Investigating the Interactions between Teacher and Students in an EFL Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the patterns of teacher-student interaction in an EFL classroom. The researchers conducted this investigation using a quantitative manner. This research enrolled one experienced English teacher and 49 students. Classroom observation, video recording, and interview were employed to obtain data. Additionally, Flanders Interaction Analysis was utilized to identify and evaluate interactions between the teacher and students in the classroom. This study found two distinct types of Flanders interaction in teacher-student interactions, namely Teacher Talk and Student Talk. For the teacher, the categories of talk demonstrated that accepting feelings, praising or encouraging students, accepting or using students' ideas, asking questions, lecturing, giving directions, criticizing or justifying authority all assisted the teacher in eliciting positive responses from the students; and for the students, the categories of talk demonstrated that initiation and silence or confusion demonstrated that the students were not truly engaged in responding to their teacher. This resulted in the researcher concluding that teachers were more dominant in EFL classroom activities, as evidenced by the fact that the percentage of teacher talk was 68.94 percent higher than the percentage of student talk, which was 22.55 percent, and silence or confusion, which was 8.51 percent. The researchers proposed that teachers provide opportunities for students to be more involved in the classroom by asking some critical questions.