Attitudinal Meanings of Teacher Discourse in a College English Reading Class

This study analyzed a sample of teacher discourse from a college English reading class based on the attitude system from Martin’s appraisal theory. The objectives were to identify and describe the features of attitudinal resources in teacher discourse, and to investigate how attitudinal meanings contribute to the construction of a harmonious relationship between teachers and students. The participants were a female teacher and 35 undergraduates at Minnan University of Science and Technology (MNUST) in China. The data were based on classroom recordings of the discourse and its transcription. By analyzing and summarizing the distribution features of the three subsystems of the attitudinal resources in the teacher discourse, it was found that all the three kinds of attitudes—affect, judgement and appreciation were expressed and there were more positive rather than negative attitudes. The findings also showed how harmonious classroom relationships between the teacher and students were constructed, providing insights into the role of attitudinal meanings in teacher discourse and its implications, as well as exploring the guiding significance for college English reading teaching