Teacher Turn-Allocation behaviour and its effect on learner involvement in oral interaction:The case EFL speaking classes at Mohamed Seddik Ben Yahia University-Jijel

Abstract

Results show that the most frequent turn-allocation strategies are teachers’ permission for learner self-selection, bodily gestures, general nomination, individual nomination, and invitations to bid, respectively. However, the amount of student talk prompted by these strategies exhibits discrepancies with their frequencies. Learner self-selection yielded the lowest amount of student talk, while individual nomination was found to trigger the utmost amount of it. The study also suggests that student nomination, standing next to a student, and to some extent gestures are the most optimal turn- allocation strategies in terms of the amount of talk they generate. Finally, the study points out the necessity of an examination of gestural turn-allocation strategies through video-taping, noting the frequency of each single strategy, and considering which ones are optimal for increasing student talk than others.