Teacher's Language Features in Facilitating Learners' Involvement and Providing Opportunities for Learning

S:   fortunately, my dad who live in HongKong give eh. . .

T:   gave=

S:   =gave gave me a credit card = 

T:   =ooh glad to hear that . . . 

S:    but bad news [is]

Checking for confirmation

Another strategy to engage learners’ involvement is by checking confirmation. Teachers may, again, ‘genuinely’ seek clarification of students’ utterances. As the example shown, the teacher confirmed if the hour in Japan and the hour at their place were the same. Other than it lessens misunderstanding of the information brought by the students, it also facilitates more interactive exchange. Not only interactive exchange, but also broader topics can be achieved. Those teachers who seek clarification from the students are valued as being better at engaging students’ involvement than those who do not (Musumeci 1996 cited in Walsh, 2011). Here is an example of checking confirmation:

S1:   [at nine] o’clock at nine o’clock you can call= 

S2:   =in Japan same= 

T:     =it’s the same seven hours?= 

S1:   =yeah=