Classroom Discourse as Institutional Interaction: From the Perspective of Conversation Analysis

Abstract

In this study, classroom discourse is chosen as the subject to be analysed in terms of the basic structures of conversation analysis (CA) which are turn-taking organisation, sequence organisation, repair and action formation, as developed principally by Harvey Sacks, Emanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson. As a form of educational talk, classroom interaction should be scrutinised not only in a conversational perspective, but also from an institutional view. Many controversies and debates regarding this particular discourse are present from the conversation analytic point of view, indicating that it is indeed an important subject that need extended studies on. This study analyses learner-learner interaction in task-oriented, learner-centred classrooms, instead of traditional classroom interaction, from the conversation analytic perspective. It helps expanding the research on this subject to a new focus, which is modern classroom interaction.