Analyzing a student conversation : Glass half full or glass half empty?

Abstract

This paper takes a short sample of student spoken interaction and analyses it in detail to identify some of the features of the talk which may be at variance with what would be recognized as more proficient and fluent interaction. The goal is to identify points of interactional practice that can be judged as areas for consciousness raising and explicit instruction by the teacher. Several of the points raised in the analysis are suggested to stem from a complex set of influences including transfer of lexical, grammatical, and interactional practices from the L1. There also may be a habituation to classroom discourse when speaking in the L2 which is then used unconsciously as a template for non-institutional mundane social interactions. Recognition of the special nature of learner interactions alongside an understanding of the possible causes of this kind of speaking can, it is suggested, inform focused and empirically based teaching that develops learners’ interactional competence.