Using names in the classroom: elicitations of a novice English teacher

Abstract

This paper investigates the place and use of names in the classroom discourse of a novice English teacher. A qualitative comparison is made between the teacher's interactional moves early in the academic year at the start of his career and those five months later. The focus is on the structure of each move, particularly elicitations, as well as the sequential pattern of the classroom talk exchanges. It is shown that the use of names within these arrangements results in more inclusive interaction, involving students more intimately in the discourse. As the teacher learns his students' culturally unfamiliar names he uses them more frequently in his classroom in a range of different moves.