published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study focuses on the nature of scaffolding used by the Chinese student and teacher in a Chinese university English classroom located in Mainland China. Using the Vygotskian theory to analyze scaffolding events which occur during three transcripted lessons, it expands the present research on scaffolding. Previous research has predominantly utilized Wood, Bruner and Ross' (1976) six criteria to characterize the building and deconstructing of the scaffold by a tutor: 1) recruitment; 2) reduction in degrees of freedom; 3) direction maintenance; 4) marking critical features; 5) frustration control; and 6) demonstration. Many of these six criteria are utilized by the teacher within a lesson for scaffolding the students. This study, however, has shown that the teacher's scaffold is not the only scaffold that is built. Indeed, this study has shown that at any given moment in a lesson, many different layers of scaffolding are being built, which intertwine and overlap each other.Within the Chinese English classroom, it is more productive to discuss scaffolding in terms of layers, rather than only analyze Wood et al.'s (1976) strategies for building a scaffold. Four separate layers of scaffolding were discovered in the Chinese context. The layer one scaffold is where the teacher sets the backdrop for the lesson. She/He has planned the lesson, aware of what the students already know and lays down the foundation for it within the students' ZPD. Carrying out the work at this level involves creating intersubjectivity with the students and using prolepsis. The layer two scaffold occurs when students attend to the teacher's layer one scaffold and become mentally involved in the teacher's scaffold. Layer three involves two or more learners building and deconstructing scaffolds for each other. Finally, layer four shows the student actually building and deconstructing a scaffold for him/herself.This study discusses the strategies utilized by both the teacher and students in building a scaffold for other students and shows how these scaffolds are inter-related. In the conclusion, suggestions are made for native-English speaking teachers who are teaching in China concerning how to incorporate the findings of this study into their own teaching strategies. / Department of English

何明生. / 複印本. / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學. / Fu yin ben. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-120). / He Mingsheng. / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue.

江光榮. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2001. / 參考文獻 (p. 173-189) / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Jiang Guangrong. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2001. / Can kao wen xian (p. 173-189) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

This study investigates the relationship of instructor behaviour and classroom practices with Chinese ESL speaking-in-class anxiety of a group of first-year university students in Hong Kong. The factors contributing to second language learning speaking-in-class anxiety (SA) are identified by means of interviews,a questionnaire and discussion. The relationship between sex, majors, students' second language (English) proficiency, self-evaluation of their first language (Chinese) and second language (L2) proficiency with SA are examined with the help of a questionnaire. A further aspect of the study explores the kinds of classroom practices and teacher behaviour that help students reduce SA by means of an experiment, comparison of data gathered from pre-and-post experiment questionnaires, participant observation, interviews, classroom activity records, audio recording and comparison of students' English oral grades before and after the experiment. Factor analysis identified five factors contributing to SA. They are - speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation - comfortableness when speaking with native speakers - negative attitudes towards the English class - negative self-evaluation and - fear of failing the class/consequences of personal failure. Speaking in front of the class without preparation, being corrected when speaking, inadequate wait-time and not being allowed to use the first language in a second/foreign language class were also indicated by this group of first-year Chinese ESL university students as important elements leading to SA. Results suggested that teacher behaviour such as creating a warm and easy going atmosphere in the classroom, upholding teaching professionalism, providing specific help to students and providing pleasant language experience are useful to encourage spoken English in an ESL classroom. Classroom practices such as adopting appropriate tasks and activities that address varied leaning styles and strategies in the classroom, adopting appropriate modes of assessment and correction, allowing preparation in advance before asking students to speak in front of the class, providing adequate wait-time and allowing the use of the first language help lower students' SA. The thesis concludes with an examination of the methodological and theoretical implications of the study. The present research has highlighted the importance of considering the cultural elements, wait time and the use of LI in the L2 classroom, elements which have been neglected in previous anxiety research. A number of tentative and practical recommendations from the study are proposed together with suggestions for future research.

郭伯良. / 论文(哲学{273464}士)--香港中文大学, 2004. / 参考文献 (p. 155-181). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in English. / Guo Boliang. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2004. / Can kao wen xian (p. 155-181).

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education