OK, who’s got number one? Permeable Triadic Dialogue, covert participation and the co-construction of checking episodes

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The three-part Initiation, Response, Follow-up (IRF) cycle, or Triadic Dialogue, has been shown to be a common pattern in classroom discourse, and is widely used in EFL classrooms. The value of Triadic Dialogue has been debated in general education, where it has attracted criticism for being over-formulaic and restrictive, although recent research has pointed to the range of functions that may be fulfilled by the follow-up move. But how do teachers and learners actually work within this pattern in the adult EFL context? This paper examines lesson extracts from two multilingual Business English lessons, focusing first on how the teachers embed a variety of language functions within Triadic Dialogue used in checking episodes. It then goes on to investigate how the students engage in a variety of covert individual and group activities during checking episodes. It concludes by arguing that Triadic Dialogue may be viewed as a ritualistic framework, with points of permeability where teachers can initiate embedded extensions and students can enact their own personal agendas. It also argues that the checking episode itself may be viewed as a hybrid, exhibiting multiple macro functions in the wider classroom discourse and process.