The dynamics of classroom small talk

The dynamics of classroom small talk

• Luk, Ching Man The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Issues in Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 115-132, 2003/2004

University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Applied Linguistics

2003/2004

• F Learning & Teaching
  • FG Classroom Management & Control

Theory and Practice of Teaching and Learning

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Unknown or Unspecified

This paper illustrates how classroom small talk between a teacher and students constitutes a distinct interaction pattern which varies significantly from pedagogical discourse of an institutional nature such as the initiation/response/feedback (IRF) pattern described in previous literature (Mehan, 1979 ; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975). By presenting a piece of extended small talk in an ESL secondary classroom in Hong Kong and contrasting it with a piece of typical teacher-orchestrated institutional classroom talk, I show how the teacher and students demonstrate more dynamic and less asymmetrical roles during small talk with clear evidence of active contributions to the exchange by the students in terms of topic setting, turn initiation, turn development, and negotiation of meaning. Features of the small talk resemble everyday social discourse. Implications of this kind of classroom talk on the learners’ L2 language development are explored.
[Copyright © 2003 University of California, Los Angeles.]

• English

Journal Articles

• 10504273

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/f1d5b4f2

2015-03-26