Authentic Oral Interaction in the EFL Class: What It Means, What It Does Not (La interacción oral auténtica en la clase de inglés: lo que significa y lo que no)

Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Carrera 30 No. 45-03 Ciudad Universitaria, Bogotá, Colombia. Tel: +571-3165000 Ext.16780; Fax: +571-3165000 Ext.16780 or 16773; e-mail: rprofile_fchbog@unal.edu.co; Web site: http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/profile

Y

15

English (Second Language); Second Language Instruction; Oral Language; Interaction; Verbal Communication; Secondary School Students; Teacher Student Relationship; Peer Relationship; Foreign Countries; Grade 6; Classroom Communication; Teaching Methods; Communicative Competence (Languages)

1657-0790

The communicative approach in EFL education has generated a concern for the development of communication in the foreign language classroom within which the promotion of oral interaction is usually paramount. However, what constitutes authentic oral interaction is sometimes not clearly understood and some of the activities that take place in the classroom seem unlikely to generate meaningful opportunities for the development of oral interaction. To address this gap, this paper characterizes four samples of oral communication exchanges that occur in Colombian EFL secondary school classrooms in Montería and discusses their effectiveness for developing meaningful oral production in both student-student and teacher-student interaction. The paper has two main sections: the first is devoted to the analysis of student-student interaction, and the second to discussing teacher-student exchanges.

As Provided

28

2015

EJ1051552