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MEDD 6706 Analysis of Spoken Discourse

Lecture 9:Classroom discourse

analysis

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Focuses of the slides

Comparing Patterns in three types of conversation Classroom conversations Social chit-chats Service encounters

Reasons for the patterns Classroom discourse patterns &

SLA

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Classroom discourse patterns

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Studies of classroom discourse Research on classroom discourse analysis began in the

1970s.

One seminal (classical, famous) study was conducted by Sinclair and Coulthard (1975).

The authors examined the patterns of teacher-student exchanges (talk) in different transactions.

Transactions refer to different phases of a classroom activity, e.g., teaching a grammar item (e.g., use of tense markers)

Presentation of grammar rules (Transaction 1) Checking understanding (Transaction 2) Students being engaged in consolidation tasks (Transaction 3)

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The IRF pattern in teacher-student talk Sinclair & Coulthard (1975) identified

the following acts:

Initiation (I) by the teacher Response (R) by students Follow-up (F) by the teacher

The three acts appear in predictable, repeated patterns (e.g., I-R-F, I-R-F/I-R-F)

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Example of the IRF pattern

T: So, can you read question two, Junya? (I)

J: [Reading from book] Where was Sabina when this happened? (R)

T: Right, yes, (F)

where was Sabina. In Unit 10, where was she? (I)

J: Er, go out… (R)

T: She went out, yes. (F)

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IRF -- II = an initiation act

an act produced by a speaker which is intended to elicit a response from another speaker (usually the addressee).

It sets up the topic and verbal actions for the rest of the IRF segment.

The act is usually realized in a question or an instruction for doing something. It is usually carried out by the teacher.

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IRF -- R

R= a response act

an act produced by the second speaker in response to the initiation (I)

The response is usually an answer to the question raised by the teacher or an instruction provided by the teacher.

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IRF -- F F= a follow-up act

an act produced by the teacher as a follow-up on the student’s response (i.e., a response to the response).

It usually first acknowledges the student’s effort,

and then develops further or ends the topic set by the initiation act; no new topic is introduced in the act.

It tends to evaluate/comment on the response that the student has produced in the response act.

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F/IIn some situations, a follow-up act can be followed immediately by an initiation act, which starts a new initiation of another IRF within the same turn, i.e., F/I, .e.g.,

T: So, can you read question two, Junya (Ii)J: [Reading from book] Where was Sabina when this

happened? (Ri) T: Right, yes, (Fi)

where was Sabina. In Unit 10, where was she? (Iii)

J: Er, go out… (Rii) T: She went out, yes. (Fii)

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Discourse patterns in settings outside of the

classroom

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Exchange patterns in everyday conversations

Similar acts can also be found in real-world discourse (i.e., that takes place outside of the classroom), e.g.,

Social chit-chats between friends Conversations between a native

speaker and a non-native speaker Service encounters

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Social chit-chat A: What’s the last day of the month? Ii

B: Friday Ri

A: Friday… That’s Fred’s birthday.

FiIii

B: Oh, really? Rii

A: We’re gonna throw a surprise party for him. Iiii

B: Oh, that’s nice. Riii

A: You want to come? Iiv

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At the dinner table

Husband: The curry is hot

I

Wife: That’s lovely R

Husband: …(silence, frowning)

Possibly a silent F (with non-verbal cues)

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Conversation between ESL learner & native speakerA: What happened? Ii

B: I’ve just poured some soup on the floor. Ri

A: You poured…

what? [looking confused] What for?

Fi

Iii

B: …I holding the big pot. And I wasn’t careful. So, ooo, I poured soup.

Rii

A: Oh, you mean you’ve spilled it. You like phew [miming B’s spilling]. Like oops, you spilled //spilled the soup.

Are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself huh?

Fii

Iiii

B: Yeah, yeah, I mean I spilled it. Yeah, spilled it. I’m okay.

Riii

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Exchange patterns in service encounters Service encounters refer to the interactions in various settings where a service provider interacts with a service recipient (client, customer, etc), e.g.,

Doctor-patient talk at a medical clinic Lawyer-defendant talk at a lawyer firm Waitress-customer talk at a restaurant Salesperson-customer talk at a department store

Can you name a few more examples of service encounters?

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Examples of IRF in specific service encounters

Receptionist: Kowloon Shangri-La, how can I help you?

Ii

Guest: Yes, I’d like to make a table reservation. Ri

Receptionist: At which restaurant please, Ma’m? Iii

Guest: Oh, Napa, I’m sorry. Rii

Receptionist: That’s okay. I’ll put you through. One moment

please.

FiiIiii

Guest: Thank you. Riii

Receptionist: You’re welcome, Ma’m. Fiii

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Activity 1 Identify the I, R, F, R/I, and F/I in the

dialogues provided.

In Dialogue 3, A stops B several times when B is in the middle of asking about supreme pizzas. Why doesn’t A allow B to complete her questions?

Who seems to be in control of each of the three conversations?

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A comparison of outside-of-classroom discourses and classroom discourse

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Major differences

Realizations of I-R-F patterns Variety of initiation acts Variety of response acts Variety of follow-up acts

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Differences in I-R-F realization

patterns Regular I-R-F-I-R-F in classroom transactions

Less regular I-R-(F) patterns in non-classroom discourses

I-R-(ambiguous F) (at the dinner table) I-R-I-R-F-I-R (chit-chat between the 2 friends) I-R-I-R-F/I-R (NNS-NS conversation) I-R-I-R-F/I-R-F (Table reservation at hotel)

F is not realized non-classroom discourses as frequently as it is in classroom discourse.

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Differences in initiation acts In classroom exchanges, initiation acts are

realized mostly in questions and instructions produced by teachers mainly in classroom discourse

IN service encounters, initiation acts are realized mostly in questions raised and occasional instruction by the service provider

In social chit-chats/casual conversations, the initiation can be done by any participant. It does not have to be a question. It could be a statement, e.g., ‘The curry is hot.’

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Differences in questions raised in initiation acts

Mostly Display questions in classroom discourse

Usually Referential (real information) questions in non-classroom discourses

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Display questions Features of display questions

not genuine questions for some information that the T does not know

T already knows the answers (or has ‘model answers’ to the questions she/he asks)

Display questions are usually asked to assess students’ knowledge/learning, and

to elicit responses for practice or other teaching purposes.

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Elicitation by display questions

Questions which are asked

to generate ideas

to rehearse a skill

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More examples of display questions—for elicitationExample 1 [Drawing out Ss’ background ideas for

teaching]T: What’s this place [T points at a postcard]? Class: Stanley Market T: Good. Today, we’re going to talk about Stanley.

Example 2 [Eliciting a response to rehearse a pattern]T: Were they happy? [question phrased to elicit

only one response]Class: Yes, they were happy. T: Good. Say that again, ‘They were happy’. Class: They were happy. T: Remember to say ‘were’

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Display questions– for AssessingThese questions are asked to assess students’ learningExample: after learning the rules of past verb construction:

T: Tell me the past form of ‘kick’. Ss: kicked. T: How about ‘keep’, class? Can you remember? Ss: kept. T: I’m going to give you a word I haven’t shown you before.

Here, ‘pick’. Ss: … [silence]. T: Does it spell like ‘kick’. Yeah. So? Ss: …picked. T: Good.

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Referential (real information) questions Referential questions are genuine questions.They are raised because the questioner does not have the answers, e.g.,

What happened? [dialogue between the NS and NNS]I poured the soup.

What is the last day of the month? [social chit-chat]Friday.

At which of our restaurants please? [table-booking]Oh, Nappa. I’m sorry.

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Reasons for the differences in questions In the classroom setting, Ts and Ss are concerned with

learning

Display questions for assessment are used to draw out Ss’ performance for assessment

Display questions for elicitation are used to draw out Ss’ background experience to provide ideas about a topic

Display questions for practice are used to make students rehearse/practise some linguistic structures/responses

In classrooms, Ts are less concerned with ‘real conversations’ with Ss.

In non-classroom settings, we ask questions usually because we don’t have the answers/information and want others to tell us the answers/provide us with the information.

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Differences in responses In classroom discourse, display questions are designed in such a way that they allow very little flexibility for the responses that students make (i.e., with limited negotiability), e.g.,

Were they happy? Yes they were happy. (fixed language to rehearse the sentence)

What’s this? ‘Stanley’ fixed propositional content

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Differences in follow-up types Follow-up in classroom settings is primarily evaluative, e.g.,

T: What tense do I use in the sentence? Ss: Past tense. T: Good.

S: Er, go out…T: She went out, yes.

T: What’s the answer to Question 5? S: Tsim Sha Tsui. T: Tsim Sha Tsui? [Repetition and raised pitch imply a

negative evaluation and an initiation to provide a correct answer]

Ss: No, the Stanley Market T: Yes, it’s Stanley. Good

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Differences in follow-up Non-classroom discourses exhibit a greater

variety of follow-upsA: What’s the last day of the month? B: FridayA: Friday (repetition)

B: …I was holding this big pot. And I wasn’t careful enough.

A: Oh, you mean you’ve spilled it. [offer interpretation & seek claridfication]

A: The curry is hot B: That’s lovelyA: …(silence as a sign of frustration with the response)

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Reasons for differences in follow-up Evaluative feedback is given as follow-up

when the speaker has the authority over the other speaker (e.g., a teacher, a parent, a police office interrogating a suspect, a doctor commenting on a patient’s diet, etc.)

when the situation requires evaluation (e.g., classroom, disciplining a child, providing medical consultation)

Evaluative follow-up is not expected in social chit-chats. Too much evaluation may offend the other speaker. People usually only expect interpretation, silence, agreement, clarification, etc.

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Activity 2 Identify all initiation acts in the dialogues

provided.

State whether the questions raised in the identified parts are display or referential questions?

For the display questions, decide which of them are asked to elicit responses to generate linguistic output for teaching or to rehearse language items.

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Who initiates more?

Some possible interpretations

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Who initiates more?

Classroom transactions: usually the teacher initiates more

Service encounters: usually the service provider initiates more

Social chit-chats: usually there is a more or less even distribution of initiation turns between/among the speakers

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Why such distribution patterns?

The patterns can be explained in terms of

Power distance Protocols specific to situations

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Social chit-chats

Presumably little/no marked power distance exists among participants. Anybody can claim his/her turn for initiating responding doing follow-up

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In the classroom Teachers assume a high degree of authority and

are in control of the class.

They are supposed to guide students to learn and evaluate their progress: T’s primary knower, as chair, etc. (see discussion in Lin’s article: What’s the use of ‘triadic dialogue’?)

Initiating (especial raising questions) by Ss can be interpreted as interrupting, challenging or inconsiderate in T-fronted talk.

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In service encounters Service providers are usually assumed to lead the flow of

exchanges. In this sense, they assume more power over the service recipients.

In some situations, the customer does not know where and how to start the exchange with the service provider. The service provider is expected to facilitate the exchange in guiding (initiating) customers to provide information for the provider to determine the appropriate service/product to deliver.

In some institutions, protocols (routines) are established to ensure effective communication and quality service. (e.g., ordering counters at McDonald’s, reception at clinics, check-in counters at hotels or airports)

Can you name a few other service counters where protocols are strictly followed?

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Impact on SLA

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Comments on the difference regarding SLA

Most classroom teacher-student exchanges do not reflect real-life conversations

Not conducive to second language acquisition

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Impact of classroom discourse on SLA in generalDisplay questions/elicitation

expected, short answers; some answers are too obvious; Ss should have no problem in formulating the answers.

reducing opportunities for Ss to formulate challenging answers reduced opportunities to make mistakes

reducing opportunities for negotiation of comprehensible input and output between students and teachers (crucial to language acquisition)

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Impact of Classroom Discourse on acquiring socio-pragmatics

Stifling opportunities to learn how to interact with others in social situations

T-initiation reducing opportunities for Ss to initiate topics, which is a crucial skill in social interactions

Non-negotiable responses reducing opportunities for Ss to formulate genuine answers to questions which are required in real life situation

T-follow-up reducing Ss’ opportunities to follow up on others’ responses sometimes required in social settings

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What can teachers do?

Teaching implications

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Some general suggestions Creating talk opportunities that can

allow genuine I, R and F

Creating genuine I, R and F

Teaching Ss how to do I, R and F

Adopting authentic materials

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Creating genuine talk opportunities

Free role-plays, dramas

Ss’ Presentation of project followed by Q/A

Social chit-chats (small talk, casual talk) with Ss at appropriate times

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Creating genuine initiation Raising genuine questions during classroom transactions,

e.g., T: What did you do yesterday (to elicit ideas for past verb

construction)? I S: shopping, watch TV, yum cha [R] T: So, you went shopping, you watched T.V. F But did you

have fun? [I]

Allow Ss opportunities to initiate exchanges during classroom transactions (‘reciprocal questioning’)

S: Miss Chan. [I] T: Yes, S. [R/I] S: Why don’t we need to change ‘cost’ to ‘costed’?

[R/I] T: mmm..[F] S: You need to add ‘ed’ right. Why not this one? [I]

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Encouraging genuine responses

T allows social chit-chats in the classroom for students to provide genuine responses

T shows genuine interest in Ss’ responses (and in students’ real life experiences).

T can provide genuine responses to Ss’ initiation (questions about learning matters or about T or other real life matters)

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Providing and encouraging, non-evaluative follow-upT tries not to provide evaluative follow-up when exchanges do not focus on accuracy or skills rehearsal, e.g.,

interpreting Ss’ reasons for response (You didn’t have fun. You were too tired, right?)

adding to Ss’ responses (You went shopping at X. That’s a new mall, isn’t it?).

clarifying (Do you mean…?)

T involves other students to provide follow-ups in classroom exchanges, e.g.,

S said, she... What do you think? S said, she… have you experienced this before? S said … you have anything to add?

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Explicit teaching of I, R, FTeaching the whats, i.e., what to say

in an initiation act a classroom exchange focusing on learning matters. a social chit-chat or service encounter.

in a response act adjacency pairs appropriate ideas

in a follow-up act, including silence.

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Explicit teaching of I, R, F

Teaching the when, i.e., when

they can initiate a topic they are expected to provide a response, follow-up is not needed/preferred.

Teach Ss to pick up discourse signals for the above (e.g., silence from the first speaker, etc.– see slides in Set 7).

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Adopting authentic materials Provide authentic conversation materials for listening comprehension, e.g.,

Natural social chit-chats Dialogues in films/TV dramas/news interviews/documentaries, etc. Natural service encounters

Provide transcribed scripts of natural conversations of the above types

Direct Ss’ attention to recognizing and analysing different ways of doing I, R, and F (i.e., the what, when and how) as can be found in the materials.

Direct Ss attention to discourse markers to decide when a follow-up is needed or dispreferred.

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Effective use of the I-R-F pattern in various classroom exchanges

Four modes suggested by Coulthard:

Classroom context

Least authority/control by T; I-R-F highly negotiable

Tight control by T; I-R-F non-negotiable

Managerial

Materials

Skills & systems

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The classroom context mode Ss are engaged in genuine talk expressing ideas freely.

T remains in the background facilitating S-centred talk.

T does minimal follow-up.

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T: Who wants to start first? I S1:

Me, me, me, please Miss Chan. R

T: Okay [permission]. Yeah?[nods; meaning go ahead) F/IS1 If I had a choice, I’d rather spend the money on

computer games …[looking at T seeking T’s support]R /I

T: Aha [I’m listening]. RS1:

Like coz I’d….[S continues] ---

T: Interesting [expressing interest in S’s talk] --- S2:

Can I have my turn now, Miss Chan? I

T: Sure, Bobby. Go ahead. R/IS2:

I’d donate the money to… R

Ss: Wow, you’r so generous. [laughs] Will you give me some?

I

S3”

You’ve got to be kidding. He’s so stingy. He won’t R

T: Oh, come on. You want to give Bobby a break? You still have something to say. Right, Bobby?

I

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The managerial mode T manages Ss’ participation in T-fronted talk.

T initiates talk to invite Ss to initiate topics.

T paraphrases, reports, clarifies, interprets, extend Ss’ ideas for follow-up.

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T: Today, we’re going to see what each group has produced for the project work. So, how would you like to do the sharing?

I

Jan:

Let’s take turns. R

T: Yeah, definitely you need to take turns. F

Joe:

We can do that by group numbers. I

Miu:

No, drawing lots [laughs]. R

T: You’re serious, Miu? I

Miu:

Yes, of course. R

T: Class, Miu said drawing lots. [paraphrasing]What about the rest of you? [inviting others to respond]. Do you want to draw lots?

FI

Miu:

No, by group numbers. It’s easier. R

T: Yeah, by group numbers can save time too. [extending]

F

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Materials mode T manages Ss’ participation in T-fronted talk about learning materials.

Responses are more fixed, i.e., less negotiable.

Ss are still allowed a small degree of flexibility in the use of language to express the answers.

Responses are determined by T’s initiation and ideas available from the materials (e.g., reading comprehension Qs)

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T: Ok… now… see if you can find the words in the last three paragraphs. The word means happy.

I

S1:

‘Overjoyed’. R

T: Yeah, ‘overjoyed’ is one(F). Any other? (I) F/I

Ss:

Happy, happy… R

T: No, I’m looking for a word that means happy. I’m not asking for the word ‘happy.

F

S2:

Oh, I know, I know. ‘excited’. R

T: Good. ‘Excited’ is another one. Any more? F/I

Ss:

Are there more?!! R

T Yes, one more! Can’t you find it… line 3 of the last paragraph?

F/I

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Skills and systems mode

T retains strict control over responses which are meant to rehearse skills or language items.

Responses are non-negotiable.

Sometimes the response needs to be phrased (worded) in particular ways.

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T: He went to what do we call these things the shoes with wheels?

I

S1:

ah skates R

S2:

roller skates R

T: ROLler skates ROller skates. Class. I

Ss:

ROller skates R

T: Good. One more time. ROLler…

F I

Ss ROLler skates R

T: Yes, very good. It should be ROLler skates. F

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Activity 3 In the dialogue provided in the previous

slide, where do you think a genuine question can be raised by the teacher to allow genuine communication of ideas?

What question would you raise, and why the question?

How would the dialogue develop if the question is added?

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Key concepts to remember

Triadic Discourse Format: Initiation Response Follow-up

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Key ideas to apply to teaching Ways to modify I-R-F to encourage

genuine exchanges. Coulthard’s 4 classroom discourse modes. Reciprocal Questioning: getting Ss to think

of Qs (e.g., reading text Qs) to ask other Ss (e.g., as inter-group competition)to shift cognitively/linguistically more demanding work to Ss (see Lin’s article on triadic dialogue).

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References Celce-Murcia, M. & Olshtain, E. (2000). Discourse and

context in language teaching : A guide for language teachers. Chapter 9. Cambridge: CUP.

Lin, A. M. Y. (2007). What’s the use of ‘triadic dialogue’?: Activity theory, conversation analysis, and analysis of pedagogical practices. Pedagogies, 2(2), pp. 57-76.

McCarthy, M. & Walsh, S. 2003. Discourse. In D. Nunan (ed.), Practical Language Teaching. New York: McGraw Hill.

Tsui, A. 1987. An analysis of different types of interaction in ESL classroom discourse.

Tsui, A. 2001. Classroom interaction. In R. Carter & D. Nunan (eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: CUP.