Unveiling Classroom Talk: Discourse Patterns and Emerging Teacher-Student Interactions

Abstract

Classroom talk serves as a crucial channel for interaction between teachers and students. It is
typically initiated by questions from either party, and the pattern of conversation can vary based
on how participants begin, sustain, or conclude their discussions. This study examines the
interaction patterns between teachers and students in the classroom through a descriptive
multimethod approach that combines both qualitative and quantitative methods.  Qualitative data
is primarily collected from recorded classroom observations of English teachers at an International
College. Statistical analysis is then applied to examine the structure of the discourse. The findings
reveal that classroom interactions predominantly follow the teacher-initiated exchanges or
Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) pattern, which accounts for 60.61% of the interactions. While
on the emerging pattern of talk, the teacher-elicited exchange pattern, or Initiation-Response (IR),
is the most prevalent, making up to 65.29% of the discourse. While teachers effectively guide
student responses, the predominance of these patterns indicates that classroom interactions are
largely controlled by teachers. To improve teaching and learning, educators are encouraged to
incorporate more open-ended, student-initiated exchanges that foster critical thinking and deeper
engagement.