Final Test of Critical Reading

 Summary and response about journal “EFL(Englis as a Foreign Language) Classroom Discourse Analysis of a Vocational College and Some Reflections” by Liu Xin, Lou Luzheng, Shi Biru.

This journal talk about discourse analysis in vocational college for English as Foreign Language (EFL). This research implemented to know how teacher or lecturer perform in their teaching and how they make improvement. Further, the author also want to inform present condition of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom in a vocational college especially in discourse analysis study by teacher talk (TT) aspect . The author make this research in three classes of vocational college in Zheijiang Province. The students from three classes were freshmen of various non English majors. The classes recorded were intensive English reading classes.

In the introduction, the author explain that student centered become more focus concept in education for along time. That concept has stipulated in the current CECR ( College English Curriculum Requirements). Depends on CECR, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom concept should be replaced. From traditional teacher dominated didactic practice (teacher centered) to student centeredness which puts more emphasis on developing students’ need learning abilities and improving their language communicative competence (student center). In vocational colleges, different from undergraduate colleges, have their own characteristics in some respects, thus, how and to what degree this notion is carried out in vocational colleges in China is worth investigating.

Basic ideas of Discourse Analysis classroom are refers to the language that teachers and students use to communicate with each other in the classroom. Talking and conversation are the media through which most teaching takes place. Depends on Nunan (1991) explained that teacher  talk is an important role in forming discourse classroom and maximising opportunities for learning. But it does not mean teacher talk (TT) become a great concept to know the success of students in teaching learning especially discourse analysis classroom. To know about it the author make this research through the quantity of teacher talk, IRF(Initiation-Response-Feedback) structure and display question and referential question.

From those three analysis, the author get some data and make a result that teacher center has not realize in EFL student of vocational college. To improve the EFL classroom, the author make some implication, those are : minimize the quantity of TT, Replace IRF structure with more complex structures and use more referential question.

Responses :

Nowadays many EFL students feel hard to communicate fluently and accurately in English. From those reason discourse analysis classroom e shows that one way communication obtain in the lessons with the teachers leading teacher fronted discussion and students listening and then either repeating after the teacher or responding briefly. Depends on Mc Carthy(1991) discourse analysis is the study of the relationship between language and the context that used. Further Hatch(1992) explained that the result of discourse analysis data illustrates that the language use for human communication is interviewed socially, cognitively and linguistically. This journal is very useful, especially for lecturer or student. From this journal we can know that some problems existing in the current English teaching processes and provides some suggestions to make improvement respectively.

References :

Hatch, E. M. (1992). Discourse and Language Education. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press

McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse Analysis for Language Teacher. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press