Recent communicative approaches have suggested that one goal of English language teaching should be to replicate 'genuine' or 'natural' rather than 'typical' or 'traditional' classroom communication. This article argues that such a goal is both paradoxical and unattainable, and that there are serious flaws in the assumptions underlying the communicative orthodoxy concerning ELT classroom intera...

This paper presents a classroom observation protocol and analysis method that efficiently capture key student and teacher discursive moves. We developed this protocol for use in a study comparing classrooms using Eduinnova, handheld computer-supported collaborative learning software, with classrooms using a popular, non-collaborative software application aimed at the same topic. Analysis of dat...

Pairing theory with methodology, this study demonstrates how EFL teachers’ limited wait-time practice structures in and affects the structuring of the unfolding classroom discourse with reference to learners’ participation opportunities. Informed by the tenets of conversation analysis, we have observed, videotaped, and transcribed line-by-line 10 EFL teachers’ naturally-occurring classroom inte...

This paper reports on an exploratory study that explores the instructional patterns within English as a Foreign Language (EFL) secondary school classrooms in Syria. Recently, the Syrian Ministry of Education (MoE) has introduced a new national curriculum which recommends a shift in EFL teachers’ instructional practices. Despite this costly innovation, there has been no attempt to check whether ...

The Center, established in 1987, initially focused on the teaching and learning of literature. In March 1996, the Center expanded its focus to include the teaching and learning of English, both as a subject in its own right and as it is learned in other content areas. ABSTRACT Despite substantial research on children's literacy performance outside school, relatively few studies have examined th...

This paper suggests that online collaborative environments like Knowledge Forum provide an important arena for students to exercise their ability to formulate reflective ideas. A discourse analysis of three primary 4 classes’ verbal and written activities during a two-week science unit showed that, during online activities there was a significant increase in the number of words students used to...

Ten high-school students of English as a second language (ESL) intensively studied the modified version of The Cay (retold by Strange, 1997). During their study the teacher asked questions designed to elicit students’ comprehension and understanding of racism and prejudice as the main themes of The Cay. Analysis of classroom discourse data indicated that none of the students independently ident...