"Teacher, I Plead the Fifth": Addressing Learner Absent Responses in ESOL Classroom Discourse

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Second Language Research

Abstract

Given that various second language acquisition (SLA) theories connect learner interactions with the promotion of language learning opportunities, teachers are often faced with managing such opportunities within the quintessential Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) sequence. For this to occur, though, learner responses must be given. Utilizing the methodology of conversation analysis, the current paper examines one English as a Second Language (ESOL) teacher’s real-time classroom practices when addressing learners’ absent responses, and the reasons behind those practices as evidenced in the discourse itself. Video examples of the practices will be presented, along with the discursive factors found to affect their uses. The presenter will conclude by discussing the findings in relation to the SLA and classroom discourse literatures.

Author

• Drew S. Fagan, University of Maryland - College Park