Classroom Discourse Analysis: The Nature of Classroom Interaction

There are some interesting things that students often observe and ask when they participate in classroom activities. Things like the question, "How can a teacher have a good bond with his/her students when teaching?" or "How can a teacher bring all students to be actively involved in learning?". As it turns out, these questions are related to the topic that will be discussed, which is about Classroom Discourse Analysis. Discourse is a way to communicate thoughts through conversation or talk. Meanwhile, according to McCarthy (1991:5), Discourse Analysis is the study of the relationship between language and its context of use. So, it can be said that Classroom Discourse refers to the language of interaction that teachers use to their students when they communicate between each other during the process of learning activities in the classroom. Therefore, this essay will discuss four aspects that teachers should have to control classroom interactions, which can answer students' questions above. The four aspects, according to Walsh (2011: 4) include Control of the interaction, Speech Modification, Elicitation, and Repair and will be discussed one by one along with examples.

The first aspect is Control of the Interaction which is a process where the teacher controls the communication pattern such as choosing the topic of conversation, appointing whose turn it is to speak, as well as how long students speak. The teacher can even interrupt a student's answer and give the opportunity to others or change the topic of the conversation, this relates as Breen said that it is the teacher who 'organizes the interaction' (1998: 119). Meanwhile, students usually receive cues from the teacher. As in the following example:
T: Ani can you differentiate between simple present tense and simple past tense?
L1 : Simple present tense uses verb 1 while simple past tense uses verb 2.
T :Very good. Now Budi, give me an example sentence using simple present tense.
L2 : Deni... (few seconds unintelligible)=
T : Yeah, what verb does Budi use if it's a simple present tense?
L2 : Verb 1. Deni goes to school.
T : Good, that's right. Because "go" is verb 1.
The example above shows that the teacher starts the discussion by asking Ani about the difference between the two tenses that have been learned. Then the teacher gave an additional question by giving the opportunity to answer to another student, Budi. Then, the teacher seeks clarification and helps the student answer and also controls the exact content of the student's answer. From this example, it can be seen that the teacher has control in controlling interaction and controlling participation.

The next aspect is Speech Modification which is one of the defining characteristics of all Classroom Discourse. Teachers usually have a more restricted use of code, like the spoken language of parents speaking to young children, such as slower, louder, or more use of pauses and emphasis. Teachers also usually use more facial expressions and gestures to help convey meaning. There are several characteristics of spoken language in the classroom that teachers usually modify. First is the use of simple vocabulary, as well as grammar by using simpler expressions and more limited tenses. The pronunciation of words should also be clearer with slower articulation. Second, teachers also modify students' interactional resources to help students' discourse comprehension. Words such as right, all right, now, so, alright - usually discourse markers - have a very important function in signaling changes in interaction, namely as punctuation in printed pages. The Speech Modification examples is as follow:
L: I went to go to my brother-in-law's house yesterday.
T: So, what do you mean 'you went to go'?
L: Oh, my...um, I went to my brother-in-law's house yesterday.
T: Exactly!
The example shows that the teacher helps the student to restate a previously inappropriate expression by asking for additional information regarding the meaning of what the student said. From this example we can see that modified speech is key to classroom interaction which has a considerable effect on the quantity and quality of learning that takes place.

The third aspect is Elicitation which is a strategy commonly used by teachers to get responses from students by asking them questions. There are two types of questions, the first is Display Question (DP). DP is used to check or evaluate: understanding, concepts, learning, prior learning, and guide students to specific answers. The answers tend to be simple and limited, because the aim is to quickly check understanding or establish what learners already know. For example, the teacher asks the students about their understanding of the material,  such as, "What is the synonym of X?", and the students answer according to their understanding. Then there are Referential Questions (RQ), where the question requires a more natural response from the student, usually starting with a wh- question such as what, why, etc. The aim is to promote discussion or help learners improve oral fluency. For example, the teacher asks about the student's opinion on something, like "How do you think an educated person can help this society?", then students answer according to their opinion.

The last is Repair. It refers to the way a teacher deals with errors. Teachers should consider the type and the frequency of error correction based on their pedagogical goals. As Seedhouse (1997: 571) puts it, 'making linguistic errors and having them corrected directly and overtly is not an embarrassing matter'. The example of Repair (Walsh, 2011 p.16):
T: What about in Spain if you park your car illegally?
L: . . . there are two possibilities. [one] is er I park my car ((1)) and
T: yes . . . if I park . . . my car . . . illegally again Rosa
L: (laughter) if I park my car [illegally] police stat policeman er give me give me
T: GIVES me
L:  gives me? a little small paper if er I can't pay the money
T: it's called a FINE remember a FINE yes?
L4: or if if my car
T: is parked
L4: is parked illegally . . . the policeman take my car and . . . er . . . go to the police station not police station it's a big place where where they have some [cars] they.

In conclusion, it can be concluded that the process of teacher-student interaction in the classroom can run due to four aspects: Control of the Interaction, Speech Modification, Elicitation, and Repair. These aspects are enough to help increase students' motivation to stay active in the classroom.

References:
McCarthy , M. (1991). Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE .
Walsh, S. (2011). Exploring Classroom Discourse. Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics.