Describing Classroom Interaction

Classroom discourse is quite different in both style and substance from conver­sation. Whether or not we admit it, the defining characteristic of classroom dis­course is a nonegalitarian distribution of power, in almost all cases, a teacher has more power than a student. The teacher chooses the text, makes the assignments, and gives the grades. As a result, interaction is nonreciprocal. In a typical lecture-discus­sion class, teachers talk more than do students and set the topics for discussion. Although both students and teachers ask questions, the functions of these questions differ. Presumably, stu­dents ask questions to acquire information, whereas teachers already know the answers to the questions they ask.

Degree of language formality varies, but generally the syntax and vocabu­lary used in the classroom are formal, and topics are relatively impersonal. Cer­tainly, classroom discourse contains more jargon than do private forms of talk. Teachers’ talk is also scripted. If being too prepared in a conversation makes a speaker seem manipulative, being unprepared in the classroom destroys a teacher’s credibility. Most teachers preplan their lectures, and some use the same jokes and examples from one year to the next. One of the most difficult tasks in good teaching is finding a way to make standard material fresh.

Classroom material is publicly accessible and generally explicit, and clar­ity is required. Finally, although teachers and students do build personal rela­tionships, the business of the classroom is instruction, and most classes stay task oriented