LIFYAN FATKHURRAHMAN ARIEF

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SUMMARIZING BOOK CHAPTERS

Chapter 13

 Exploring Interaction
Interaction is an important word for language teachers. In the era of communicative language
teaching, interaction is, in fact, the heart of communication. We send messages, receive them,
interpret them in a context, negotiate meanings, and collaborate to accomplish certain
purposes. In Walsh’s (2011) words, “Crucially, in a classroom, it is through language in
interaction that we access new knowledge, acquire and develop new skills, identify problems of
under-standing, deal with ‘breakdowns’ in communication, and establish and maintain
relationships”

1. Interactive Principles
Interaction is the collaborative exchange of thoughts, feelings, or ideas between two or
more people. Storch (2013) notes that to collaborate means “to share labor,” which
involves “high mutuality” and a spirit of equality, both of which make interaction fruitful
and productive.
2. Interactive Teachers
An interactive teacher is by definition one who is fully aware of the group dynamics of a
classroom. As Dörnyei and Murphey (2003) explained, the suc-cess of classroom
learning is very much dependent on how students relate to each other, what the
classroom environment is, how effectively students cooperate and communicate with
each other, and, of course, what roles the teacher and learners play. Teachers can play
many roles in the course of teaching.
a. Teacher as Controller
A role that is sometimes expected in educational institutions is that of controller, in
charge of every moment of a lesson. Of course, some control on your part is an
important element of structuring a lesson and successfully carrying out interactive
techniques. But for interaction to take place, it’s also important to create a climate in
which spontaneity can thrive, unrehearsed language can be freely performed, and
students are encouraged to improvise.
b. Teacher as Director
 Some interactive classroom time can legitimately be structured in such a way that the
teacher is like a conductor of an orchestra or a director of a drama. As students engage
in either rehearsed or spontaneous language performance, it is your job to keep the
process flowing smoothly and efficiently.
c. Teacher as Manager
This metaphor captures a teacher’s role as one who plans lessons and who
structures the longer segments of classroom time, but who then allows each
individual to be creative within those parameters.
d. Teacher as Facilitator
A less directive role might be that of a guide, making learning easier for students and
helping them to clear away roadblocks. The facilitating role requires that you step away
from the managerial or directive role and allow students, with your guidance and gentle
prodding, to find their own pathways to success.
e. Teacher as Resource
This is the least directive role. You are available for advice and counsel when the student
seeks it, but generally that initiative comes from the student. Some degree of control, of
planning, of managing the classroom is essential, but there are appropriate times when
you can literally take a back seat and allow the students to proceed with their own
linguistic development.
1. Interactive Students
A huge proportion of students who enter an L2 classroom feel anything but interactive,
especially in the first few days of a beginning level. They don’t know any words or
phrases in the language (or very few). The teacher, on the other hand, is perceived to be
omniscient, possessing fluent control of the L2 along with a vast storehouse of technical
information about the language. Such perceptions may persist even into intermediate
and advanced levels. “Who am I, a mere student, to venture to say anything in this
language?”
 INITIATING INTERACTION: QUESTIONING STRATEGIES
The most important key to creating an interactive language classroom is the initiation of
interaction by the teacher. However nondirective your teaching style is, the onus is on
you to provide the stimuli for continued interaction. These stimuli are important in the
initial stage of a classroom lesson as well as throughout the lesson.
1. Functions and Advantages of Teacher Questions
One of the best ways to develop your role as an initiator and sustainer of interaction is
to develop a repertoire of questioning strategies. In second language classrooms, where
learners often do not have a great number of tools for initiating and maintaining
language, your questions provide necessary stepping stones to communication.
2. Display and Referential Questions
 There are many ways to classify what kinds of questions are effective in the classroom.
Perhaps the simplest way to conceptualize the possibilities is to think of a range of
questions, beginning with display questions that attempt to elicit information already
known by the teacher, all the way to highly referential questions that request
information not known by the questioner. Is there a place for both types of questions?
The answer is a qualified yes. Display questions are useful to elicit certain desired
grammatical, phonological, or discourse patterns from a student
3. Categories of Referential Questions
Categories of Teacher Questions (Adapted from Kinsella, 1991)
1. Knowledge questions: Eliciting factual answers, testing recall and recognition of
information.
2. Comprehension questions: Interpreting, extrapolating.
3. Application questions: Applying information heard or read to
4. Inference questions: Forming conclusions that are not directly stated in instructional
materials.
5. Analysis questions: Breaking down into parts, relating parts to the whole.
6. Synthesis questions: Combining elements into a new pattern.
 7. Evaluation questions: Making a judgment of good and bad, right or wrong,
according to some set of criteria, and stating why.

4. Other Means of Stimulating Interaction

Questioning strategies are certainly “the most common and universally used activation
technique in teaching” (Ur, 2012, p. 228). And we could argue that they are also one of the
most important teaching behaviors for you to master.

 GROUP WORK: THE STANDARD BEARER OF CLT

We’ll now focus on group work as central to maintaining linguistic interac-tion in the
classroom
MYTHS ABOUT GROUP WORK
Before presenting various steps and “how-to” suggestions about group work, let’s take a
quick look at some of the misconceptions about group work. Some teachers are reluctant to
try group work. They feel that they’ll lose control, or that students will just use their native
language, or that students will just reinforce others’ errors and so they shy away from it,
none of which is necessarily true. The limitations or drawbacks to group work are all
surmountable obstacles when group work is used appropriately
ADVANTAGES OF GROUP WORK
Group work is a generic term for a variety of techniques in which two or more students are
assigned a task that involves collaboration and self-initiated language. Pair work is simply
 group work in groups of two, but usually involves less complex and briefer tasks. The
collective practice of teachers shows that groups of three or four are usually optimal, and
that any more than six defeat one of the major purposes for doing group work: giving
students more opportunities to speak. Let’s explore those advantages.
 Group Work Generates Interactive Language.
 Group Work Offers an Embracing Affective Climate.
 Group Work Promotes Learner Responsibility and Autonomy.
 Group Work Is a Step Toward Individualizing Instruction.
 IMPLEMENTING GROUP WORK IN YOUR CLASSROOM
As you saw in the ESL community college scenario described earlier, group work can fall
apart if it is not carefully planned, well executed, monitored throughout, and followed up
on in some way. We’ll now look at practical steps to take to carry out successful group work
in your classroom.
1. Classroom Language
One of the first considerations in implementing group work is to ascertain that your
students have an appropriate command of classroom language with which to carry out
the group task that you have in mind. Now, some group work is linguistically quite
simple, and appropriately so for lower proficiency levels. But at the higher levels, in
order to make sure that a group task is accurately understood by students, not only are
clear directions important, but students must be able to carry out the discourse
necessary to accomplish the task.
2. Work versus Group Work
Pair work enables you to engage students in interactive (or quasi-interactive)
communication for a short period of time with a minimum of logistical problems. But
don’t misunderstand the role of pair work. It is not to be used exclusively for the above
types of activity; it is also appropriate for many group work tasks.
3. Work Techniques
The first step in promoting successful group work is to select an appropriate task. In
other words, choose something that lends itself to the group process. Lectures, drills,
dictations, certain listening tasks, silent reading, and a host of other activities are
obviously not suitable for small-group work.
 Games
 Role play and simmulations
 Drama
 Project
 Interview
 Brainstorming
 Information gap
  Jigsaw
 Problem Solving and Decision Making
 Opinion Exchange

Planning and Initiating Group Work Tasks

One of the most common reasons for the breakdown of group work is an inadequate
introduction and lead-in to the task itself. Too often, teachers assume that purposes are clear
and directions are understood, and then have to spend an inordinate amount of time clarifying
and redirecting groups.

1. Introduce the Technique

The introduction may simply be a brief explanation. For example, “Now, in groups of four,
you’re each going to get different transportation schedules (airport limo, airplane, train, and
bus),

2. Justify the Use of Small Groups for the Technique

If you think your students have any doubts about the significance of the upcoming task, then
tell them explicitly why the small group is important for accomplishing the task.

3. Model the Technique

In simple techniques, especially those that your students have done before, modeling may not
be necessary. But for a new and potentially complex task, it’s important to be explicit in making
sure students know what they are being asked to do. After students get into their groups, you
might,

4. Give Explicit Detailed Instructions

Now that students have seen the purpose of the task and have had a chance to witness how
their discussion might proceed, give them specific instructions on what they are to do. Include

5. Divide the Class into Groups

This element is not as easy as it sounds. In some cases you can simply number off (e.g., 1, 2, 3,
4, . . .) and specify which area of the room to occupy.

6. Check for Clarification

Before students start moving into their groups, check to make sure they all understand their
assignment. You might ask a question like, “Keiko, please restate the purpose of this activity,”
or, “What are you going to do first in your groups?” One form of question that is not advisable
is, “Does everyone understand?”

7. Set the Task in Motion

This part should now be a relatively simple matter of saying something like, “Okay, get into your
groups and get started on your task.” Some facilitation may be necessary to ensure smooth
logistics.

Monitoring the Task

Your job now becomes one of facilitator and resource. To carry out your role, you need to tread
the fine line between inhibiting the group process and being a helper or guide.

Debriefing (Processing) the Task

Almost all group work can be brought to a beneficial close by some sort of whole class
debriefing, once the group task is completed. This debriefing, or processing, as some would
refer to it, has two layers:

1. Reporting on Task Objectives

2. Focus on Form

3. Establishing Affective Support