Classroom Interaction Research Articles

Explanations for language choice in the social context of the L2 classroom

AbstractThe use of students’ first language (L1) in additional language (L2) instruction has been a recurring theme in language education research. While research has documented the amount of L1 use and its purposes in L2 instruction, little research has investigated the multifaceted motives that influence language choices at the micro level of social activity where language learning takes place. This study contributes new perspectives by exploring the beliefs of teachers and students from two cases of Norwegian use during English lessons, applying video‐stimulated recall in semistructured interviews to elicit reflections about observed language choices in concrete classroom interactions. The findings revealed the complexity of factors influencing language choice in the L2 classroom. First, although teachers agreed on a mainly English ideal, competing beliefs led to varying instructional practices. Second, monolingual ideals were stronger among the students in comparison with their teachers, but these ideals operated alongside an affective dimension of language choice in interactions with the teacher and group work with peers. The study demonstrates how teacher and student beliefs are influenced by macro‐level sociopolitical discourses about multilingualism and indicates that language choice is influenced by such beliefs in combination with more temporary stances and roles.

Pedagogical Interaction and Student Engagement at Selected University

This quantitative study examined pedagogical interaction and student engagement in a university in Guangdong, China, involving 364 students and 132 teachers. Surveys evaluated pedagogical strategies, including reflective, inquiry-based, and collaborative learning, alongside cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of student engagement. Professional development was measured by the establishment of training systems aimed at enhancing students' capacity to engage in classroom interactions, ensuring that teachers progressively cultivate active participation.The findings show that teachers frequently facilitate teamwork, reflect on their teaching practices, and set clear expectations for group activities. They also promote inquiry-based learning by fostering interactive environments where students exchange ideas and engage in discussions. In problem-based learning settings, teachers guide students through research, data analysis, and presentations. However, Spearman’s rho correlation analysis found no significant relationship between teaching strategies and student engagement, suggesting that changes in one do not necessarily affect the other. This indicates that factors beyond pedagogy, such as student motivation or external influences, may impact engagement. The study highlights the need for more personalized learning approaches and enhanced support systems to encourage participation. And, continuous professional development remains crucial, ensuring educators can create environments that nurture meaningful student engagement, regardless of instructional strategies used.

The Application of Cooperative Principle in Classroom Language between Teachers and Students

The Cooperative Principle, as proposed by H.P. Grice, has been increasingly applied in educational settings to enhance communication between teachers and students. This paper reviews the application of the Cooperative Principle in various educational contexts, highlighting its significance in fostering effective classroom interactions. The principle, which emphasizes the importance of cooperation in conversation, is analyzed through different studies focusing on questionnaires, childhood education, online education, and language instruction. The paper, using case studies on the application of the maxims of quantity and quality in language instruction. It suggests that teachers should provide concise instructions and offer corrective feedback to enhance student engagement and language acquisition. In conclusion, the Cooperative Principle plays a vital role in educational communication, yet its effectiveness is influenced by individual and regional differences. Teachers are encouraged to adapt their lesson plans to incorporate the principle, ensuring more effective and supportive learning environments.

Applying conversation analysis to classroom interactions: students’ ‘oh’-prefaced utterances and the interactional management of explanations

ABSTRACT This study serves as an example of Conversation Analytic (CA) research with a focus on the interactional management of learning in classroom interactions, while simultaneously illustrating the several steps and procedures used for conducting these analyses. In this case, the method of CA is used to study students’ ‘oh’-prefaced utterances in one-to-one classroom interactions centred around explanations. The interactions are studied from the participants’ perspective by means of a turn-by-turn analysis of the selected fragments on the basis of video recordings and detailed transcripts, as is common practice in CA. This study aligns with previous CA research focusing on the details of classroom interaction relating to students’ learning processes. The results of the close analysis of the data provide insight into the orientation teachers and students show to interactionally exhibited knowledge displays in relation to the entire explanation activity they are involved in. This detailed analysis of one-to-one explanation interactions in secondary school classrooms provides insight into students’ learning processes as well as into the accompanying teacher practices.

Design Thinking: A Creative Teaching Practice

Design Thinking is an ideology and a process; it’s all about solving complex problems in a user-centric way. It was created as a way of taking the processes and approaches that designers use and applying them to problems that designers don’t typically encounter. This approach is been widely used in the food and healthcare industry even in the design field or any field where the consumers and their needs are at the core. Various studies showed design thinking as an effective instructional methodology to develop students' creativity, innovation, collaboration, and non-linear problem-solving skills, among the 21st-century skills. In a typical classroom scenario, the teacher asks students questions accepting a ‘right answer’ from them without giving any importance to the creative and holistic development of the students. NEP 2020 primarily focuses on the conceptual understanding of the students. It is a teacher’s responsibility to provide students with an interactive classroom environment for developing 21st-century skills and competencies among them. The author’s ubiquitous goal is to present Design Thinking as an effective and creative teaching practice.

Types of Questions Asked by Teachers at Primary School 077786 Tuhembaruzo in Classroom Interaction

This study aims to analyze the types of teacher questions in the teaching and learning process in three study groups and to analyze student activeness in the learning process at SD Negeri 077786 Tuhembaruzo. To obtain the results of this research, a descriptive qualitative method was used because this research focuses on phenomena that occur in the classroom. After analyzing it was found that there were 3 types of questions used by teachers in the study groups, namely procedural, convergent and divergent types of questions. the type of teacher questions in the three study groups at SD Negeri 077786 Tuhembaruzo was more convergent type than divergent and procedural types, namely 57, 23% of questions. While the teacher's procedural type questions amounted to 19.07% and the divergent type amounted to 23.68%.

An andragogical proposal to improve teaching skills at the university level

The development of andragogy training enhances the competencies of university teachers. This study aimed to propose a training program in andragogy to improve teaching effectiveness at the university level. Using a quantitative methodology within a non-experimental design, the research included a sample of 193 teachers, using surveys and questionnaires as instruments. The results revealed that, in general, teaching competencies were at a moderate level, with particular emphasis on strategies that foster intrinsic motivation and opportunities for reflection, self-assessment, and evaluation of adult learners' motivation levels. Generally, the results highlight that andragogy training strengthens teaching competencies and enriches classroom interaction.

The Analysis of English Teacher Talk Modification in Classroom Interaction of 2nd Grade Students at MTsN 6 Kubang Putiah

This research was due to some problems that were found in MTsN 6 Kubang Putih. First, teacher gave less pauses during her talk in the classroom. Teacher talk should be give more pauses for students’ comprehension. Second, the teacher did not do self-repeat frequently. She only does it sometimes. Self-repeat in teacher talk also need to be done frequently. Self-repeat is when the teacher repeat her sentence or word for the students to get a better understanding. This research was descriptive qualitative. , the subject of the research is the teacher and students of English class of the second grade in MTsN 6 Kubang Putih in academic year 2021. There is six class and one class consist of 30 students. The researcher focused on teacher’s talk in the classroom interaction in English class. The researcher used purposive sampling to choose the student to be interviewed or participant. The data of the present study are collected through observation in the classroom and conducting interview. The researcher found that the modifications seen in teacher talk in language classrooms, including a slower rate of speech, longer and more frequent pauses, exaggerated and simplified pronunciation, more basic vocabulary, less subordination, more declaratives and statements versus questions, and more self-repetition, were all present. This supports the findings from Chaudron and Dodu's study of modification of teacher talk in language classrooms. The findings of this research highlighted the importance of teacher modifications in language teaching. It is essential for teachers to vary their speech rate, use pauses, and stress particular words in order to emphasize the messages they are trying to communicate within the classroom. Self-repeat can aid learners in understanding the instructional content better. Additionally, teachers should incorporate simple vocabulary within their discussions, and use more declarative senteces. Modifying the teacher talk is an effective strategy in helping learners better comprehend the material being presented.

‘Creating strong Sámi children’: teachers’ positioning of heritage language students

ABSTRACT This article presents an ethnographic study of Sámi heritage language education in public schools in a city in Norway. The Sámi people, the only recognised Indigenous people in Europe, are reclaiming their language and culture after intense assimilatory efforts by the Norwegian state. Based on ten weeks of fieldwork in Sámi heritage language (HL) education in an urban setting far from the Sámi core areas, the current article investigates how Sámi teachers and students negotiate subject positions in HL education based on Sámi culture, values, and traditional knowledge. The researcher observed lessons, wrote field notes, collected teaching materials, conducted interviews, and made video and audio recordings of classroom interactions. The analysis demonstrates how the teachers purposefully and iteratively attempted to position their students as Sámi and how the students responded to their teachers’ construction of a Sámi subject position. The findings suggest that HL teachers need to recognise and accommodate the complex and diverse connections that HL students have with their culture, language, and community, particularly in contexts of historical colonisation and assimilation. By making multiple subject positions available to students, teachers can contribute to a more inclusive and empowering learning environment that acknowledges the nuances of HL students’ subjectivities.

Speaking like a ‘good student’: Norms and deviations in contemporary upper secondary education in Denmark

Abstract Based on a linguistic ethnographic study of student–teacher classroom interactions, this article sheds light on language norms in a contemporary Danish STX school (upper secondary education, also known as gymnasiums). The analysis reveals that neither classrooms with the explicit teaching of an ‘academic register’ nor classrooms where teachers orient towards a youth norm constitute spaces where students have equal access to perform as good students. Even when students can decode and reproduce the language preferred by the teachers, they do not experience an equal opportunity to conform to this. It is argued that performing linguistically as good and competent students is more complex than just adapting to a specific school norm, as the students have to navigate different teacher’s norms as well as peer norms emphasising authenticity.

Impact and Functions of Questioning in English Classes

This study offers valuable insights into how English teachers in Nepali secondary schools are utilizing questioning techniques in the classroom, highlighting both the strengths and challenges of current practices. Adopting a qualitative research design for the study, eight secondary-level English teachers from four community schools in the Rupandehi district were selected as informants. The data were elicited through classroom observation and semi-structured interviews. First, classroom observation of eight teachers was carried out. Then, they were interviewed, and the data were processed. It was found that the teachers employed a range of questioning types, including higher-order, lower-order, and follow-up questions. These varied approaches aimed to foster interactive classroom environments and enhance students' communicative abilities. Critical thinking and brainstorming questions were also used, suggesting an effort to develop students' analytical skills. Most students responded positively to being questioned, indicating a preference for interactive engagement. However, a minority of students expressed fear of making mistakes, which could hinder their participation. Some teachers occasionally used an inappropriate tone, such as shouting or displaying anger, leading to irrelevant or unsuitable questions. This approach negatively impacted student motivation and participation. The findings highlight the importance of using a variety of questioning techniques to promote critical thinking and communication skills. Teachers should be mindful of their tone and approach when asking questions to avoid creating a fearful or uncomfortable classroom environment. There is a need for ongoing professional development to help teachers refine their questioning strategies, ensuring they are effectively fostering student engagement and critical thinking. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how questioning practices can be optimized in English language teaching to improve student learning outcomes in Nepali classrooms.

Taking an argumentation approach to statistical investigations: developing student data-ing practices

AbstractResearch literature has provided considerable insight as to how young students might come to deeper understandings of statistical concepts, processes and representations through investigations. However, ‘data-ing’—the critical thinking aspects of decision-making while engaging in statistical investigations—has shown to be more difficult to grasp. Data-ing aspects of statistical investigations identified in literature as particularly challenging include: generating researchable questions, knowing when or how to apply statistical knowledge, seeing a need for evidence to support conclusions, and knowing how to use data as evidence. Argumentation practices necessitate a focus on the use of evidence to logically support a claim, thereby offering potential to focus students on the sufficiency and quality of evidence and the conclusions that can be drawn. As such, argumentation offers potential to support students to engage in data decision-making practices. In the research described here, an argumentation focus was used to guide a statistical investigation with a class of 9–10-year-old students in a suburban Australian school. Analysis of classroom interactions and children's work samples suggested that taking an argument-based focus supported students’ developing capacity to overcome the aforementioned challenges and to engage in critical, decision-making practices with authentic, messy data within the context of the investigation.

Semiotic Packaging of Teacher Talk for Affective Recyclings: A Usage-Based Approach to Children’s Construction Development

This study examines how iconically designed teacher talk facilitates preschool novice L2 learners’ construction development through playful interactions. It combines two approaches: ethnomethodological conversation analysis and usage-based linguistics. The conversational data were retrieved from teacher-children interactions filmed at an all-English school in Japan. The microanalysis of 945-minute classroom interactions illustrated that when a part of teacher talk was packaged with iconic semiotic resources, such as gestures, situated meanings, tones of voice, and affective stances, it became accessible L2 resources for the children to learn and recycle in their subsequent utterances. Simultaneously, the analysis also revealed the pragmatic mechanism of teachers’ assignment of interactional responsibility, inviting children to perform language learning of target constructions through recyclings. The recycled part of the teacher talk indicated the children’s microgenetic usage-based language learning as they modified and developed L2 constructions to accomplish certain social actions—sanction of a deviated action, attention-getting, and storytelling in situ. This study indicates that language learning opportunities can be integrated into children’s processes of achieving specific social actions, and language learning performance can be invited as an appropriate practice in situ by certain teacher talk designs.

Classroom Interactions Facilitate a Sense of Belonging in Remote STEM Classes: Lessons from a Large-Scale Quantitative Study

AbstractDuring the global COVID-19 pandemic, instructors strove to facilitate student learning, engagement, and community in an unfamiliar environment, while students adapted to a college experience that differed from their expectations. This context provided the opportunity to identify factors that increased undergraduates’ sense of belonging in remote STEM classrooms. We analyzed responses from 1589 students in 26 undergraduate STEM courses at a large R1 research university in Likert-style surveys to assess how the remote modality affected their sense of belonging in their STEM course. Likewise, we analyzed data from 22 instructors about their pedagogical mindset and implementation of classroom activities. K-means clustering of student survey responses sorted classes into four significantly distinct clusters. Student responses in cluster 1 revealed an increased sense of belonging in the post-survey, whereas students in cluster 4 reported a decreased sense of belonging. Further, we observed that a higher frequency of active learning activities (student–student and student-instructor interactions) and instructor type (teaching faculty) correlated with an increased sense of belonging. Many studies have investigated alterations in students’ sense of belonging; our study contributes by identifying activities that enhance a sense of belonging in remote STEM classrooms. Moreover, our findings from a quantitative study allow us to propose ways instructors can modify their courses to increase student sense of belonging and insulate students from the isolation of remote classrooms.

Digital Literacy Practice: Pedagogical Approach with CoPORA Model on Students’ Performances in Writing Classroom

Objective: This study aims to describe the impact of the CoPORA model on EFL university students’ performances in accessing, communicating, integrating, evaluating, and creating information using social media in a writing classroom. Method: Data were collected using interview techniques from EFL university students and analyzed descriptively to achieve the study's objectives. Results: The CoPORA model in pedagogical digital literacy practices enables students to master English vocabulary, be motivated to communicate, develop social identity, and manage and evaluate information effectively. Key performances included creating and communicating argumentative texts with readers on social media platforms. Social media usage facilitated checking trusted sources and contents, communicating information with friends, lecturers, and followers, making cross-references among digital content and facts, proving the truth of contents, and writing and communicating argumentative texts. Novelty: The study found that pedagogical digital literacy practices using the CoPORA model positively contribute to students' mutual contributions to language learning, cognition, and social interaction in English essay-writing classrooms.

Teacher-students interactions and Students’ attitude at international science faculty classes: in the context of biology and chemistry departments

In the context of globalization of education, where students often come from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, interactions between teachers and students play a key role in effective learning experiences. This research emerged from awareness of the need to understand how interactions between teachers and students occur in international classrooms, particularly in biology and chemistry departments. This research aims to analyze differences in student interactions in international classes based on science faculties. This research is comparative research obtained through random sampling. The sample for this research was 88 students who were enrolled in the international class program at the science faculty. Data was collected using an in-class interaction instrument with 29 items. The analysis technique uses descriptive and independent sample t-tests. These findings indicate that there are significant differences in the level of interaction between students majoring in biology and chemistry in international classes. Apart from that, classroom interaction also provides opportunities for collaboration between students so that they can increase their self-confidence in their learning abilities. Building strong relationships among students also contributes to increasing positive attitudes towards learning through motivation and engagement.

The Impact of Teacher-Student Interaction in Middle School Classrooms on Student Learning Outcomes: A Comparison Between China and The United States

The dynamic interaction between teachers and students in middle school significantly influences educational outcomes, a topic that has garnered extensive attention. Despite the focus, existing studies often overlook the nuanced differences in teacher-student interactions between varying educational systems like those of China and the United States. This paper explores the distinct approaches to teacher-student interaction in these two countries and their impact on student learning outcomes. Comparative analysis reveals that cultural, pedagogical, and structural differences between the Chinese and American educational systems lead to varied effectiveness in academic practices and student engagement. Chinese students often excel in standardized testing, whereas American students show stronger critical thinking and creativity capabilities. Based on these findings, the paper suggests adopting cross-cultural best practices in educational strategies to enhance student engagement and global learning outcomes. Recommendations include incorporating more interactive teaching methods in China and increasing focus on foundational knowledge in the US to balance the respective strengths and weaknesses of each system.

Using an evidence-informed reflection tool to develop understandings of feedback talk

ABSTRACT Research-based and practical reflection tools can enable systematic analysis of practice and contribute to deeper understandings of classroom processes. An empirically based, evidence-informed reflection tool was developed to support teachers to recognise feedback talk and how it is built into classroom interactions. The tool, titled the feedback talk framework, enabled teachers to reflect on their feedback talk and effect changes in practice and feedback literacy. The feedback talk framework was refined through a survey and semi-structured interviews with teachers for use as a reflection tool and resulted in three overarching feedback talk themes: informing, confirming and validating, and questioning. Results illuminated how teachers used the tool to identify and reflect on feedback talk, strengthening our argument that using an empirically derived feedback talk framework can support evidence-based approaches to teacher reflection. Suggestions and implications for the utility of the reflection tool in a range of contexts are then provided.

Teacher educational qualifications and the quality of teacher–student interactions in senior high school classrooms in Ghana: Could teacher self‐efficacy bridge the qualifications gap?

Teacher educational qualifications and the quality of teacher–student interactions in senior high school classrooms in Ghana: Could teacher self‐efficacy bridge the qualifications gap?

“They are not losing anything”: preschool educators’ language ideologies and use for young emergent multilinguals labeled with disabilities

This study examines preschool educators’ language ideologies and use in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) classrooms for young emergent multilinguals labeled with disabilities (EMLWDs). EMLWDs require services supporting both their linguistic and disability needs; however, current policies either address their linguistic or disability needs. One equity-oriented approach for preparing EMLWDs is through inclusive DLBE. Educators’ language ideologies can enhance or constrain EMLWDs’ access to equitable multilingual spaces. For example, educators’ misconceptions regarding the bilingualism of EMLWDs restrict their access to DLBE. Therefore, there is limited research concerning EMLWDs conducted in preschool DLBE settings. This study aims to fill this literature gap by focusing on educators’ language ideologies and use for EMLWDs in preschool DLBE classrooms, using language ideology and language policy theories, as well as Disability Studies in Education perspective. As an ethnographic study, the data were collected via participant observations, interviews, and recording classroom interactions. The interview data were analyzed using a constant-comparative method, and the video data were analyzed following Erickson’s five-step inductive approach. The findings revealed educators’ three primary language ideologies: multilingual language ideologies, heteroglossic language ideologies, and ideologies that reinforced English dominance. Educators’ language use revealed English as the dominant language and translanguaging for several purposes, such as to scaffold children’s understanding.