Taking the initiative in teacher fronted classroom interaction

Garton, S. (2012). Speaking out of turn? Taking the initiative in teacher-fronted classroom interaction. Classroom Discourse, 3(1), 29-45.

Background

Teacher-fronted interaction (TFI) is often perceived as limiting learners’ contributions to classroom discourse and stifling their initiative in turn taking. However, the author saw that learner initiative in TFI might create learning opportunities for learners through co-constructed interaction with teachers.

Aims

The study described how learner initiative took place in a setting where TFI dominated, and analysed its impact on classroom interaction during English language lessons.

Sample

Data were gathered from non-participant observations and audio-recordings in a university language centre in Italy. Fifteen to eighteen students, together with some university staff members and local residents of the town, formed three participant groups.

Method

Five teachers teaching English at the pre-intermediate, intermediate, and upper intermediate levels were involved in the study. A definition of learner initiative was first established from the identified literature so that episodes of learner initiative within TFI from the audio recordings could be matched, transcribed and analysed. The definition was refined during the analysis process. Using a conversational analysis (CA) institutional discourse approach, the researcher analysed participants’ interactional behaviour, the different facets of the classroom setting that were conducive to such behaviour as well as the pedagogical and linguistic practices used in these settings.

Findings

A total of 206 episodes with learner initiative were found. Results demonstrated that learner initiative comprised four main types: initiatives that focussed on understanding the activity and which were related to reactions to the teacher’s instructions and textbooks; initiatives through which learners tried to understand the language system as well as the object of study; spontaneous participation in classroom discussion; and the initiation of conversational routines by learners.

Initiatives that were inclined towards the activity and language focussed mainly on comprehension checks, clarification requests, information requests and hypothesis testing, which were regarded to be important in promoting language learning. There was no obvious pattern to where learner initiatives happened in the interactional sequences. Results showed that the teacher’s reactions to learner initiatives determined the trajectory of interaction and whether a learning opportunity occurred subsequently.

Implications

As the study showed that pedagogical practices might influence the type and number of initiatives to a large extent, the author highlighted the importance of providing more fluid patterns of interaction that would promote the number of initiatives so that learning opportunities could be created. This implied that teachers had to be more aware of the relationship between classroom interaction and language learning.

Original article retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online.