Appraising Discourse Content of EFL Classrooms Through the Lens of Bakhtin’s Dialogic Discourse Pattern

This study aims at appraising the discourse exchanges of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and learners from a critical standpoint to explore whether the turn-taking structures are dialogical in essence. To this end, the discourse exchanges of 12 classrooms were observed and digitally audiotaped during class interactions. At the same time, notes were taken and checklists were filled out to capture contextual features. The functions of each interaction were transcribed verbatim and then coded to uncover the initiation-response-feedback (IRF) patterns. The functions were identified by counting the number of occurrence of initiation move functions, type of elicitations, and follow-up move functions. The Chi-square tests, followed by a complementary interpretive approach, were run to determine the distribution of the IRF patterns and to analyze the class interactions. The findings indicated that the least frequent initiation move function was nominating and most frequent move function was in the form of display questions by the students. Additionally, teachers exposed a tendency toward closed and managerial questions in the classrooms. The teachers employed their follow-up moves to repeat, accept, and correct among the students in classrooms. This makes no room for the students to voice their ideas, to foster critical reflection, and to encourage transformative mode in a classroom. The findings suggest that dialogic teaching can involve learners in collaborative dialogue and empower them to be reflective learners.