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.

ESSAY: CHARACTERICTICS OF YOUNG LEARNERS

Many have agreed that English is such an important subject since it is used to communicate globally. It has been taught in every level of learners, even in primary level. People believe that teaching English in the early age has many advantages because young learners still have flexible minds and malleable tongues which help them learn English words easily. However, young learners are of course different with the adult ones in which the teacher should pay attention to their characteristics in order to make a better teaching and learning process.

Before we discuss about the characteristics, it is better to know the definition of young learners first. There are many definitions as stated by some experts. According to Purwaningsih, young learners are learners in elementary school aging nine to ten years old who are learning English as foreign language. While Etty Maryati Hoesein stated that young learners are the students of elementary school who are at grade four up to grade six. Their ages range from ten to twelve years of age. They have learned English for about one up to four years. From those definitions, we can conclude that young learners are children in the first six years of formal education, from the age six to twelve. It is because the lower limit of six roughly corresponds to the start of formal schooling in many countries, while the upper age of twelve approximates to a time when many children have begun to experience significant cognitive and emotional changes.

Children are very special in which they have their own characteristics that differ them from adult. They may lack on experience, but they have great reasoning ability. Whenever they find new things, they will make a reason based on their background knowledge they have. Because they are inexperience, sometimes it will lead them on misconceptions. That is why the teacher should be aware to anticipate childrens’ confusion and recognize why children have difficulties grasping new ideas.

Teacher should conduct teaching and learning activities based on young learners’ characteristics. These characterictics influence their ways of thinking, their aptitude, their attitude, etc. There are so many experts who give a list of yong learners’ characterictics, hence I will write some of them below.

According to Clark (1990: 6-8), here are five characteristics of young learners:

1.      Children are developing conceptually: they develop their way of thinking from concrete to the  abstract thing.

2.      Children have no real linguistics, different from the adult learners that already have certain purpose in learning language, they learn subject what school provide for them.

3.      Children are still developing; common skill such as turn talking and the use of body language.

4.      Young children very egocentric, they tend to resolve around themselves.

5.      Children get bored easily.

Meanwhile, Halliwel (1992: 3-5) stated that children are already very good in interpreting meaning without necessarily understanding the individual word, children already have great skill in using limited language creativity, children frequently learn indirectly rather than directly, children take good pleasure in finding and creating fun in what they do, and children have a ready imagination.

Brumfit (1997: v) gives a list of the characteristics which young learners share:

1. Young learners are only just beginning their schooling, so that teachers have a    major opportunity to mould their expectations of life in school.
2.  As a group, they are potentially more differentiated than secondary or adult learners, for they are closer to their varied home cultures, and new to the conformity increasingly imposed across cultural grouping by the school.
3. They tend to be keen and enthusiastic learners,
4. Their learning can be closely linked with their development of ideas and concepts, because it is so close to their initial experiences of formal schooling.
5. They need physical movement and activity as much as stimulation for their thinking, and the closer together these can be the better.

Young learners’ characteristics are also divided into three sides:

1.    Physical side

·      The physical world of young children is dominant and the understanding comes through hands, eyes and ears.

·      They perform physical activity in many ways; coloring, drawing and writing.

·      They are at the developing stage (critical period) in which they are capable of attaining native like second language because their organ of speech is still plastic.

2.    Social side

·      They are happy playing ad working in the company of others.

·      They are always aware of themselves in relation to others.

3.    Psychological side

·      They have short concentration span.

·      They are free of prejudice.

·      They get bored easily.

·      They are forgetful.

·      They like imitating.

·      They have high curiosity.

·      They are risk taker.

In conclusion, teacher should learn the characteristic of young learners whom she teaches because it will determine the success of language learning. By considering the characteristics that have mentioned above, hopefully teacher is able to choose the best teaching strategies so that young learners can understand the material well.

REFERENCES

Brumfit (1997) Young Learners Characteristics (TEYL/TMYL). (online) (http://peni.staff.uns.ac.id/2008/10/10/young-learner-characteristics/ accessed on March 9 , 2014).

Clark, J (1990) Teaching children: is it different? JET October 1990.

Halliwell, Susan (1992) Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. London: Longman.

Lecturing by Mrs. Dra.  Diani Nurhayati M.Pd. on March 10, 2014.

Prasetia, Cicik (2011) Teaching English for Young Learners. (online) (http://cicikprasetia.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/teaching-english-for-young-learners/ accessed on March 9, 2014)

POEM ANALYSIS: WHEN YOU ARE OLD

POEM ANALYSIS

WHEN YOU ARE OLD

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

                                                                                                            William Butler Yeats

1. PARAPHRASE

The speaker is a lover addressing his beloved and wondering how she would look when she grows old. The speaker describes his lady with gray hair as old, sleepy, and sitting by the fire. The speaker asks her to take the book of his poems written for her and read it. When she starts reading from his book, she will dream of the tender stare her eyes had when she was young, and of their profound gloominess. The speaker describes her beauty and how she was loved by everyone for that beauty. She will remember these men that have loved these instants when they were rejoicing her beauty and her charm either sincerely or falsely. Yet, the speaker stresses that there is only one man who truly loved her for her spirit, and not only for her beauty. Finally, the speaker portrays his lady bending down by the fireplace to whisper with sadness telling us that she rejected his love out of pride.

2. RHYTHM

The first line                When you | are old | and grey | and full | of sleep,

This line consists of ten syllables with five meters. Each meter consists of unstressed and stressed, so it is called Iambic Pentameter.

The use of punctuation, and the repeated use of “and”, Yeats manipulates the pace of the poem and encourages the reader to slow down. This also gives the stanza a rhythmic beat and structure and extends the poem giving it a feeling of old age.

3. RHYME

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,                       
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,        
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look                       
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;                  

‘When You Are Old’ is a poem that makes use of a number of sound patterns. As we can see in the first stanza, it uses ABBA rhyming scheme. The use of rhyme and the fixed rhythm gives the poem a romantic and beguiling quality.

•        Alliteration

The poet’s use of alliteration adds to the pace and mood of the poem, as well as giving certain lines a hypnotic and memorable quality. If we look at the third stanza we can see a good example of this:

And bending down beside the glowing bars

Also, in the second stanza, notice that the poet uses repetition. Three times we see the key word “loved”, which of course emphasizes the central theme of the poem.

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

•        Assonance

Assonance occurs when the same vowel sounds are used close together, often in the same line. This adds to the music of the poem and helps to create a rich and nostalgic feeling. If we look at line 8 we see the pattern of ‘u’ vowel sounds repeated in the same word “murmur”:

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

Looking at the entire stanza we can see a number of examples of assonance with the slender “e” and broad “a” and “u” vowel sound:

And bending down beside the glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled

And paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Assonance only occurs when the vowel sound is the same in two words. So, while “bars” and “stars” have assonance, “bar” does not have assonance with “paced” because the “a” sound is different in the two words. “Paced” is, however, assonant with “face”. If we look at the words with the “e” sound we will again see that only words that have the same “eh” sound have assonance (‘bending’, ‘fled’, ‘overhead’).

4. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

             Metaphor

1. “When you are old and gray and full of sleep”

The phrase “full of sleep” is a metaphor.

·  Denotative meaning: sleeping that leads to dreaming.

·  Connotative meaning: the death.

2.  “And nodding by the fire, take down this book”.

       In this line, “Nodding by the fire” is used as a metaphor.

·  Denotative meaning: an old person who lower and raise her head slightly and briefly by a fire place.

·  Connotative meaning: an old person who is slowly falling asleep by a fire place with the weight of time on her shoulders bringing her down.

3. “And bending down beside the glowing bars”

·  Denotative meaning: lean the body downwards beside the fire place bars.

·  Connotative meaning: seeking warmth or comfort -- suggesting the desire and need for the fiery love she once rejected.

 Personification

1. “Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled”

Love is a noun, but the poet made it as a person who can flee.

·  Denotative meaning: love which ran away.

·  Connotative meaning: the man who loved her was gone and left her forever.

2. “And hid his face amid a crowd of stars”

            The word “his” refers to love as in previous line. It is also a personification because love cannot hide.

·  Denotative meaning: love hid its face among the stars in the night sky.

·  Connotative meaning: the man has become part of the immortal group of artists whose name will live on forever.

                Imagery

“When you are old and grey and full of sleep”

In the first stanza, Yeats uses words such as old, grey and full sleep which describes a lady with grey hair as old, sleepy, and sitting by the fire remembering how once she use to be young and beautiful.

5. SYMBOLISM

•           Fire

Denotative: the state of burning, in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke.

           Connotative: the fiery rawness of a past love.

•         Book

Denotative: a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound with covers.

Connotative: reading someone’s face.

•         Mountain

Denotative: an elevation of the earth’s surface rising abruptly and to a large height from the surrounding level.

Connotative: love that is very distant.

•         Shadows deep

Denotative: a very intents dark area or shape produced by body coming between rays of light and a surface.

Connotative: expressing the difficulties and sadness hidden in the look of the eyes that can only be seen by someone who really cares.

•         Pilgrim

           Denotative: a person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons.

           Connotative: the long walk that her soul has had searching for real happiness.

•         Glowing bars

            Denotative: a long rod or rigid piece of wood or metal to place the fire.

Connotative: showing how her beauty has faded over time; like the fire, she was once vibrant.

6. SUBJECT MATTER

            The subject matter of “When you are Old” is unrequited love.

7. THEME

The theme of “When you are Old” is that it is important to recognize a true love when one is young, because things change when one grows old and one will feel regretful.    

8. REASON

            In this poem, the speaker pointed out how a woman was loved by so many men when she was young and beautiful. However, there was only one man who really loved her soul and body, whether in her happiness or sadness. But, the woman rejected the man’s love and now, when she is old, she realizes the value of the love she lost, she grows regretful that she did not see how he loved her and how unwise she was for not taking notice of it which made her lives alone in her impending death.