English Language Teaching in its Social Context

CONSTRAINTS AND RESOURCES IN CLASSROOM TALI< 91understanding are necessary. There are many different kinds of interaction that may occurin these settings, but I group them into two broad types: teacher-learner interaction andlearner-lcarner interaction. Both have been the subject of considerable research, and theirpotential to facilitate (or hinder) language learning has been much debated. I look attranscribed examples of learning talk to try to understand how social interaction facilitateslearning.The first example is an extract from a teacher-learner interaction; the second, anextract from a learner-learner interaction. (In the transcriptions that follow; x’s inparentheses indicate an unintelligible, brief exclamation or word; a left square bracketindicates overlap; colons indicate lengthening of the previous sound; the equals sign indicatesthat the turn continues below at the next equals sign; and three ellipsis dots indicate a pauseof about one second.Teacher: Put the umbrella . . .Student: Put the umbrella on theyoorTeacher: On thefloor. . .Student: . . . between . . .Teacher: . . . between. . .Student: . . . the booksheyand the TCiTeacher: good.In this example of interaction in an ESL classroom, it is easy to distinguish teacher fromstudent. The teacher prompts and gives feedback, while the studcnt produces language aspart of a task (hcre, placing objects in a picture as a way of practicing prepositions).That such classroom interaction is easily recognizable is often taken as evidence of itsartificiality. The characteristic pattern has the teacher doing most of the talking while thestudents act as rather passive responders and followers of directions. As Anthony Edwardsand David Westgate (1987) put it, classroom talk seems to run along “deep grooves,” even insettings that aim to break ncw ground. Students “have only very restricted opportunities toparticipate in the language of the cla~sroom,”as John Sinclair and David Brazil (1982) note.What makes classroom talk the way it is? How does it differ from interaction in othersettings, and how can it be brought in line with prescnt-day critical and constructivist goalsfor education?Learner 1:Learner 2:Learner 1:Learner 2:Learncr 1:Learner 2:Learner 1:Learner 2:Learner 1:Learner 2:Learner 1:Learner 2:Learner 1:Learncr 2:Learner 1:Here I - sometimes go to the beach (xxxxxs)Pebble Beach?Not Pebble Beach. My (sxxxxx)/They near - Oh,yeah.[UhuhWow. 1s it good?Yeah, I think so.But I think here the beach not beautfulO:h, re::ally?Yes. It’s not white. The sand is not white./UhuhAnd the water -you cannot swim.1 see becauseyeah! We can swim but=[This water is -[=the water is cold.