Interactional Architecture and Learning Opportunities in an ESL Classroom

• Main Author: Mostafa M. Garbaj
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lasting Impressions Press 2019-03-01
• Series: International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies
• Subjects: Classroom Interaction; ESL; Language Learning; Teacher-Student Interaction; IRF
• Online Access: http://www.eltsjournal.org/archive/value7%20issue1/10-7-1-19.pdf

Interpersonal verbal communication in the language classroom is essential for acquiring target language features and improving spontaneous oral production. This paper, thus, reports on a study that attempted to contribute to our understanding of the nature and usefulness of classroom interaction as a major component of language learning. Transcribed audio-recordings and observation reports from three advanced speaking ESL classes comprised the data used in the study. Qualitative data analysis focused on the characteristics and structure of teacher-student and student-student interaction sequences and their potential contribution to the students’ linguistic knowledge. The study attempted to address the following two questions: what is the nature and structure of teacher-student and student-student interaction and what learning opportunities do they create for language learners? The results indicated that teacher-student interactions followed a regular pattern and allowed limited student contribution. Student-student interactions, on the other hand, had longer turns and were more natural. Both types of interaction seemed to influence the learning process in different ways; the former provided explicit knowledge and comprehensible input while the latter allowed more opportunities for learners to test their communicative abilities and produce comprehensible output.