Turn Control and the Right to Speak in the Moroccan Classroom A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Turn Control and the Right to Speak in the Moroccan Classroom A Critical Discourse Analysis Abdelhak BZIOUI, PhD Abstract This article aims at studying how talk is distributed among the participants in the classrooms observed. It considers both the structure of turn-taking and the propositional content of participants‘ turns. The focus is finding out in what ways the turn-taking system in the classroom reflects a certain power structure that bears on the observation of human rights principles inside the classroom; namely, the right to speak, to self-express, to argue, to hold and voice a different opinion, and other related rights. The turn-taking sequence is analysed in light of Rymes‘ (2009) analytical framework. There are three main dimensions to this analysis of turn-taking, namely, the interactional context, the social context, and individual agency. The study shows that teachers tend to strictly maintain T-S-T exchange patterns, ask largely closed questions, and allow relatively short thinking time; a situation which would endanger the spirit of dialogue and the students‘ sense of ―I‖ in the target classes. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v10n1a11