Developing a Model of Classroom Interaction Between Teacher and Students
by Shamai, et al in Zajda Ch 5
reviewed by James Travers-Murison
Role Theory
Social role elaborated in a functionalist theoretical framework is very important in analysis of social structures. Teacher-student interaction is an intensive social contact that requires order and control.
Children’s role consists of a) being part of the hidden curriculum, b) receptive learning of official academic curriculum and c) forming an active learner role in proactive and reconstructive activity in academic curriculum.
Hidden curriculum is managerial and socializing.
Brophy-Good observation model looked at various behavioural warnings and criticism to form a common range of variables.
Speech Acts Theory
Austin – basic assumption that speaking a language is verbal acting which, 1. is engaged in rule governed behaviour and 2. comprises specific basic units. Speech acts were generally classified according to at least three levels of speech performance a. the uttering (morphemes) b. referring and predicating c. functioning in the specific context (lucutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary; stating, questioning, commanding and promising.) He characterizes them according to the intention of the speaker.
Locutionary acts are the production of sounds and words and meaning and reference. Illocutionary acts consist of the locutionary act to say something. Perlocutionary acts represent both intended and unintended results from something said.
Searle developed a different classification; utterance, propositional act (referring to somebody and predicating properties), illocutionary act (investing the utterance with communicative force), perlocutionary (bringing about certain effects). Interdependent simultaneous subacts of speech.
Speech acts theory concentrates on elocutionary acts because they are important for communication.
Concrete speech has a standard form f(p) where f indicates elocutionary force and p propositional content, the elocutionary act depends on the interaction of these components.
Illocutionary acts have no standard form f(p) since they do not consist of propositions. Often speakers perform an implicit non-literal primary speech act indirectly AND an explicit literal secondary speech act called f2(f1(P1)).
Searle refers to five illocutionary act types; assertives, directives, commissives, declaratives and expressives.
Provides an opportunity to build an instrument for classroom talk observation and analysis with a finite and determined number of variables.
Role theory and speech acts theory – overview
Heuristic observation model uses speech acts and role theory.
Role theory focuses on social aspects of classroom life. Real processes of functioning in school however are developed through speech act theory.
Classroom teacher-student interaction is 1. language and 2. classroom talk –relationships and meaning are organized within school roles’ set of behaviours. It is also transactional and main role in cultural and social reproduction. Classroom talk is a complex relationship of socializing and meeting demands of the classroom. It is unequal as the teacher has rights to speak first and to decide who shall speak and to correct them. It is managed by the teacher and is teacher-centred, language is the neutral medium to communicate.
Categories for coding information
Socialisation is realized through instructional, motivational, evaluational, managerial functions of the teacher – school roles. Elocutionary acts are complexes more representative of teacher talk, elementary locutions are typical of student answers. This also occurs in discipline and procedural talk. Motivational initiative and supportive feedback following a student answer is essential as a relay of communication self regulating system.
Initiative feedback is closer to negative evaluation to induce a correct answer. Supportive feedback is a positive estimation of the student’s answer. Evaluational assertions are positive, negative, and neutral corrective feedback.
Managerial assertions are usually instructions. Orders and directions may be direct or indirect.
Questioning by teacher is to 1. display student knowledge, 2. discipline, 3. procedural 4. encouragement.
Summarising markers divide a lesson. Initiative markers for student activity. Positive or negative markers for evaluation. Disciplinary markers. Procedural markers. Markers are indicators of teacher domination. Referring to a student’s name is an example of a marker.
Pauses by teacher are artificial and to control rule violation. Initiative pausing is for student answering time.
Inferences occur when horizontal student-student talk happens. This noise can be ignoring roles, strong interest in procedure or academic content.
Brophy-Good model is incomplete. This model solves problem of inductive variables and reduction of teacher-student interaction. Role theory – speech acts theory looks at role set behaviour and structure of speech.
It contains functional and content coding. Function is a reference to teacher’s roles, direction of speech communication, and distribution of interaction. Content coding is speech communication such as elocution.
The model is for observation of classes and obtaining data.
Evaluation
A complex topic and one I had trouble understanding. I found it too theoretical in its language with not enough practical examples of application to make real sense of it. The concept of the teacher taking on a socialization role in the class seems obvious and the combining of this model with speech acts to explain student- teacher interaction, seems to involve very precise reduction of the operation of speech and language, which seems in a way too onerous to comprehend. However analyzing classroom talk so methodically by coding provides an interesting method of analysis. I am not sure I agree that student responses are so limited as to be mostly elementary locutionary acts. I think this chapter would be useful perhaps for UOCA researchers of student-teacher interactions who are trying to find a methodology to analyse this activity of speech and language in the classroom, especially from the point of view of developing self control in student's speech and language combined with UOCA's techniques of meditation and yoga. I hope my perlocution has made sense.
