教师使用目标语言教学对学生二语学习的影响

教师使用目标语言教学对学生二语学习的影响【摘要】目标语言是否应该作为二语教学的主要语言引起了广大学者的争议，例如，英语课堂中频繁使用英语作为教学语言能否被中国学生接收，并提高英语水平。笔者通过一系列课堂调研和教学评估来分析目标语言在教学中的使用对于二语学习的影响，发现频繁使用英语进行教学能提高中等程度学习者的英语水平。不可否认，母语在二语教学中起一定辅助作用，但目标语言在课堂教学中的使用对于二语学习有更重要的积极作用。

【关键词】目标语言；二语教学；二语学习；课堂教学

1.introduction

language teachers all have developed their own approaches to the use of target language and first language in second language classroom. whether the target language should be used as a main means in the classroom interaction or not has aroused heated discussion among second language teachers. how much target language should teachers use and how much target language teachers expect students to use is also questioned （levine， 2003， p.1）. some teachers believe the frequent use of the target language can not help the students to grasp english grammar and vocabulary effectively， which is required in the examination. while other teachers think the extensive input of the target language will improve students’

pronunciation， speaking and listening skills so that they can adapt to english language environment better. the effect of teacher’s use of target language in the classroom on intermediate-level learners’ language learning is crucial to investigate， since it relates to teacher’s professional development and the curriculum improvement.

2.plan

there is much debate about the use of target language in the classroom and how much it should be used with intermediate-level students. obviously， the use of target language makes no sense if the learners have no second language proficiency or can not understand the majority of the teacher’s speech. on one hand， cook （2001） argued that learners understood grammar and vocabulary better if they were explained by the teacher in their first language. many teachers think the use of the learners’ first language can make the daily organization of the class more effective （franklin， 1990）. on the other hand， it is maintained that learner can communicate as they are in a real-life situation and the gap between the controlled practice in the classroom and the unpredicted situation in real-life communication is narrowed when teaching in target language （halliwell & jones，

1991）. extensive input of the target language is one of the ten principles of instructed language learning （ellis， 2005）. teacher’s use of target language in the classroom can help students to build confidence in real-life communication in future. bateman （2008） suggested that teachers who maximized the use of target language was more successful than those who did not prefer to use it； and their lessons were better prepared because of the high requirements of teaching in target language； students seemed to have better ability to comprehend the second language than those who did not receive second language teaching from the teacher.

the review of the literature provides me some theory basis for my investigation and influenced my action research as well as the interpretation of my observation. my investigation focuses on the effect of my target language use in the classroom on the intermediate-level learners’ second language acquisition and how i can make students feel involved and keep high motivations when using the target language. i plan to conduct the classroom investigation for three weeks using action research. i will largely use the target language in the classroom in order to investigate how my intermediate-level learners respond to the extensive second