CLASSROOM INTERACTION

A.   Definition of Classroom Interaction

            Classroom interaction as a form of institutional talk is locally managed but cooperatively constructed speech exchange system (Markee & Kasper, 2004). It is one of the platforms where any reality about classroom phenomena is produced and can be observed at the same time.

            The term classroom interaction refers to the interaction between teacher and learners in the classrooms.  According to Brown (2001), interaction is at the heart of communicative competence. When a learner interacts with another learner he/she receives input and produces output.

            Classroom interaction is considered a productive teaching technique. According to Allwright (1984), it is the process whereby classroom language learning is managed. In the classroom interaction, both the teachers and students can create the learning opportunities, which motivate the students’ interest and potential to communicate with others.

            In conclusion, classroom interaction is all interactions between the participants in the learning process; the teacher and students, who influence each other to create a good classroom environment in order to reach the learning’s goal.

B.   Purpose of Classroom Interaction

            The purposes of classroom interaction are as follow:

•         This type of interaction helps the learners to identify their own learning methods.

•         This interaction will guide the learners to communicate with their peers easily and will give them an exposure to the vase genres of language learning.

•         It will help the learner to come face to face with the various types of interaction that can take place inside the classroom.

•         Classroom Interaction aims at meaningful communication among the students in their target language.

•         It also aims at probing into the learner’s prior learning ability and his way of conceptualizing facts and ideas.

•         This practice will help the teacher to have a detailed study of the nature and the frequency of student interaction inside the classroom.

C.        Example of Classroom Interaction

            D.        Types of Classroom Interaction

            Here are the types of classroom interaction:

a.     Collaborative Learning

       Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another’s resources and skills (asking one another for information, evaluating one another’s ideas, monitoring one another’s work, etc.). Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. A group of students discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together over the Internet on a shared assignment are both examples of collaborative learning.

b.   Discussions

Discussions can be an excellent strategy for enhancing student motivation, fostering intellectual agility, and encouraging democratic habits. They create opportunities for students to practice and sharpen a number of skills, including the ability to articulate and defend positions, consider different points of view, and enlist and evaluate evidence.

c.    Debate

Engaging in collaborative discourse and argumentation enhances student’s conceptual understandings and refines their reasoning abilities.  Stage a debate exploiting an arguable divide in the day’s materials.  Give teams time to prepare, and then put them into argument with a team focused on representing an opposing viewpoint.  Advantages include practice in using the language of the discipline and crafting evidence-based reasoning in their arguments.

d.   Reading Aloud

      Reading aloud is a classroom activity in which one person is reading while others listen. Reading aloud may be performed by the teacher or student. Reading aloud may be performed by a single person or by a group taking turns. This form of highly structured classroom interaction allows all students to be focused at exactly the same point in a reading. This allows students to easily focus on vocabulary and pronunciation.

d.   Story-telling

      Storytelling is the sharing of stories and events through words, sounds and visual images. An effective storyteller captures the attention of listeners and accomplishes the goal of telling the story, which may be to entertain, convey information, teach an important life lesson, or persuade listeners to take action of some kind. Storytelling techniques may incorporate a combination of tone usage, animated sounds and gestures, and digital tools. Storytelling can be a powerful tool in the classroom. It is often helpful to begin with the teacher playing the role of storyteller or by inviting a professional storyteller into the classroom. But it is when the students become the storytellers that storytelling makes its greatest contribution to the classroom.

e.    Conversation with learners

      Classroom conversation is a form of classroom interaction in which students in the class discuss a given topic. The conversation may be held across the whole class or in smaller groups. Conversation is an important form of classroom interaction because it helps students develop their language skills. In a conversation, students may apply the skills and knowledge they have acquired in the class, making classroom conversation a practical form of interaction.

f.    Role Play

     Role-playing is an activity in which students take on given or chosen roles and act out a scene with others. This form of interaction lends itself to almost any situation, and the only restriction is a student's imagination. Role-playing allows students to demonstrate their creativity and knowledge about their roles, and it allows students to think outside of the constraints of the classroom and consider how they might apply the learned material to the real world. This form of interaction can integrate different subjects into one activity.

g.   Question-and-Answer

      Question-and-answer is a traditional form of classroom interaction in which a teacher or student explains and poses a question for the other. Questions asked by the teacher are usually for the purpose of assessment, while questions asked by the students are usually for obtaining new information. The Socratic method is also a form of question-and-answer interaction. The Socratic method is a form of asking questions with the intent of leading students to discover the answer themselves. Question-and-answer as a form of interactive learning allows students to have a large influence on the agenda of the classroom, because it allows them to freely express their thoughts and feelings.

h.   Jigsaw

      Jigsaw is a strategy that emphasizes cooperative learning by providing students an opportunity to actively help each other build comprehension. These can be done in one of two ways – either each team works on completing a different portion of the assignment and then contributes their knowledge to the class as a whole, or within each group, one student is assigned to a portion of the assignment (the jigsaw comes from the bringing together the various ideas at the end of the activity to produce a solution to the problem).  In a jigsaw the activity must be divided into several equal parts, each of which is necessary to solving a problem, or answering a question.  Example activities include implementing experiments, small research projects, analyzing and comparing datasets, and working with professional literature. The advantages of the jigsaw include the ability to explore substantive problems or readings, the engagement of all students with the material and in the process of working together, learning from each other, and sharing and critical analyzing a diversity of ideas. 

E.        Teaching Steps using Jigsaw

            According to our group, the most interesting type of classroom interaction is jigsaw. It gives the students some advantages as follow:

• It is an efficient way to learn the material.

• Builds a depth of knowledge

• Discloses a student's own understanding and resolves misunderstanding

• Builds on conceptual understanding

• Develops teamwork and cooperative working skills

           

            Below are the teaching steps using jigsaw:

1. Divide students into 5- or 6-person jigsaw groups. The groups should be diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, and ability.
2. Appoint one student from each group as the leader. Initially, this person should be the most mature student in the group.
3. Divide the day's lesson into 5-6 segments. For example, if you want history students to learn about Eleanor Roosevelt, you might divide a short biography of her into stand-alone segments on: (1) Her childhood, (2) Her family life with Franklin and their children, (3) Her life after Franklin contracted polio, (4) Her work in the White House as First Lady, and (5) Her life and work after Franklin's death.
4. Assign each student to learn one segment, making sure students have direct access only to their own segment.
5. Give students time to read over their segment at least twice and become familiar with it. There is no need for them to memorize it.
6. Form temporary "expert groups" by having one student from each jigsaw group join other students assigned to the same segment. Give students in these expert groups time to discuss the main points of their segment and to rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group.
7. Bring the students back into their jigsaw groups.
8. Ask each student to present her or his segment to the group. Encourage others in the group to ask questions for clarification.
9. Float from group to group, observing the process. If any group is having trouble (e.g., a member is dominating or disruptive), make an appropriate intervention. Eventually, it's best for the group leader to handle this task. Leaders can be trained by whispering an instruction on how to intervene, until the leader gets the hang of it.
10. At the end of the session, give a quiz on the material so that students quickly come to realize that these sessions are not just fun and games but really count.

REFERENCES

Allwright, R. L. 1984. The Importance of Interaction in Classroom Language Learning.    Apllied Linguistics 5 (2).

Brown, H. D. 2001. Teaching by Principle: an Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. (2^nd Ed.). NY: Pearson Education.

Markee, N. & Kasper, G. 2004. Classroom Talks: an Introduction. The Modern Language            Journal 88 (4).

Verial, Damon. Types of Classroom Interaction. Available on           http://ehow.com/m/info_7854839_types-classroom-interaction.html. Assessed on April 27, 2014.