2。1 The Definition of Classroom Discourse

What is classroom discourse of English teacher? Generally speaking, discourse refers to what people say。 A professional definition of discourse is the actual communication behavior through the medium of language。 Classroom discourse is produced in the classroom, including students’ discourse and teachers’ discourse。 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics defined classroom discourse as the language used in the classroom context。 In some of the current literature, students’ discourse is also called “learner language”。 And for a long period of time, what teacher said in class is called “teacher talk”。 In the early stage, the study of classroom discourse is mainly about teacher talk。 In fact, generalized classroom discourse should also include what are written on the blackboard, the students’ classroom assignments, the playback of audio and video materials and text materials in teaching and so on。 So far, the vast majority of discourse research is to study the actual discourse produced in the classroom。 That is to say, present classroom discourse research is only a part of classroom discourse in reality。 

Classroom discourse of English teacher is produced when English teacher organizes and implements English classroom teaching, mainly in English, but also in Chinese。 It should be pointed out that classroom discourse is not equivalent to classroom language。 Generally language refers to the language system itself, and discourse refers to the use of language in a certain context and with a specific purpose。 In addition, classroom discourse is different from expression in class。 Expression in class usually refers to programming language used by teachers to organize classroom teaching (such as, Class begin! Sit down please!)。 And classroom discourse includes all the words in the classroom。

2。2 The Features of Classroom Discourse 

In The Analysis of English Teachers’ Classroom Discourse, it has the following features:

(1)The Authenticity of Classroom Discourse 

“‘Authenticity’ means that the language material must be consistent with the language used in reality, that is, language in teaching materials should be real and authentic, rather than hypothetical or fabricated”(Cheng 37)。 So, the authenticity of English teachers’ classroom discourse can be investigated from three aspects: a。 The authenticity of communicative behavior, that is, the communication between teachers and students in the classroom is in line with the characteristics of real and natural communication, which is in accordance with the principle of real communication and has real communication purposes。 We call this aspect of authenticity as situational authenticity of discourse; b。 The authenticity of language in discourse, that is, the language used by teachers is the language used in real life, not hypothetical language or inexistent language; c。 The authenticity of the content of discourse, that is, what teachers said is true instead of hypocritical。 

(2) The Interactivity of Classroom Discourse

The interaction between teachers and students in English classroom is mainly achieved through discourse。 Teachers can promote teacher-student interaction in English classroom through the use of interactive discourse and they can also use the non-interactivity discourse for controlling discourse power to reduce interactivity of classroom discourse。 Second Language Acquisition Theory deems an important way to learn language is to construct meaning in the process of meaning negotiation (R 145)。 In the meaning negotiation process, teachers and students pass information, communicate ideas and construct meaning through talking。 Students can come into contact with language, experience language, learn language and use language in this process。 In addition to the construction of meaning, another important function of the interaction in the language classroom is the information exchange, that is, the parties to participate in the interaction provide information and accept information according to the purpose of interaction。 In the process of providing information and receiving information, students need to use knowledge and skills of certain language。论文网