4.4 Interviews with students…… 2

4.5 Interviews with teachers…… 2

5. Conclusion 2

References 3

1. Introduction

Why do I have these questions about the relationship between students’ emotions to their English teacher and their English learning ? 

It was one thing that aroused my interest. During my practice teaching, I was getting along with my students very well. One day, the head teacher, who teaches Chinese, asked me whether John did better in English class and made great progress. I told her that he answered questions actively in classes but I did not know whether his grade was improved or not. I asked her why she wanted to talk about this. Then she told me that she had a small chat with John and he told her that he liked me very much. So from this conversation, she thought he would make great progress in English due to his affection to me. But I found that, although he liked me very much and always asked me for help with English, he did not understand and master most of English grammars at all, so that his English grades were not improved. Because of this, some questions occur to me and drove me to find the answers. 

   As the belief commonly spreads, students’ preference is proportional to their English interest as well as their English grades; students’ degree of fear may be inversely proportional to English interest as well as their English grades. In other words, students’ preference with their English teachers could raise their interest in English and then improve their English grades; Students’ fear with their English teachers might cause the loss of interest in English and then affect their English grades. But from my experience, I do not believe that any more and put forward several questions. 

What aspects do students like or fear their teachers (teachers’ characteristics and looking, teaching methods, the way to praise and punish, teachers’ characteristics, etc.)? What are the relationships between students’ emotions, especially affection and fear, with their English interest and English grades?

I think, through this research, teachers and parents could get more accurate answers, if they want to figure out the relationships between students’ or their children’ emotions to their English teachers and their English learning, especially interest and grades. This research could also be useful for English teachers to adapt their teaching methods, when facing with some students who could learn more quickly under some pressure. 

This thesis firstly reviews some literature terms and theories. Secondly, it shows the investigations, mainly through questionnaires and interview, the results of students’ emotions to their English teachers, as well as their English interest and grades. Then, it analyzes these results and comes to the conclusions. 

Besides, I have to state several things clearly. Firstly, I was doing teaching practice in Hangzhou Greentown Yuhua School which includes primary, junior high and senior high schools. I was in the Grade One in the junior high school. Secondly, the students are very clever and have good learning ability. They have learned English since they were Grade Three in their primary schools. So they have already had a little basic knowledge of English, though they are not very good at it, especially grammars. In addition, they are kids from middle-class or upper-middle-class, whose parents could afford good after-school or off-campus learning sources. The teaching that they received after-school might influence these investigations’ results.

2.Literature Review

  2.1 Emotion