The organization of talk in school interaction

Abstract

Although classroom interaction has received a great deal of focus during the last 40 years, its investigation from a conversation analytic stance is rather limited. The present article approaches talk at school from this point of view, exploring two basic dimensions that manifest participants’ orientation to the institutional character of the setting, that is, turn-taking organization and sequence organization. The above dimensions have been the subject of research in the past as well; however, additional work is needed for a more comprehensive account of their specific features that clearly affect participants’ conduct. Thus, this article contributes to the research on school interaction by shedding light on various aspects of the turn-taking and sequence organization of talk at school, and by specifying the exact constraints under which participants – and more accurately students – operate.