Skip Navigation

ELT Journal 1997 51(4):317-325; doi:10.1093/elt/51.4.317
© 1997 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lynch, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Articles

Nudge, nudge: teacher interventions in task-based learner talk

Tony Lynch

Lecturer at the Institute for Applied Language Studies, Edinburgh University, where he teaches EAP programmes and runs teacher education courses. His particular interests are classroom communication and miscommunication, listening comprehension, and academic writing. He has written or co-written four books, of which the latest is Communication in the Language Classroom (Oxford University Press 1996). He is currently looking into the potential contribution of native non-teacher ‘assistants’ in the English classroom, and into the value of transcripts of learners' talk for their language learning. His e-mail address is AJLynch{at}ed.ac.uk

In this article I consider two practical questions for the management of learner-centred group work in the light of the notion of Comprehensible Output (Swain 1985). First, should teachers intervene when communication among learners breaks down? Second, if we intervene, what form should that intervention take? I discuss extracts from three adult EFL classes, where learners resorted to conversational repair in order to clarify faulty expressions used in performing a communication task. In two cases the teachers used different repair tactics to ‘nudge’ the group towards a successful resolution. In the third case, the effect of the teacher's intervention was to stifle a learner's attempt at repair. In their different ways the extracts suggest that we should resist the temptation to step in as soon as learners encounter communication problems, and that any eventual intervention needs to be tailored to the specific difficulty.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Language Teaching ResearchHome page
M. M. Chavez
The orientation of learner language use in peer work: teacher role, learner role and individual identity
Language Teaching Research, April 1, 2007; 11(2): 161 - 188.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 RELC JournalHome page
T. Lynch, W. Y. Yah, K. Anderson, and R. Thiyagarajah
Consultancy as Dialogue: Experiences From a Malaysian Esp Project
RELC Journal, June 1, 1999; 30(1): 62 - 78.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.