A Conversation Analytic Study of Classroom Interactional Competence

Abstract

            Classroom interaction has been the subject of investigation in a number of different settings but it remains an under-researched area in the Thai context and to date, in Thailand, there has been little published data that has adopted “Conversation Analysis” (CA) as an analytical tool to develop an in-depth understanding of classroom discourse. This study thus utilizes CA to investigate Walsh’s (2006) “Classroom Interactional Competence” (CIC) in EFL classrooms at a university in Thailand. The focus in this research is on the teacher’s role and in particular, the alignment between pedagogic goals and language use, the spaces made available for learning, and the shaping of learner contributions. Talk-in-interaction between a native English teacher and Thai learners were video recorded, transcribed and inductively analyzed. This paper illustrates how the teacher skillfully employed a range of interactional features in post-expansion sequences to shape learner contributions while at the same time opening a space for interaction/learning at times when the pedagogic purpose was on meaning-and-fluency (Seedhouse, 2004) or classroom context mode (Walsh, 2006). This study argues that if teachers are aware of their roles concerning CIC, they can acquire greater insights into their local context and this may result in professional development.