Performance of Mediation and Situational Constraints of China’s Secondary School EFL Teachers

Abstract

This paper concerns China's secondary school EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers' implementation of mediation to explore why there are so few mediative classrooms and what can be done to make language classrooms more mediative. The questionnaire survey is employed for the data collection in terms of teachers' mediative practices and constraints. From the data gathered in a questionnaire survey of 152 secondary school EFL teachers, the findings indicate that most EFL teachers are in no position to mediate students' learning due to situational constraints that they encounter. Most of the teacher participants view the lack of advice from relevant experts and of training on implementing the mediator as the most influential of all the constraints. As such, the paper tries to reveal reflective implications and positive demonstrations for EFL teacher practitioners by providing some reference evidence for policy makers, curriculum developers, and educators.