Acquiring turns in classroom interaction

Tom Koole

University Utrecht, The Netherlands

WS172: Discourse in the multicultural school

Studies of turn taking in classroom interaction have focused primarily on the role of the teacher as an allocator of turns (McHoul 1978, Mazeland 1983). So far little attention has been given to the agentive role of pupils in acquiring turns. One of the few exceptions is Sahlstrˆmís (2002) study of hand-raising. In this paper we will present qualitative and quantitative analyses of pupilsí turn-acquisition strategies and their relative success. We will show that pupils who get most turns are not always the one who make most effort to get a turn. At the same time we will also show that success in acquiring turns is indeed related to pupils' competence in turn-acquisition strategies.

Mazeland, H., 'Sprecherwechsel in der Schule' .In: K. Ehlich & J. Rehbein (Eds.)Kommunikation in Schule und Hochschule. Linguistische und ethnomethodologische

Analysen (Tübingen, Narr 1983) pp. 77-101.

McHoul, A.W. (1978) 'The organization of turns at formal talk in the classroom.'

Language in Society, 7 (1978) pp. 183-213.

Sahlström, J.F., 'The interactional organization of hand raising in classroom interaction'. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 37 (2002, 2) pp. 47-57.

Session: Workshop (part 1)
Discourse in the multicultural school
Saturday, April 5, 2008, 09:00-10:30
room: 16