Abstract:Encouraging words is one kind of Positive feedback: it refers to teachers expressing their appreciation and affirmation for learners’ performances, such as “Good!” “Excellent!” “Good idea!” “That’s the points!” “You did a good job!” etc. Nunan held that “For many years, behaviors-inspired research had found that positive feedback is much more effective than negative one in changing learner’s behavior. It serves not only to let learners know how well they have performed but also to increased their motivation and build a supportive classroom climate, but much of the feedback provided by teachers often seems to be rather automatic and the empty and automatic praising is often pointless,” and he also point out that “its ultimate effect on the learners is doubtful…”
This paper is going to discuss three research questions:
1) What’s the current situation of application of encouraging words?
2）How the encouraging words influence learners’ emotion and performance？
3) What are the problems in using encouraging words and what are students’ suggestions？
In this study, this research combines quantitative and qualitative research methods to explore these various issues. The subjects were 450 Li Yang City, Jiang Su Province high school students, six teachers of English. Some quantitative research is to ask 450 students to do questionnaires, and try to explore the relationship of students and teachers’ positive feedbacks. For a more comprehensive understanding of the English classroom situation, the design of the questionnaire survey is also part of the teaching of English teacher evaluation habits, and the paper provides the findings of the survey analysis. Qualitative research in part is through semi-structured interviews: the six English Teacher, 5 student. Classroom observation further confirmed the results of the questionnaire obtained. Meanwhile, interviews and classroom observation were also made detailed records.
摘要:课堂鼓励性语言，表现为课堂教师反馈的一种，是一种积极的反馈（如认可、表扬、奖励）创造一种满意的情感，表示对其学习行为的肯定，这是一种课堂即时评价，指的就是教师在课堂交往过程中对学生英语学习的过程、行为、态度和个人品质等方面进行及时反馈。表扬和鼓励是一种激励手段，能有效激发学生的学习动机，增加成就感，增强自信心，减少焦虑感等。该论文基于教育学、心理学和教育社会学相关理论，采用问卷调查和教师与学生访谈的研究方法，探讨小学英语教师课堂即时评价与学生英语学习兴趣之间是否存在必然联系，主要解决以下三个研究问题：1）目前高中英语课堂中教师鼓励评价的应用情况怎样？ 2）其评价是否会影响学生的英语学习者的兴趣动机？ 3）教师的积极反馈即这种鼓励性语言如何调控才能提高外语教学效果呢？本文通过研究带来几点教学建议。
本研究采用定量与定性相结合等多种研究方法来探究这些问题。研究对象是江苏溧阳市的450名高中学生，6位英语老师。定量研究部分通过对450名问卷调查，研究学生与教师积极反馈之间的关系。为了更全面的了解大学英语课堂情况，作者还设计问卷调查了解部分英语老师的授课评价习惯等，并对问卷调查的结果进行分析。定性研究部分通过半结构式访谈，通过6位英语任课教师，5位学生的访谈调查研究，课堂观察进一步证实了问卷得到的结果。同时对访谈和课堂观察也作了详细的记录。
数据分析发现英语教师的课堂鼓励性用语使用情况不容乐观，虽然课改以来有不少教师已经意识到鼓励性用语的重要性，但使用情况显示出单调性。研究结果表明英语教师课堂鼓励性用语与学生英语学习兴趣呈现显著相关性，教师课堂鼓励性评价显著影响学生英语学习的情感倾向和注意力投入程度。学生更喜欢积极性的反馈评价。教师鼓励评价对于焦虑过高的同学起到的作用是比较大的，需经常鼓励他们的进步，让他们肯定自己。这样不仅建立和谐的师生关系，更是能促进学生学习动力，激发内在动机，帮助学生成为自主的积极的学习者。希望本研究中的发现能找到国内鼓励性用语使用缺失的原因和改进实施的方法和需要注意的要素并为英语教学提供相应的帮助。
