Englanti oppimisen kohteena ja välineenä : katsaus luokkahuoneinteraktioon

Abstract

This paper approaches classroom interaction from a pragmatic perspective. More specifically, it concentrates on two different types of classrooms where English is either the object or the medium of study. Rather than assessing students’ linguistic skills, the purpose is to analyse how English is put to use in these two settings, for what kinds of social and interactional purposes. The fi ndings show how the different institutional role of English is refl ected at the level of interaction. In brief, in EFL classes English is constructed as the focus of attention through abundant use of Finnish and the materials dependent use of English which renders English pragmatically rather detached from the speakers. In the content-based classrooms, English serves a broader array of pragmatic functions and more often reflcts speakers’ views and perceptions, which makes interaction more interpersonally involved.