APPROACHES TO STUDYING

CLASSROOM DISCOURSE

by burcuatik81 Atik
1. Selection and mastery of specific tools

2. Critique of three main approaches used to investigate classroom interaction: interaction

analysis, discourse analysis, and conversation analysis.
Selection and mastery of
specific tools for Classroom
Interaction
Choices for Recording:
a. Audio recordings

b. Video recordings

c. Observation

d. Narrative
Audio Recordings:
Easy to capture spoken interaction

Use of digital recorders or lapel/multi-directional

microphones

Background noise can be a challenge, but multiple devices

can help
Video Recordings:
Provides visual representation of classroom interaction

Two cameras for comprehensive coverage

Supplemented with digital recorders for complete recording

Intrusiveness and transcription of gestures and body

movements are challenges
Observation:
Quick and easy to organize

Observer may require training and may not capture every

detail

Potential for observer bias and lack of reliability

Focused observation can help by focusing on specific

elements
Narrative Approach:
Observer writes a descriptive account of the lesson as a
narrative

Difficulty in capturing every detail accurately

Principles for Recording:
Ethical considerations: Obtain permission and ensure anonymity

Consider the amount of data required based on the purpose

Ensure good sound quality through room choice and equipment

positioning

Consider the role and potential bias of the observer

Difficulties in recording
classroom interaction:
1. Background noise (audio recordings)

2. Intrusiveness and difficulty in transcribing gestures, body

movements, actions (video recordings)

3. Training observers to use an observation schedule

4. Bias and lack of objectivity in observation

5. Difficulty in capturing every detail in a narrative approach

Transcription of Classroom
Interaction: Key
Considerations
1. Representing reality: Transcription aims to accurately represent
spoken encounters but has limitations compared to
photography.

2. Technical challenges: Difficulty in hearing, eliminating

background noise, and capturing nuances of spoken language in
written form.

3. Broad vs. narrow transcripts: Decision between capturing

essence or fine details like stress, pauses, intonation, and
overlapping speech.
Key decisions in transcription:
a. Including and representing pauses

b. Recording gestures, facial expressions, body movements

c. Handling emphatic speech

d. Organizing text by turn at talk or linguistic utterance

e. Inclusion and representation of intonation

f. Deciding what to transcribe or omit

Importance of transcription decisions: Influences interpretation,
data analysis, and potential for practice changes.

Importance in classroom context: Capturing and representing

interaction, advocating for appropriate level of detail in transcripts.
2.Three main approaches used to investigate
classroom interaction:
Interaction analysis,

Discourse analysis,

Conversation analysis.
Interaction analysis
approaches
IA was widely used in the 1960s and 1970s for analyzing classroom
interaction.

Observation instruments or coding systems were used to record and

analyze interaction, providing quantitative data for statistical
treatment.

Over 200 different observation instruments exist, with approximately

26 systems available for analyzing interaction in the L2 classroom.
Interaction analysis
approaches
Common features of observation schedules: *Observation
schedules use ticking boxes, *make marks, *record what the
observer sees at regular time intervals.

Observation schedules are considered reliable, allowing for ease of

comparison between observers and generalizability of results.

Observation schedules assume a linear progression of classroom

discourse that can be easily recorded.
Interaction analysis
approaches
Observation instruments are categorized as either SYSTEM-BASED
(following a specific system) or AD HOC (developed for a particular
study).
System-based approaches use pre-
determined categories that have
been extensively trialed in different
classroom contexts.
Ready-made systems eliminate the
need for designing a new one, are
well-known and do not require
validation, and allow for
comparisons between different
systems.
System-based approaches are;
1. Bellack et al.'s system

2. Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories (FIAC)

3. COLT system
Bellack et al.'s system
One of the earliest systems categorized pedagogical moves into common teaching cycles,
such as structure, solicit, respond, and react.

1. Initiation, response, feedback (IR(F)): Bellack et al.'s exchange structure, also known as IR(F),
is still considered fundamental in understanding classroom interaction.
Flanders Interaction Analysis
Categories (FIAC)
Flanders' system assigned interactions to categories of

teacher and student talk, including acceptance,

questions, lectures, directions, etc.
Card Title

Teacher talk Pupil talk Silence

1- Accepts feelings. 8 -Pupil talk: response. 110-Period of silence or
confusion.
2-Praises or encourages. 9 -Pupil talk: initiation.

3 -Accepts or uses ideas of

pupils.

4- Asks questions.

5 -Lectures.

6 -Gives direction.

7- Criticises or uses
authority
Limitations of FIAC:

The categories may be too broad to account for the complexity of contemporary classroom
interaction and assume a linear progression.
COLT system:
Allen et al.'s Communicative Orientation to Language Teaching
system had 73 categories to analyze instructional differences and
language use.
Revised COLT system:
A more sophisticated version by Spada and Frohlich aimed to
capture various features of classroom interaction but
acknowledged the need for alternative coding methods.
Limitations of system-based
approaches:

1 Interaction patterns must

match predetermined
categories
observer interpretations 2
overshadow participant
perspectives
3 no allowance for overlap or
non-sequential discourse

potential lack of 4
agreement between
observers 5 inadequate consideration
of context.
Ad Hoc Approaches to Interaction
Analysis

Section 1
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Section 2
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Section 3
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