Classroom Interaction and Organization


A. Common Interaction Patterns in an ESL classroom

T - Ss: Teacher talking to the whole class, such as in presenting a text, explaining grammar, giving instructions for an activity.

T - S: Questions and answers (dialogues) between the teacher and a student, such as in demonstration, checking comprehension.

T - S - S: Teacher initiated dialogues with more than one student, such as in role-playing demonstration and warm-up activities.

S - T: Student initiated conversation between a student and the teacher, such as in asking questions about a rule or an assignment.

S - Ss: One invidiual student talking to the whole class, such as in telling a story, reciting a poem.

Ss/Ss: Students working in small groups, such as practicing conversation, role-playing.

S - S: Two students work in pairs such as practicing a dialogue, carrying out an information gap activity.

SS: Students doing their work individually such as reading, completing an exercise.


B. Different Seating Arrangments in Class (from Harmer (1998) How to Teach English)