The importance of student and teacher talk for classroom interaction in second language acquisition

The Importance of Student and Teacher Talk for Classroom Interaction in Second Language Acquisition
Interaction is an important word for language teachers. In the era of communicative languageteaching, classroom interaction is, in fact, the heart of communication. In our daily lives we send messages, we receive them, we interpret them in a context, we negotiate meanings, and we collaborate toaccomplish certain purposes. Interaction is the collaborative exchange of thoughts, feelings or ideas between two or more people, resulting in a reciprocal effect on each other. From the verybeginning classrooms should be interactive and Wilga Rivers (1978) said that through interaction, students can increase their language store as they listen to or read authentic linguistic material, or eventhe output of their fellow students in discussions, problem-solving, tasks or dialogue journals. In interactions students can use all they have learned or absorbed in real life situations, and ev
}enat an elementary stage, they learn in this way to exploit the elasticity of language. Classroom interaction provides learners with opportunities to practice the second language and to encounter thelanguage and culture. Also, it contributes to language development simply by providing target language practice opportunities. Success or failure in classroom language typically has something, if notabsolutely everything, to do with the nature of interaction that takes place during lessons. In this paper I will focus on two important factors for classroom interaction: teacher and students talk.For language learners, classroom is the main place where they are frequently exposed to the target language. The kind of language used by the teacher for instruction in the classroom is known asteacher talk (TT). As Nunan (1991) points out: “Teacher talk is of crucial importance, not only for the organization of the classroom but also for the processes of acquisition. It is important for...