The Heart of Communication - Unit 7

Interaction, it is the heart of communication and relationship. Interaction gives space for exchanges about thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Creating an ESL classroom that involves interaction hastens the growth and learning of a language. By interacting we are communicating and language is a part of that communication.

When we encourage our students to interact whether formally or informally with each other we are encouraging the practice of their new language. Reading a vocabulary list may have its benefits but when we take that same vocabulary list and use it in spoken sentences the vocabulary becomes more than just words, there becomes meaning. This encourages initiation on the part of students as well as quick responses. It seems easier for students to parrot back a question to catch the flow but it can be a lot harder for the student to respond with an answer to that question on their own accord.

The interaction may need some encouragement from their teacher. As a student myself, I can relate to the desire of slipping into class, hopefully, no one noticing me, avoiding eye contact with the teacher when they ask a question, and then slipping out of class again at the end. No matter how comfortable this procedure is, it is not a helpful learning environment, especially for language learning.

In one massive university class, I had a professor who “forced” everyone to talk with the people next to them, work together and discuss questions with them. A month or so in, she again “forced” (I say “forced” because it was told to us like there was no other option but she did not check too closely if we did) us to move spots in the class and meet new people. By the end of the course, I had numerous friends who I would have never met had I continued in my introverted ways.

As you can see, when students are strongly encouraged to meet and talk with each other, they often find themselves actually liking the people they are with, challenging each other in class, helping each other out when they are unsure and in general learning exponentially more from their collaboration.

Interaction goes beyond just talking with each other. It also involves problem-solving, working on projects, creating presentations together and much more. Working together causes interaction. These are often times when the authentic conversations can occur. One student has an idea of what to do, the next student can either agree or disagree and give their opinions. In these types of instances, without the prompting of the teacher, students use language to achieve their end goal.

The rewards of interacting with individuals are more than a classroom triumph, it is a triumph that extends into the “real world.” With the language ability to interact and communicate, students can go beyond the classroom into the world and communicate (no matter how stunted) to people around them. The world is full of interaction, whether with a child’s teacher, with the cashier at the grocery store, with the banker or just about everywhere else. By introducing interaction in the classroom, you are equipping students to face the world beyond the classroom and function in an English society.  

Bibliography 

Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Fourth ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

For more resources look up these:

Carreiro, H. (2017, April 04). Classroom Interaction in Teaching English as a Second Language. Retrieved from https://classroom.synonym.com/classroom-interaction-teaching-english-second-language-2748.html

Interaction patterns. (2008, May). Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/interaction-patterns

Patterns of Communication. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.teach-this.com/ideas/patterns-of-communication