چکیده

Of the major difficulties EAP teachers often face in the moment-by-moment unfolding of classroom discourse is juggling with both language- and subject-related contents, while the latter may fall beyond their realms of knowledge and expertise. In other words, they tend to display teachers’ knowledge deficit of the discipline. This issue is what Wu and Badger (2009) called ‘In-class Subject Knowledge Dilemmas’ (ISKD). An interactional feature that can trigger ISKDs is learner initiative. This study aimed to explore how teachers respond to such uninvited contributions in EAP classes. To this aim, nine Iranian EAP teachers’ naturally-occurring classroom interactions were videotaped and transcribed. Each teacher was then invited for a stimulated recall interview to identify ISKD-relevant initiatives. Out of 90 subject-related initiatives, 34 tapped into the teachers’ knowledge deficit. The teachers treated them in different ways including avoidance, acknowledging ignorance, risk-taking, resourcing, and negotiating. These pedagogical practices can be discussed based on Skinner’s (2017) conceptualization of understanding teacher talk. Those teachers who articulated concerns about either face and authority or ethics enacted the first two pedagogical practices; their statements and practices represented pre-liminal understanding. However, those who responded through risk-taking and resourcing were obsessed with providing learners with input which can be construed as liminal understanding. Finally, those who negotiated learner initiatives tried to align their talk with the pedagogical goal of the lesson, thus demonstrating a post-liminal understanding. The findings of this study can substantiate Waring’s (2016) theory of pedagogical interaction, more specifically the principle of complexity.

کليدواژه ها

EAP, leaner initiative, knowledge deficit, teacher talk, pedagogic goal

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Mostafa Pourhaji , 1398 , Teacher Responses to Learner Initiatives in EAP Classes , اولين کنفرانس بين المللي مطالعات زبان انگليسي