Dialogism and classroom interaction in English language teaching: A review of Czech research

František Tůma

doi:10.5817/PedOr2014-6-878

Dialogism and classroom interaction in English language teaching: A review of Czech research

Vol.24,No.6(2014)
ENGLISH ISSUE

František Tůma

https://doi.org/10.5817/PedOr2014-6-878

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Abstract

The aim of the present study is to review Czech research on classroom interaction in English language teaching. We understand classroom interaction as mutual influencing among a teacher and learners while teaching and learning. We view classroom interaction from the perspective of dialogism, which we use as a theoretical and epistemological framework assuming interaction as a unit of analysis. This review analyzes 9 empirical studies published as journal articles, books, book chapters or Ph.D. dissertations in the years 2006–2014. These studies were critically analyzed in the light of dialogism. Important findings include the fact that a number of studies dealt with teacher talk, mainly teacher questions and the use of the target language and the mother tongue. We compare the areas with the situation abroad as reflected in selected reviews of international research, and outline gaps in Czech research. As regards research methodology (and also theoretical background), a number of studies did not take context into consideration when analyzing classroom. Furthermore, it seems that the activity of individuals (teachers, learners) was the unit of analysis in the majority of studies rather than the interaction itself. These findings seem to suggest that dialogism was not employed in the empirical research to a greater extent.

Keywords:
classroom interaction; dialogism; English language teaching; review of research

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