reflections on group interaction in an efl class外語課堂小組成員互動中的自我反思法

1、<p>　　Reflections on Group Interaction in an EFL Class</p><p>　　Abstract Group interaction is one of mainly teaching methods Its goal is to complete the specific tasks of teaching purposes In the new cu

2、rriculum group interaction is being widely used in the English classroom teaching But in actual English class group interaction leaves much to be desired This paper studies the current situation of group interactions in

3、EFL classrooms and reflects the problems that group interaction is not as good as we think The author studies group interaction from the persp</p><p>　　Key words group interaction group members self-reflecti

4、ve approach</p><p><b>　　摘要</b></p><p>　　課堂小組互動作為課堂教學的一個重要途徑其目標是更好的完成完善教學任務在新課程標準下課堂小組互動被大量的運用但是其效果卻不盡人意本論文通過探討課堂小組互動在英語專業(yè)課堂中的現(xiàn)狀反思為什么課堂小組互動不如大家預期的問題作者從英語專業(yè)學生的角度考查了學生對課堂小組互動的看法期望及態(tài)度而且本

5、文將通過文獻查閱法及自我反思法發(fā)現(xiàn)學生的個人因素以及小組成員之間的關系話題的選擇及老師的角色在很大程度上影響課堂小組互動因此老師要先從自身出發(fā)完善課堂小組互動而學生則要緊跟老師步伐主動積極地和小組成員合作</p><p>　　關鍵詞 小組互動 小組成員 自我反思法</p><p>　　Thesis Statement</p><p>　　This thesis st

6、udies the present situation of group interaction and analyses the reasons that result in the inefficiency of the group interaction</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　1 Introduction1&

7、lt;/p><p>　　2 Literature Review2</p><p>　　21 Definition of group interaction3</p><p>　　22 Previous research on group interaction4 </p><p>　　23 Studies on group interact

8、ion in China5</p><p>　　3 Research method6</p><p>　　31 Research questions6</p><p>　　32 Reflective research method7</p><p>　　33 Research results8</p><p>　　

9、4 Discussion 9</p><p>　　41 Discussion of details9</p><p>　　42 Discussion in relation to teachers part in group interaction10</p><p>　　43 Discussion about students part in group inte

10、raction11</p><p>　　5 Conclusion12</p><p>　　Bibliography131 Introduction</p><p>　　Recently the use of group interaction in the classroom has become a widespread practice It is origi

11、nated in the United States in early 1970s It makes substantial progress in the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s In the late 1980s to 1990s the experiments of group interaction also appeared in China Group interaction which is

12、part of cooperative approach has come to be a hallmark of interactive language teaching It involves small heterogeneous teams usually of four or five members working together toward</p><p>　　2 Literature Rev

13、iew</p><p>　　The purpose of this part is to make everyone know the present situation of group interaction which can be divided into the following aspects At first it is crucial to overview the definition of

14、group interaction and is designed to allow people to understand its origin and know the importance of group interaction Secondly it is necessary to set forth the research situation about group interaction in abroad and p

15、oint out their deficiencies Finally it is also significant to demonstrate the situatio</p><p>　　21 Definition of group interaction</p><p>　　In China various approaches to English Language Teachi

16、ng have been explored ever since the early 1980s With the increasing demand for communicative competence in English organizing small group activities has become increasingly popular in EFL classrooms So what is group int

17、eraction Group interaction is that teachers make students organized into groups based on student characteristics and student language level It belongs to interaction Note that what commonly calls pair work is simply grou

18、p inte</p><p>　　22 Previous researches on group interaction</p><p>　　As we know college English teaching is an important part of higher education It is significant for college students especiall

19、y for those who major in English English major students must reach a certain proficiency level through four years learning in listening speaking and writing An effective way to realize this goal is through group interact

20、ion In the 1980 s interaction began to draw much attention and triggered a heated discussion both at home and abroad Therefore researchers started to go in</p><p>　　It increases language practice opportuniti

21、es</p><p>　　It improves the quality of student talk</p><p>　　It helps to individualize instruction</p><p>　　It promotes a positive effective climate</p><p>　　It motivat

22、es learners to learn</p><p>　　Also we can find a lot of theories and solid evidence to support this view no matter in the traditional second language acquisition research or pedagogy and social culture theor

23、y such as interaction hypothesis in second language acquisition Gass 1997 Long 1985 think that inputis easy to understand through communicative interaction when learners have the chances to consult on what they have hear

24、d Meanwhile interaction can stimulate learners to use language He makes his language output be easier t</p><p>　　23 Studies on group interaction in China</p><p>　　Through this analysis it is cle

25、ar that students in China need to engage themselves in real interaction Chinese students should negotiate meaning with their peers and to obtain much comprehensible input and generate comprehensible output It is importan

26、t for them to develop their abilities It can be effectively realized in group activities as has been evidenced above In China most of the discussion on group interaction has been based on theories abroad or aimed at stud

27、ents learning The research is</p><p>　　3 Research methods</p><p>　　As teachers know group interaction is an effective way for students to develop their language abilities Not only do teachers st

28、udy this kind of way but also college students should know the details Therefore in this part I will study group interaction from teachers part as well as from students part And in this part I will expound on the questio

29、ns that the author intends to research and the progress that the author reflects</p><p>　　31 Research questions</p><p>　　Questions which will be addressed are as follows </p><p>　　H

30、ow to group in English classroom What is grouped by </p><p>　　How do students participate in group interaction</p><p>　　What is the content of group interaction</p><p>　　What are st

31、udents attitudes toward group interaction</p><p>　　What part does the teacher play in group interaction </p><p>　　32 Reflective research method</p><p>　　Reflective approach is an im

32、portant and necessary way to improve oneself It is experience and thinking through experienced ideological psychological feelings and behavior It is beneficial to improve the effectiveness of learning And I have been lea

33、rning English for ten years and major in English in the college As a student I know whats going on in EFL classroom In this part Id reflect on the group interaction based on my own experience in the EFL classroom </p&

34、gt;<p>　　33 Research results</p><p>　　In this part Id reflect on the typical EFL classroom and describe what happens there as to grouping learners participation attitudes and contents of interaction a

35、nd teachers performance</p><p>　　First grouping in Chinese classroom usually are fixed There are two ways One way is grouped by student number Another way is grouped by the student themselves In those situat

36、ions members of group are familiar with each other When the teacher requires students to do group activities they will discuss the activities in Chinese When teacher come to students desks once in a while they will prete

37、nd to discuss the questions carefully and use English to speak But once the teacher goes away students imm</p><p>　　Second students normally participate in group work through tasks In other words choosing so

38、mething leads itself to the group process Typical group tasks include games role-play and simulations drama interview brainstorming problem-solving and decision-making opinion exchange For example student A is an employe

39、r student B is a prospective employee the objective is for A to interview B In groups similar dual roles could be assumed with assignments to others in the group to watch for certain gramma</p><p>　　Third co

40、ntents of interaction are usually the form of a certain task In the process of completing the task communication between participants is in a state of interaction Brown 1994173 defines group work as a generic term coveri

41、ng a multiplicity of techniques in which two or more students are assigned a task that involves collaboration and self-initiated language And he points that group work usually implies small group work that is students in

42、 groups of six or fewer Meanwhile it takes a lot of </p><p>　　Fourthstudents attitude toward group interaction is positive Most of students agree that group interaction can push them to learn English because

43、 each group makes a community of learners cooperating with each other in pursuit of common goals Therefore group interaction is an increase in their motivation With Maslows securitysafety level satisfied through the cohe

44、siveness of the small group closely relates to the sheer quantity of output made thus possible through group interaction and learners a</p><p>　　Finally teachers in so –called traditional language classes is

45、 in control of the class Related to the issue of control is the sometimes misguided belief that a teacher should be in on everything a student says or does during the class hour Group interaction counters with the import

46、ance of meaningful purposeful language and real communication which in turn must allow the student to give cent to creative possibilities Yes the effective teacher will circulate among the groups listen to students off&l

47、t;/p><p>　　4 Discussion </p><p>　　41 Discussion of details</p><p>　　According to what has been revealed above three parts will be discussed as follows</p><p>　　Firstly as

48、we all know dividing the class into groups is not as easy as it sounds In some cases teachers can simply number off eg 1 2 3 4 5 6 and specify which the area of the room to occupy But to ensure participation or have the

49、class in control teachers may want to preassign groups The best way is simply group work in groups of perhaps six or fewer because big groups cannot solve the problems of classes that are too large to offer many opportun

50、ities to speak Furthermore the best way to group </p><p>　　Secondly in group interaction extroverted students frequently speak Top students can quickly answer teachers questions once they have known the answ

51、ers Such scenario is common It usually leads to learners participation being uneven For top students they can take chances to talk and share their ideas In contrast others who are not good at speaking English become a sp

52、ectator sitting there listening and occasionally speak Furthermore the language expression of the top students is better than those </p><p>　　Thirdly in so–called traditional language classes teacher talk is

53、 dominant The teacher lectures explains grammar points conducts drills and at best leads whole class discussions in which each student might get a few seconds of a class period to talk cooperative learning In that situat

54、ion teachers role is controller In group interaction teachers are considered to be "participants" "facilitator" organizers " director resource and "the role of "manager" In those r

55、oles there is still an adequate deg</p><p>　　42 Discussion in relation to teachers part in group interaction</p><p>　　Considering these problems what should teachers do In fact most of the reaso

56、ns result from teachers In reality some teachers do not change their roles They should change their roles And then they will not control the class At first they may be not adapted But teachers do not worry Their pupils w

57、ill be better than before Otherwise group interaction needs a lot of energy So teachers should pay attention to focusing on the class Usually group interactions cannot be effective as we think because tea</p><

58、p>　　43 Discussion about students part in group interaction</p><p>　　Before discuss students tasks in group interaction we should firstly know students attitude towards group interaction Students strongly

59、agreed that the classroom group interaction will help them speed up the lesson and help them improve their interest in learning English Otherwise classroom group interaction can enliven classroom atmosphere Group activit

60、ies make them have more time and opportunities in the classroom to practice English Overall the students have been aware of the classroom group </p><p>　　Fromthereasonspresentedabove we clearly know students

61、 should do something For a representative of English major students I really want to take part in group interaction In group interaction students really have a concept about group interaction and know more about it And t

62、hen they can be easy to be adapted to this kind of interaction and make themselves progress in speaking listening writing and reading Everyone will grow up one day So they do not need to be shy in public and can be activ