Classroom Interaction in TESOL

På de högre seminarierna vid Institutionen för språkdidaktik presenteras och diskuteras pågående såväl som avslutad forskning, både av våra egna forskare och forskare som gästar oss.

Abstract

Researchers of classroom interaction have investigated interactional dynamics of language classrooms and documented, for example, how questions are asked, responses are formulated, student utterances are evaluated, and gestures are deployed. Each English language classroom, however, is unique in many ways and it is therefore not easy to identify aspects of student-teacher interaction and learner-learner interaction that facilitate language learning. Any attempt to generalize findings from one context as a recipe to a teacher in another context then can be challenging if not problematic. Nevertheless, researchers need to continuously report findings from different classrooms by drawing on naturally occurring classroom interaction data, and systematically collect instances of engaging language classroom interactions that are conducive to learning.

In this presentation, I will present some conversation analytic research findings that portray the interactional dynamics of English language (Lx) classrooms in Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Turkey. I will argue that although it may be problematic to generalize some of these findings, the empirical evidence can still feed into both the growing body of research into classroom interaction and can inform teacher education and professional development. Implications for pedagogy and language teacher education will be discussed.