The Teacher-Student Communication Pattern: A Need to Follow?

Abstract

This study is intended to investigate the teacher-student communication patterns in an upper-intermediate English class. There are major questions in this study; (a) what the nature of
interaction is in a foreign language classroom, (b) what the characteristics of teacher-student turn taking are, (c) what type of feedback is taken by the teacher, (d) how the teacher's competence and performance are. The participants of the study are female adult students and a female teacher majoring English literature at MA level that has had five years of teaching experience. Five partial sessions of the class are recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. According to the findings, the type of discourse is teacher-initiated one and the question type is both WH-questions and questions with auxiliaries. The way of student's reply is brief and limited to one teacher-student turn-taking. The type of interaction is based on the questions posed by the teacher and long interaction such as discussing, debating, and challenging could rarely be seen in the classroom in question. The type of feedback depending on the skill and tasks dealt with, ranging from recast to direct correction. The teacher's competence and performance are satisfactory with correct pronunciation and near native accent.