ERIC Number: EJ1167238
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1307-4733
EISSN: N/A
When the Tokens Talk: IRF and the Position of Acknowledgement Tokens in Teacher-Student Talk-in-Interaction
Huq, Rizwan-ul; Amir, Alia
Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), v9 n1 p60-76 2015
In classroom settings, students' competence is regularly evaluated through a default practice named Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) or Initiation-Response-Evaluation (IRE). In the feedback or evaluation turn, the teacher normally uses acknowledgement tokens (such as uhm, yeah, okay). These tokens perform an active role of maintaining listenership as well as helping the speakers to buy the necessary time to prepare the right answers or expressions, especially in "response" (R) turns. The aim of this paper is to study how the "acknowledgement tokens" are placed within the framework of teacher-nominated IRF sequences and to explore the recognizable pattern of "okay" responses within an IRF framework. The findings suggest an interesting distribution of these tokens, especially with the classifications of "strong acknowledgement tokens" (such as: yeah or okay) and "passive recipiency tokens" (such as: uhm, uhhm, or hmm). Moreover, the findings suggest that the usage of "ok" responses invites further talk as well as an imminent closure. The findings of this study could be used to create a learner-friendly and inclusive classroom.
Descriptors: Interaction, Teacher Student Relationship, Tokenism, Feedback (Response), Classroom Communication, Discourse Modes, Discourse Analysis, Educational Practices, Teaching Methods, Interpersonal Communication, Interpersonal Competence, Interaction Process Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A