NAME : AHTASHAM NAVEED DAR

CLASS: LINGUISTICS 8TH

ROLL NUMBER: 327/16471502-022

SUBJECT: BRANCHES OF LINGUISTICS

TOPIC: DISCOURSE TRANSACTION AND MOVES

(IRF) STRUCTURE

SUBMITTED TO: MAM SONIA

Initiation-response-feedback (IRF)
Initiation-response-feedback, or IRF, is a pattern of discussion between the teacher and learner. The
teacher initiates, the learner responds, the teacher gives feedback. This approach to the exchange of
information in the classroom has been criticized as being more about the learner saying what the
teacher wants to hear than really communicating.
Example
The teacher asks a learner for rules about use of the present perfect, the learner gives an answer, and
the teacher says whether that is correct or not.
In the classroom
Although this approach has been criticized, it can provide a useful framework for developing
meaningful communication in a controlled form. For example, there is room for authentic input in an
IRF dialogue such as:
- How many brothers have you got?
- Three!
- Oh so you've got three brothers! That's a big family! Etc

Patterns of exchange
Often a teacher can fall into a role or pattern where they control the legitimate flow of knowledge
between the teacher and the pupil. This has been identified by Edwards and Mercer as Initiation,
Response, Feedback (IRF). For example the teacher will ask the class a question, knowing the answer
already, and then control the legitimate feedback of answers from the children. If this pattern of
exchange is overused in the classroom it can limit:

- the potential of a 'handover' (an autonomous learner)

- individual agency (being able to challenge and negotiate a concept)
- expression of identity (bringing their home culture or cultural 'niche' into their classroom
participation).
Fairclough, The author of 'Language and Power' describes how the patterns of exchange in school, over
a period of time, will determine what sort of people the pupils will become. Finding out what the
teacher wants to hear rather than the real pursuit of understanding is due to the asymmetrical
relationship between pupil and teacher. However peer to peer talk is symmetrical and can promote
cognitive development. One of the greatest importances of communication is when an idea has to be
formulated and expressed, sharing the idea among essential partners who will test their assumptions.
Peer collaboration
Children can build on each other's learning development. They can do this through:

- turn taking
- negotiating and collaboration
- justifying and reasoning.
Peer to peer talk is symmetrical and encourages the development of language and thought. The way in
which children interact, and the degree of success, depends on the nature of the task and the medium,
be it visual, oral etc., according to the children's personal learning preferences. The way a teacher sets
up a task and the pupils' perception of it needs to be strategic and ground rules for collaboration need to
be set out.

Collaboration, participation and ground rules

In order to make sure that there is optimum participation and cultural synergy, I try to mix the
dynamics of the group:

- Starting the lesson with a whole-class activity, teacher led.

- then working in pairs
- and then smaller groups
I try to be strategic about mixing abilities and characters of children and mix the boys with the girls.
From my experience boys have a tendency to interrupt and call out, being more impulsive than girls.
Ground rules can be introduced to a class and taught in the same way as classroom language i.e. in
whole phrases. During a group, set task such as a puzzle, gap fill, matching or sequencing game, I
encourage the children to express their opinion and then to support it. I set a ground rule that a decision
can not be taken until a majority of the group agree with the response. They can use set phrases such
as:

I think that ……… (Expressing opinion) because………. (Supporting opinion)

What do you think? (encourage turn taking)
It's your / my / his / her turn.
I think you are wrong / right ……….. because………….
Nurturing these ground rules within a participation-based learning environment constructs 'cultural
synergy'. In this way children are developing their first tools for critical analysis i.e. expressing and
supporting their opinion. And this is being done at a young age and through a foreign language.
 A typical classroom interaction pattern: Initiation-Response-Feedback

The most typical classroom interaction pattern is the three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF)
pattern. This pattern begins with a Question. Usually we ask questions to find out something we do not
already know, but in classroom interactions teachers generally know the answers already. The teacher
asks Questions so that students can display what they have learned.

The following three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern is typical of most classroom

interactions:

TURN 1 INITIATION The teacher asks a student a Question.

TURN 2 RESPONSE The student answers the Question.
TURN 3 FEEDBACK The teacher acknowledges and evaluates the Response.

Often the teacher also shows the student how to improve the Response.
In classroom interactions teachers can use the Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern to:
- check that students have learned what they are supposed to have learned
- lead students step-by-step through a logical process, eg showing them how to solve a problem
- make important knowledge and understanding clear to students
- use the Feedback turn to improve the students' knowledge and understanding as necessary
In the Feedback move, teachers very often reword or recast students' responses in order to show
students a more appropriate way to express an idea, or develop the student's idea in some way. For
example in the following interaction between a teacher and student about the findings of an experiment
with magnets:

Teacher: What did you find out?

Student: We found out that the two magnets pushed each other away.
Teacher: So, you found that they repelled.
In the Feedback move here, the teacher gives the student a more appropriate expression, i.e. the
technical term repelled.
Teachers can also use the Initiation turn to give students a clue about what kind of Response is
required. This is very helpful for students who are learning English.

In the Feedback move, teachers very often reword or recast students' responses in order to do one of the
following:
• show students a more appropriate way to express an idea
• develop the student's idea in some way.
Here is another example: