Page 134 - Beyond Methods

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Facilitating negotiated interaction
21. T:
22. S4:
23. T:
24. S4:
25. S6:
26. S7:
27. T:
28. S4:
29. T:
30. S4:
31. T:
Ahigherpower...likeGod...
No, maybe a machine or something.
That’s right God can actually cause . . .
No,it’snotGod....medicalcare...ornature...
Yeah, nature.
Naturecure...like...
You don’t think it’s God?
No, God is not a doctor (SS laugh).
True, but faith in God can cure . . .
Idon’thavefaithinGod...I’mnot...
Well, I do. OK, we need to cut it off. It’s a difficult issue. Let’s turn to the other group. Group B, what did you find?
(Data source: Author)
Reflective task 5.6
Read episode 5.4 again and do a quick topic analysis. That is, what are the topics and subtopics (however loosely you define them) introduced by the learners? How would you characterize the teacher’s style of topic manage- ment? Is she consistent in her style or does she change course? If you think she does change course, what might be the reason?
In terms of topic management, the teacher initially seems to be content with students recalling ideas from the text: murder, a dan- gerous idea, advancement in medical science, etc. But the tone and the tenor of the talk changes when S4 (in turn 10) brings up the pos- sibility of a miracle, something that is not mentioned in the text. The teacher, to her credit, acknowledges the originality of the topic initiated by the learner and decides to pursue it. Her decision leads to an extended discussion for nearly twenty more turns involving six students.
Unfortunately, however, when an interesting debate seems to be developing between an apparently religious-minded teacher and a less-pious student (S4), the teacher decides to “cut it off.” Neither did she pursue the topic of nature or nature cure initiated by learn-