Chapter two Literature Review

2。1Research abroad

Many foreign scholars have been concentrated on study about teacher talk since 2070s and they are rich in experience and production。 

2。1。1 Definition of Teacher Talk

Thinking of the idea of what Teacher Talk really is, firstly and basically, we should have a understanding of its definition。 Since its becoming a hot issue, many scholars have defined it based on their own understandings。 

According to Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics (Bussmann, 2000: 477), Teacher Talk refers to“Artificial or stylized language spoken by the second language teachers instructed with the purpose of conveying meaningful information to the language learner”。 From the dictionary’s definition, we know that teacher talk is artificial and stylized, which means teacher talk should be well-prepared before the class according to the characteristics of the different students。 Besides, it is used to convey meaningful information that serves for learners’ improvement of language competence。

Teacher Talk, one of the crucial parts of teacher behaviors, is the language which teachers use to organize and manage the FL/L2 classroom and implement their teaching plans (Nunan, 1991)。 From Nunan’s definition, we can easily get three important purposes: organize, manage and implement, which are closely related to teacher, class and students。 Actually, it is teacher’s control of Teacher Talk that determines the students’ performance and the final product, not too much nor too less。 文献综述

Besides, Rod Ellis(1994) points out that teachers address language learners differently from how they address other kinds of learners。 They adjust both language form and function to facilitate communication。 These adjustments are referred to as “teacher talk”。 Ellis has made a comparison in his definition to prove that the ones English teachers talk to are the language learners who not only learn from the content of the Teacher Talk, but also learn from the form of Teacher Talk。 

Teacher talk refers to the speeches that the teacher uses to speak to students when the teacher undertakes teaching tasks in foreign language teaching(Sinclair and Brazil, 1982)。 From Sinclair and Brazil’s definition, we can see that Teacher Talk is not casual and arbitrary like our daily conversation, but is arranged and well-prepared by teachers according to their teaching tasks, which means that what teachers talk has its own purposes and significance to satisfy learners’ learning demand。