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

Tůma, František

doi:10.1515/jolace-2015-0019

Abstract

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.

References

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. London: Longman.
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 285-300.10.1111/j.1540-4781.1997.tb05480.x
Search in Google Scholar
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (2007). Second/foreign language learning as a social accomplishment: Elaborations on a reconceptualized SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 800-819.10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00670.x
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Hargreaves, L., & Galton, M. (2002). Transfer from the primary classroom: 20 years on. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar
Ho, D. G. E. (2005). Why do teachers ask the questions they ask? RELC Journal, 36(3), 297-310.10.1177/0033688205060052
Search in Google Scholar
Hutchby, I., & Wooffitt, R. (1998). Conversation analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press, Blackwell Publishers.
Search in Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
Lee, Y.-A. (2006). Respecifying display questions: Interactional resources for language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 40(4), 691-713.10.2307/40264304
Search in Google Scholar
Linell, P. (1998). Approaching dialogue. Talk, interaction and contexts in dialogical perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.10.1075/impact.3
Search in Google Scholar
Linell, P. (2009). Rethinking language, mind and world dialogically. Interactional and contextual theories of human sense-making. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Margutti, P., & Drew, P. (2014). Positive evaluation of student answers in classroom instruction. Language and Education, 28(5), 436-458.10.1080/09500782.2014.898650
Search in Google Scholar
Markee, N. (2000). Conversation analysis. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.10.4324/9781410606471
Search in Google Scholar
Marková, I. (1982). Paradimgs, thought, and language. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Search in Google Scholar
McHoul, A. (1978). The organization of turns at formal talk in the classroom. Language in Society, 7(02), 183-213.10.1017/S0047404500005522
Search in Google Scholar
McHoul, A. W. (1990). The organization of repair in classroom talk. Language in Society, 19(03), 349-377.10.1017/S004740450001455X
Search in Google Scholar
Mercer, N. (2010). The analysis of classroom talk: Methods and methodologies. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(1), 1-14.10.1348/000709909X479853
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky. Revolutionary scientist. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar
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), 135-198.10.1207/S15326950DP3502_3
Search in Google Scholar
Ohta, A. S. (2001). Second language acquisition processes in the classroom: Learning Japanese. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.10.4324/9781410604712
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Rampton, B., Roberts, C., Leung, C., & Harris, R. (2002). Methodology in the analysis of classroom discourse. Applied Linguistics, 23(3), 373-392.10.1093/applin/23.3.373
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Šeďová, K., Švaříček, R., & Šalamounová, Z. (2012). Komunikace ve školní třídě. Praha: Portál.
Search in Google Scholar
Seedhouse, P. (2004). The interactional architecture of the language classroom: A conversation analysis perspective. University of Michigan: Blackwell Publishing.
Search in Google Scholar
Ten Have, P. (2007). Doing conversation analysis (2nd ed.). London: SAGE Publications.10.4135/9781849208895
Search in Google Scholar
Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing minds to life: Teaching, learning, and schooling in social context (Reprint edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
Tůma, F. (2014a). Dialogism and classroom interaction in English language teaching: A review of Czech research. Pedagogická orientace, 24(6), 878-902.10.5817/PedOr2014-6-878
Search in Google Scholar
Tůma, F. (2014b). Dialogismus a výzkum interakce ve třídě: přehledová studie (1990-2012). Pedagogika, 64(2), 177-199.
Search in Google Scholar
Vološinov, V. N. (1973). Marxism and the philosophy of language. (L. Matejka & I. R. Titunik, Trans.). New York, London: Seminar Press.
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
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.
Search in Google Scholar
Waring, H. Z. (2009). Moving out of IRF (Initiation-Response-Feedback): A Single Case Analysis. Language Learning, 59(4), 796-824.10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00526.x
Search in Google Scholar
Waring, H. Z. (2012). Yes-no questions that convey a critical stance in the language classroom. Language and Education, 26(5), 451-469.10.1080/09500782.2012.656651
Search in Google Scholar
Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the mind. A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Herfordshire: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Search in Google Scholar
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89-100.10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x
Search in Google Scholar

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

Abstract

Paradigm

My account