Building the dialogue in English classes: An enunciative-discursive analysis of the interlocutions

Abstract

In English classes, especially in language schools that follow the principles of the communicative approach of teaching foreign languages, it is desirable that students exercise their oral skills in the target language productively. This goal is sought by the teachers and guides their speech during the lessons. In this paper, we analyze the role of the teacher in the students’ oral participation during English as second language classes. We present the results of an enunciativediscursive analysis of the discursive dynamics – between students of intermediate level of English and their teacher – based on Bakhtin’s theory of language. The data analysis indicates that the teacher plays a key-mediating role in the process of students’ oral production, her participation and collaboration helps students to build their speech and when she does not provide the space for the students’ dialogues, these do not happen. We inferred from the analysis that when the teacher engages herself in a dialog with the students, listens to their answers and replies to them, she can promote qualitative changes in the discourse of the students during the lessons, who participate giving their opinions and narrating events.

Keywords: student’s enunciation in English, teacher’s role, discursive analysis.