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Moving out of IRF (Initiation‐Response‐Feedback): A Single Case Analysis
Author(s) -
Waring Hansun Zhang
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
language learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.882
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1467-9922
pISSN - 0023-8333
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00526.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , psychology , class (philosophy) , discourse analysis , mathematics education , linguistics , pedagogy , sociology , computer science , social science , philosophy , artificial intelligence
A common practice in classroom discourse is the IRF sequence (teacher initiation–student response–teacher feedback; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; cf. IRE in Mehan, 1979). Based on a single case analysis from an adult English as a second language (ESL) class, this article demonstrates how one ESL student manages, in close coordination with the teacher, to move out of a series of uninterrupted IRFs during a homework review activity, establishing instead a renewed participation structure that allows for student‐initiated negotiations, which her coparticipants then jointly orient to and successfully accomplish. The analysis suggests that creating negotiation‐rich opportunities is paramount not just during pair and group activities, but more critically, during teacher–whole class interactions.