjectivesandadoptsaquestionnairetoexplorethefactorscausingstudents’silenceinEFLclassroom.

Resultsofthestudydemonstratethatthereasonsofstudents’silencearenotlimitedtoteachingmethodology,attitudeonteachers’sideandattitude,personality,motivationonstudents’side.Therearealsootherrelatedfactors,whichobstructtheefficiencyinEFLclassroom,andevencanleadtoaviciouscycle.Therefore,itisreallycriticaltosolvetheproblem.Theexplorationshouldbemadefrombothsidesofteachersandstudents,thustobreaktheiceofsilenceandcreateaharmoniousandhigh-efficientEFLclassroom.

Keywords：

EFLclassroom;students’silence;classengagement;empiricalinvestigation

Contents

Introduction1

1.Theoreticalbackgroundandliteraturereview2

1.1Thedefinitionofsilence2

1.2Thecharacteristicsofsilence2

1.2.1Positivesilence3

1.2.2Negativesilence3

1.3Classificationofsilence4

1.4Relationshipbetweensilenceandspeech5

1.5Thecurrentsituationofsilencestudyathomeandabroad6

1.5.1Studiesathome6

1.5.2Studiesatabroad7

2.Anempiricalstudyofstudents’silenceinEFLclassroom8

2.1Researchquestions8

2.2Researchmethodology9

2.2.1Researchsubjects9

2.2.2Researchmaterials9

2.2.3Researchprocedure9

2.3Datacollectionandanalysis10

2.3.1Datacollection10

2.3.2Dataanalysis10

2.4Thefindings11

2.4.1Teachers’aspects11

2.4.2Students’aspects12

2.4.3Otheraspects12

3.Someimplicationsandsuggestionsforstudentsandteachers13

3.1Forstudents13

3.2Forteachers14

Conclusion15

References17

Appendix1:

19

Appendix2:

21

Students’SilenceinEFLClassroom

Introduction

Inrecentyears,thephenomenonofstudents’silencehasattractedresearchers’attention.Mostofthemhavestudiedthefactorsthatinfluencestudents’participation,suchasteachers’talkinELFclass,teachers’questioningmethods,etc,butfewresearcheshaveexploredfromstudents’psychologicalperspectivewhichisactuallyfarmoreworthyofinvestigation.

DuetothenewrequirementsofCollegeEnglishRequirements（2007:

25）,thepedagogicaltendencyinEFLclassemphasizesonstudents’rolesandaimstocreateastudent-centeredteachingenvironment.Thus,manyteachershaveintroducedvariousmeanstoencouragestudents’participation.Itprovidesstudentswithmoreopportunitiesbutalsomuchpressure.Studentsmayemploysilenceastheformofcommunicativeengagementandonlyasmallproportionofstudentsactivelyparticipateinclass.Ontheotherhand,manyteachersconsidersilenceastheoppositeactionoreventheenemyofspeechandfewteachershavetakenpropermeasurestoresolvetheproblem.ThemisunderstandingorincompleteunderstandingofsilencemayleadtoaviciouscircleinELFclass.

Meyer（Kevin2009:

16）putforwardtheconceptionofHypothesizedLinkbetweenSilenceandLearning.Furthermore,shedefinedsilentengagementasakindofcommunication.Onthistheoreticalbasis,moreandmoreresearchersdiverttheirattentiontothevalueofsilenceandexploretherelationshipbetweenspeechandsilenceinELFclass.Thecausesofstudents’silenceinELFclassaremultidimensionalduetodifferentresearchanglesandpurpose.

Infact,silencehasbothnegativeandpositivesides.AsDauenhauer（1980）claimedthat“silenceinitsownrightcanbeseentomakeapositivecontributiontothescopeofthemeaningful”（1980:

104）Silencepavesthewayforthepotencyoflanguagesincesilencegivesbothbirthandconclusiontospeech.

Thisthesiswillbedoneonthebasisofthepreviousstudiesrelatedtothephilosophyofspeechandsilence,factorsinfluencingstudentparticipationandlearningstyles.Inordertomaketheresearchhavemorepracticalsignificances,aseriesofsurveyswillbedonewiththeformofquestionnaires.ThedatawillbecollectedtoanalyzethetheoriesandhopefullysomeofthemcanbeputintopracticeandhelptoputforwardsomesuggestionsinfutureteachinginELFclass.

1.Theoreticalbackgroundandliteraturereview

Silenceisameansofpowerfulnonverbalcommunication,howevertointerpretsilenceinthemostproperway,variousconnectedaspectsshouldbeconsidered,includingsubjectiveandobjectivefactors.Thesubjectivefactorsincludethefeelings,personality,mutualrelationsandthedegreeofcaring,whiletheobjectivefactorsarelocation,time,culturebackgroundetc.Todigouttherootcausesofstudents’silenceinEFLclass,closeattentionshouldfirstbepaidonthedefinitionofsilence.

1.1Thedefinitionofsilence

Accordingtodifferentpurposeswithvariousresearchframeworks,thedefinitionofsilencedistinguishesfromoneandanother.

OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary（Hornsby2009:

1408）definessilenceasthefollowingmeanings:

（1）completeabsenceofsoundornoise;quiet;

（2）refusalorfailuretodiscusssomethingoranswerquestionsaboutsomething;（3）completequietbecausenobodyistalking;（4）aperiodoftimeinwhicheveryonestopstalkingasasignofrespectandhonortowardssomeonewhohasdied;（5）failuretowritealettertosomeone,telephonethemetc.Obviously,wemustconsidertheactualsituationtoexplainthepropermeaningofsilence.

InEncyclopedicDictionaryofAppliedLinguistics:

AHandbookforLanguageTeaching（Johnson&H2003:

287-288）,thenotionofsilenceincommunicationis,asthecaseofspeech,rule-governed,anditisalsovariableandculturalspecific.

Tohaveabetterunderstandingandconductivestudy,Bruneau（1973:

36）definedsilenceinthreeforms:

Psycholinguisticsilence;InteractivesilenceandSocio-culturalsilence.Consideringthehumancommunicationfunctions,everytypehasitsparticulardefinition.

Asthispaperaimstostudystudents’silenceinEFLclassroom,thedefinitionoftheinteractivesilenceswillbethecorepart.Interactivesilenceisthepausalinterruptionindialogue,conversation,discussion,debate,etc.Theycanberelatedtoaffective,interpersonalrelationshipsbetweenpeopleaswellastotheexchangeofinformationand/orproblemsolving（Bruneau1973:

29）.

1.2Thecharacteristicsofsilence

Iftheambiguousaspectsofsilencemaybeconcludedclearly,furtherstudiesinthisareacanbemademoresmoothly.Inhigh-contextculture,silenceusuallyindicatespositivemeaning,anditisaspecialwaytocommunicate.However,inlow-contextculture,silenceisnegativeforthemostpart,anditisconsideredasalackofcommunication.Jensen（1973:

120-124）notesfivedifferentfunctionsperformedbysilence.Theyareaffecting,revelation,linkage,activatingandjudgmental.Basically,silencecanbedividedintotwoparts:

positivesilenceandnegativesilence.

1.2.1Positivesilence

Silencecanaffectpeople.Insomeembarrassingsituation,silenceofferpeoplesometimeforreflectionandbuffering.Nonverballanguagecanexpressthedeepestfearsandmostintensejoys.Silencecanbeunderstoodasrespect,acceptanceorkindnessinchurchorlibrary.Tosumup,silence,tosomedegrees,isthelanguageofthosestrongpassions:

love,anger,surpriseorfear.Silenceisacommonstrategytomanagetensesituations,especiallyforhighlyemotionalpeople,whotrytoavoidusingsomeimproperwordsorexposingtheirignorance.

Silencehasrevelationfunction.Itmayimpartsomeinformationwhilepreventingthedisclosureofother（Jensen1973:

120）.Wecanfindclearimplicationinsomesituations.Forexample,silencecanworkastheconveyorofmessageinclass,whenstudentsthinkabouttheanswerstoquestions,theteacheroftenchoosetobesilent.Althoughtheoveralllanguageenvironmentissilent,students’mindskeepgoingon.Wecancallitrevelationsilenceinthiscase.

Insomecases,akindofsilenceiscalled“linkagesilence”.Inthesocialculture,silencecanactasabondamongpeople.Thiskindofsilenceispositiveasisusedtomaintainsocialspaceorpreventinterruption.Suchasthesituationthattwostrangersinelevatorso