Teachers’ Classroom Discourse Pattern for Postgraduates Majoring in Foreign Linguistics: A Perspective of Legitimation Code Theory

Abstract

“Introduction to English Linguistics (IEL)” is a professional knowledge course for postgraduates majoring in Foreign Linguistics. In traditional classrooms, teachers usually use knowledge code in their discourse, emphasizing the inculcation of theoretical knowledge in Foreign Linguistics. However, faced with large numbers of concepts, terminology, and academic opinions, students generate lots of confusion. This study quantitatively analyzes the teaching situation of IEL course under the framework of Legitimation Code Theory, and explores the influence of different teachers’ classroom discourse patterns on students’ learning efficiency. It is found that the use of knower code in teachers’ classroom discourse is an important factor in students’ learning efficiency while not being affirmatively proved to be effective in a pronounced manner, suggesting that a more advanced model of teachers’ classroom discourse pattern combining both knowledge code and knower code for postgraduates majoring in Foreign Linguistics is urgently needed.