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are connected with our ability to learn a new language well. Creating a safe classroom environment may be able to help to build learners' self-confidence. In such an environment, learners are never made to feel ashamed of mistakes. Both the teacher and learners feel self-confident and relaxed. Both acquisition and production are promoted. 5.3 Giving}Learners Positive Feedback 5.3.1 Conception of Feedback The term feedback was originally used only in the literature of engineer and cybernetics to designate the return of information to a machine so that the machine could adjust itself to}the changing conditions. Language researchers borrow it to apply it to the reactions the teacher obtain from his students and the teacher's efforts to adapt himself to the perceived reactions (Samovar and Mills, 1998:.10). Ellis defines it as "information provided by listeners on the reception and comprehension flf messages" (1994: 583-584). Richards (1985: 104) defines feedback as any information which provides a report on the result of behavior. For example, verbal or facial signals which listeners give to speakers to indicate that } they understand what the speaker is saying. Generally, feedback provides communicators with essential information concerning his or her success in accomplishing the desired objectives. Chapter Five Creating a Productive Environment in Oral Class Interaction 5.3.2 The Taxonomies of Feedback Feedback in general includes positive feedback and negative feedback. Positive feedback is expressed as teacher's approval actions, such as praise, encouragement, rewards and nodding, etc. All these are intended to weaken the learners' affective filter and to motivate them to gain a greater degree of intake. While negative feedback refers to criticism, scolding, punishment. The careful use of positive and negative feedback has always been challenging the teacher to spark the students' creativity and enthusiasm in learning. As far as the learners' acquisition and production are concerned, praise will bring about better results than criticism. Taking the purpose and results into consideration, Vigil and Oller (1976, see also in Ellis, 1994: 584) classify feedback into cognitive and affective feedback. The farmer is information got from the teacher about learners' language use, usually conveyed by sounds, vocabulary and structure; while the latter refers to emotional reactions to learners' utterances and signals such as the teacher's willingness to continue communicating, which is primarily encoded in terms of tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions. Vigil and Oller (1976) suggest that providing clear cognitive information about the problems in the learners'。响sut can prevent fossilization of errors. 3ust as correct linguistic structures can be learned with the reinforcement of positive feedback, positive affective feedback ensures the continued communication. Negative affective feedback discourages learners to continue interacting in the target language. So feedback will best function to reduce errors when the learners are highly motivated after receiving the teacher's positive affective support. In oral class, feedback usually turns up as both verbal and non-verbal form. In general, oral feedback in classroom can be of two加es: error correction and response to the content of the students message, much as in natural conversation (Shrum&Glisen, 1994). Immediate treatment of