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their implications for language learning and
teaching in today’s contexts. The former is a
more traditional approach in which techniques
such as IRF (initiation-response-feedback)
find their place. This type of interaction puts
the teacher in control and gives generally
little scope for dynamics similar to those that
occur outside the classroom. The latter, on
the other hand, to greater or lesser extents,
facilitates ‘natural communication’, maintains
intrinsic motivation, which is closely related
to self motivation, own choice, and control of
one’s actions, and provides learner autonomy,
creating greater convergence between talk
inside and outside the classroom.
The backdrop to van Lier’s analysis is the
language classroom and the resources and
constraints, applied by institutional settings
that aid or hinder language learning and
teaching. He states that institutional settings
can constrain the types of talk and create
asymmetry and inequality and he questions
the extent to which teachers are free to ignore
them. Van Lier further argues that contingent
talk offers greater equality and symmetry. He
then considers the value of strategies typical
of the two groups of interactions and their implications
for language learning and calls for
change if teachers and schools are to provide
better quality.
Development and implications of van
Lier’s arguments
Issues of equality and symmetry
Issues of equality and symmetry incorporate
those of control and power versus negotiation
and joint construction of talk. In teacher-learner
interactions, teacher-fronted monologues and
IRF structures tip the scale in favour of the
teacher. This might also happen in learnerlearner
interactions when the divide in skills
and competences is such as to create noticeable
imbalances, such as in native speaker
and non-native speaker talk, or in more and
less proficient non-native speaker talk. However,
generally, learner-learner interactions
“require an orientation toward interactional
symmetry” (van Lier, in Candlin and Mercer,
2001, p.98) which is expressed in “relations of
contingency between an utterance and other
entities, primarily other utterances (preceding,
concurrent, and following), shared knowledge
and relevant features in the world” (Gibson,
1979 cited in van Lier in Candlin and Mercer,
2001, p.98) and is most typically associated
with conversational talk.
In my experience of teaching in English
speaking and non-English speaking countries,
where the language is being learned plays an
important role in any further developments.
In English-speaking countries learner-learner
interactions tend to be in English (unless
students are from the same linguistic background)
and are more likely to be carried on
outside the classroom. However, in non-
English-speaking contexts, L1 tends to be
the language used for peer communication
and learner-learner interaction outside the
classroom. The implications of this are that
what happens outside the classroom comes
into the classroom and what happens inside
rarely goes out. In these contexts, learnerlearner
interactions have to be designed by
the teacher and then co-constructed with the
students. Pollard (2007) raises an interesting
point and question in saying that “even in
a highly student-centred classroom it is still
the teacher who sets the agenda... Does the
teacher need to hand explicit control of the
agenda over to the students, or is it enough to
allow students’ interests and concerns to influence
us as we plan lessons and courses?”
MEMBER MIX
(online conference).
In my experience as a learner and teacher,
the type of context that is artificially created
(the roles and the objectives of the tasks at
hand) becomes of great importance in ‘stimulating’
and triggering learners’ instrinsic
motivation and therefore simulating the patterns
of ‘natural’ conversations where “contingent
language use encourages, justifies and
motivates grammaticalization” (van Lier, 2001,
p. 99). This seems to be one of the driving
forces of Task Based Learning. Once again,
the notion of contingency leading to grammaticalization
finds a headstart in
English-speaking countries where the
contingent language use enters the realm of
the learners’ resources more readily through
exposure.
Constraints
As the title suggests, the classroom and
classroom talk are the setting and the objects
of van Lier’s analysis. Classrooms, however,
are part of institutional settings which offer
resources and constraints in the form of
“budgets, materials, equipment and the like,
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ETAS Journal 25/1 Winter 2007 39