Classroom talk: “there are more questions than answers”

Abstract

Congruence between new language in education policies and broader curriculum policy is crucial if educational and language acquisition plans are to be realised, and wider social aims of access and equity are to be met. This study addresses the alignment between the language policy choice of Vuka primary school, and the classroom practices of an English and a Science teacher. My research interests were (i) to analyse classroom talk with respect to teachers' questions providing comprehensible input (Krashen, 1982) and learners' responses constituting comprehensible output (Swain, 1985); (ii) to establish whether there was congruence between national language in education policy (LiEP) and curriculum policy, on the one hand, and local school-level language policy and practices, on the other. My findings provide empirical evidence of alignment between the language policy of Vuka primary and the classroom language practices of an English and a Science teacher in Grades 5, 6 and 7.


(S/ern Af Linguistics & Applied Language Stud: 2003 21(1&2): 29-40)