Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- List of contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Listening
- Chapter 2 Speaking
- Chapter 3 Reading
- Chapter 4 Writing
- Chapter 5 Grammar
- Chapter 6 Vocabulary
- Chapter 7 Discourse
- Chapter 8 Pronunciation
- Chapter 9 Materials development
- Chapter 10 Second language teacher education
- Chapter 11 Psycholinguistics
- Chapter 12 Second language acquisition
- Chapter 13 Bilingualism
- Chapter 14 Sociolinguistics
- Chapter 15 Computer-assisted language learning
- Chapter 16 Observation
- Chapter 17 Classroom interaction
- Chapter 18 English for academic purposes
- Chapter 19 English for specific purposes
- Chapter 20 Assessment
- Chapter 21 Evaluation
- Chapter 22 Syllabus design
- Chapter 23 Language awareness
- Chapter 24 Language learning strategies
- Chapter 25 Task-based language learning
- Chapter 26 Literature in the language classroom
- Chapter 27 Genre
- Chapter 28 Programme management
- Chapter 29 Intercultural communication
- Chapter 30 On-line communication
- Postscript: The ideology of TESOL
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Chapter 17 - Classroom interaction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- List of contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Listening
- Chapter 2 Speaking
- Chapter 3 Reading
- Chapter 4 Writing
- Chapter 5 Grammar
- Chapter 6 Vocabulary
- Chapter 7 Discourse
- Chapter 8 Pronunciation
- Chapter 9 Materials development
- Chapter 10 Second language teacher education
- Chapter 11 Psycholinguistics
- Chapter 12 Second language acquisition
- Chapter 13 Bilingualism
- Chapter 14 Sociolinguistics
- Chapter 15 Computer-assisted language learning
- Chapter 16 Observation
- Chapter 17 Classroom interaction
- Chapter 18 English for academic purposes
- Chapter 19 English for specific purposes
- Chapter 20 Assessment
- Chapter 21 Evaluation
- Chapter 22 Syllabus design
- Chapter 23 Language awareness
- Chapter 24 Language learning strategies
- Chapter 25 Task-based language learning
- Chapter 26 Literature in the language classroom
- Chapter 27 Genre
- Chapter 28 Programme management
- Chapter 29 Intercultural communication
- Chapter 30 On-line communication
- Postscript: The ideology of TESOL
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The term classroom interaction refers to the interaction between the teacher and learners, and amongst the learners, in the classroom. Earlier studies of second language (L2) classroom interaction focused on the language used by the teacher and learners, the interaction generated, and their effect on L2 learning. More recent studies have begun to investigate the underlying factors which shape interaction in the classroom – e.g. teacher and learner beliefs, social and cultural background of the teacher and learners, and the psychological aspects of second and foreign language learning – providing further insights into the complexities of classroom interaction.
Background
L2 classroom interaction research began in the 1960s with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of different methods in foreign language teaching in the hope that the findings would show the ‘best’ method and its characteristics. The methodology adopted was strongly influenced by first language (L1) classroom teaching research which was motivated by the need to assess objectively the teaching performance of student-teachers during practical teaching. Various classroom observation instruments have been proposed to capture the language used by the teacher and the interaction generated (see Chapter 16). These interaction analysis studies revealed that classroom processes are extremely complex and that a prescriptive approach to ascertain the ‘best’ method would be fundamentally flawed if the descriptive techniques are inadequate. Research efforts therefore turned to coping with problems of description (Allwright 1988), and the focus of classroom interaction studies shifted from prescriptive to descriptive and from evaluative to awareness-raising.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001
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