ANALYZING INITIATION-RESPONSE-FEEDBACK PATTERNS: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CLASSROOM DISCOURSE IN PAKISTANI EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS

Abstract

The current paper analyses conversations between teachers and students in the classroom in the context of the IRF model of discourse analysis, as developed by Sinclair and Coulthard (1975). The information was taken as an output of an online lesson recording on Academic Writing in English, which gives the researcher an opportunity to examine how the teacher can begin, govern, and end the interaction, as well as how students can respond in this context. As the analysis shows, the communication pattern that dominates the classroom, the IRF pattern of initiation, response, and feedback, has a propensity to encourage a highly teacher-centred discourse. This structure makes sure that the lesson content is addressed and it is sequential; however, the student is hardly involved in the lesson process and is not able to develop communicative competence. The results validate the prevailing criticisms of the IRF model, as it is useful in describing the interactional structures, at the same time demonstrating how it is limited in fostering learner autonomy. The paper concludes by highlighting the necessity of more learner-based methods in ESL/EFL settings, in which students are invited to be more active participants in a conversation, thus encouraging a more intense and effective language use and skill development.