Enquiry into Classroom Discourse: A Case Study of Pre-service Middle School English Teachers in China

Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ classroom discourse in junior middle school contexts has not been investigated in-depth, especially pre-service EFL teachers’ classroom discourse. This study sought to explore their classroom discourse features, identify how their questions facilitate and hinder learners’ English development, and explore the relationship between their subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and error correction. This study targeted a cohort of 15 university students from a BA EFL teacher education programme who completed school teaching practice in junior middle schools in Southeastern China. A mixed-methods approach was used and data were collected that included participants’ classroom discourse through non-participant classroom observation supplemented with field notes to triangulate participants’ PCK levels. Their SMK levels were measured through questionnaires and their PCK levels through semi-structured interviews. The results revealed an unbalanced coverage of the four modes, with predominantly managerial and materials modes versus comparatively little usage of skills and systems and classroom context modes. However, new interactional features were identified that participants used to suit their local contexts. Moreover, participants’ questions that were delivered to allow adequate waiting time， match students’ English level and personal experience and integrate appropriate question strategies were beneficial for students’ English learning; a failure to accommodate these issues was the opposite. Furthermore, no correlation was identified between the participants’ SMK levels and their error corrections in practice. The relationship between participants’ PCK levels and their error corrections was more complicated, because different correlational tests returned contradictory results. This suggested that additional contextual factors, such as teachers’ workload and examination orientation, deeply influence their correction practice.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

dprof

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Cui, Yingqiong

• LB Theori ac arfer addysg
• P Ieitheg. Ieithyddiaeth
• PE Saesneg

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:3313