A Study of Prospective Teachers' Perceptions about Mediation

Abstract

教師該如何做才能促進學生學習？這是許多語言教師的教學目標之一。Vygotsky等社會互動主義學者倡導教師不僅應是知識傳播者，藉著扮演中介?角色， 教師可更進一步促進學習及協助學生有效自主學習。本文之研究旨在調查儲訓教師對於中介作用之各種要點的認知。本研究以問卷調查74位大學教柮學程學生以及 45位國高中實習教師對有關中介作用之認知，此外實習教師亦填答他們對中介作用各要點之應用頻率。本研究發現兩組儲訓教師有顯著不同的認知，實習教師對於 中介作用之「理想認知」與「實務應用」亦有顯著差異。本文將討論問卷研究結果，並對未來研究與國內英語教學提出建議。

What can teachers do to promote learning? This is one of the essential goals of instructors in many language classrooms. According to Vygotsky and other social interactionists, teachers should not merely act as disseminators of knowledge. By assuming the role of mediator, teachers may further enhance learning and help their learners become effective and independent. This paper presents a study that investigated prospective teachers' perceptions about the different features of mediation. In the study 74 college students in a teacher training program and 45 teacher interns in high schools were surveyed on their perceptions about different features of mediation. The teacher interns were also requested to assess how often they carried out these features. The findings reveal significant differences between the two groups of prospective teachers and between teacher interns' responses to the "ideal" and the "practice" of mediation. Details of the results are discussed, followed by research suggestions and instructional implications.