“What is the date today?”: A dialogist perspective on expert EFL teachers’ classroom interaction

• Authors: František Tůma
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article presents a micro-analysis of an EFL classroom episode in which the teacher and the pupils worked on the concepts “date” and “day” (and relatedly saying the date in English), which the learners had not fully internalized yet. Conversation analysis (CA) and concepts from sociocultural theory (SCT) are used in the analysis to reveal how the mutual understanding proceeded. It is argued that the presented dialogist perspective can cast light on the intricacies of the teaching and learning processes.

Keywords

EN

classroom interaction; dialogism; conversation analysis; English as a foreign language; learning; teaching

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Journal of Language and Cultural Education
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 52-60

Dates

published

2015-09-01

online

2015-10-15

Contributors

author

František Tůma

• Masaryk University Faculty of Education Institute for Research in School Education Poříčí 31, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic

References

• Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. London: Longman.
• Drew, P., & Heritage, J. (1992). Analyzing talk at work: an introduction. In P. Drew & J. Heritage (Eds.), Talk at work. Interaction in institutional settings (pp. 3-65). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Ehrlich, S., & Freed, A. F. (2009). The function of questions in institutional discourse. An introduction. In A. F. Freed & A. Ehrlich (Eds.), Why do you ask? The function of questions in institutional discourse (pp. 3-19). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 285-300.
• Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (2007). Second/foreign language learning as a social accomplishment: Elaborations on a reconceptualized SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 800-819.
• Gardner, R. (2013). Conversation analysis in the classroom. In J. Sidnell & T. Stivers (Eds.), The handbook of conversation analysis (pp. 593-611). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Hargreaves, L., & Galton, M. (2002). Transfer from the primary classroom: 20 years on. London: Routledge.
• Ho, D. G. E. (2005). Why do teachers ask the questions they ask? RELC Journal, 36(3), 297-310.
• Hutchby, I., & Wooffitt, R. (1998). Conversation analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press, Blackwell Publishers.
• Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Lee, Y.-A. (2006). Respecifying display questions: Interactional resources for language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 40(4), 691-713.
• Linell, P. (1998). Approaching dialogue. Talk, interaction and contexts in dialogical perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Linell, P. (2009). Rethinking language, mind and world dialogically. Interactional and contextual theories of human sense-making. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
• Mareš, J. (2009). Posledních dvacet let výzkumu pedagogické interakce a komunikace v České republice (léta 1990-2009). In Pedagogická komunikace v didaktických, sociálních a filozofických souvislostech. Sborník příspěvků z konference. (pp. 9-29). Hradec Králové: Gaudeamus.
• Margutti, P., & Drew, P. (2014). Positive evaluation of student answers in classroom instruction. Language and Education, 28(5), 436-458.
• Markee, N. (2000). Conversation analysis. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Marková, I. (1982). Paradimgs, thought, and language. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
• McHoul, A. (1978). The organization of turns at formal talk in the classroom. Language in Society, 7(02), 183-213.
• McHoul, A. W. (1990). The organization of repair in classroom talk. Language in Society, 19(03), 349-377.
• Mercer, N. (2010). The analysis of classroom talk: Methods and methodologies. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(1), 1-14.
• Mitchell, R. F. (2009). Current trends in classroom research. In M. H. Long & C. J. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching (pp. 675-705). Chichester: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky. Revolutionary scientist. London: Routledge.
• Nystrand, M., Wu, L. L., Gamoran, A., Zeiser, S., & Long, D. A. (2003). Questions in time: Investigating the structure and dynamics of unfolding classroom discourse. Discourse Processes, 35(2), 135-198.
• Ohta, A. S. (2001). Second language acquisition processes in the classroom: Learning Japanese. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Píšová, M., Hanušová, S., Kostková, K., Janíková, V., Najvar, P., & Tůma, F. (2013). Učitel expert: jeho charakteristiky a determinanty profesního rozvoje (na pozadí cizojazyčné výuky). Brno: Masarykova univerzita.
• Rampton, B., Roberts, C., Leung, C., & Harris, R. (2002). Methodology in the analysis of classroom discourse. Applied Linguistics, 23(3), 373-392.
• Schegloff, E. A. (1987). Between micro and macro: Contexts and other connections. In J. C. Alexander, B. Giesen, R. Münch, & N. J. Smelser (Eds.), The micro-macro link (pp. 207-234). Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
• Schegloff, E. A. (1991). Conversation analysis and socially shared cognition. In L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on socially shared cognition (pp. 150-171). Washington: American Psychological Association.
• Šeďová, K., Švaříček, R., & Šalamounová, Z. (2012). Komunikace ve školní třídě. Praha: Portál.
• Seedhouse, P. (2004). The interactional architecture of the language classroom: A conversation analysis perspective. University of Michigan: Blackwell Publishing.
• Ten Have, P. (2007). Doing conversation analysis (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
• Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing minds to life: Teaching, learning, and schooling in social context (Reprint edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Tůma, F. (2014a). Dialogism and classroom interaction in English language teaching: A review of Czech research. Pedagogická orientace, 24(6), 878-902.
• Tůma, F. (2014b). Dialogismus a výzkum interakce ve třídě: přehledová studie (1990-2012). Pedagogika, 64(2), 177-199.
• Vološinov, V. N. (1973). Marxism and the philosophy of language. (L. Matejka & I. R. Titunik, Trans.). New York, London: Seminar Press.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds.). Harvard University Press.
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1981). The genesis of higher mental functions. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), The concept of activity in Soviet psychology (pp. 144-188). New York: M. E. Sharpe.
• Waring, H. Z. (2009). Moving out of IRF (Initiation-Response-Feedback): A Single Case Analysis. Language Learning, 59(4), 796-824.
• Waring, H. Z. (2012). Yes-no questions that convey a critical stance in the language classroom. Language and Education, 26(5), 451-469.
• Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the mind. A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Herfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
• Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89-100.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/jolace-2015-0019