Text types: Texts for social interaction

Classroom interaction

A typical classroom interaction pattern: Initiation-Response-Feedback

The most typical classroom interaction pattern is the three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) pattern. This pattern begins with a Question. Usually we ask questions to find out something we do not already know, but in classroom interactions teachers generally know the answers already. The teacher asks Questions so that students can display what they have learned.

The following three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern is typical of most classroom interactions:

TURN 1	INITIATION	The teacher asks a student a Question.
TURN 2	RESPONSE	The student answers the Question.
TURN 3	FEEDBACK	The teacher acknowledges and evaluates the Response.  Often the teacher also shows the student how to improve the Response.

In classroom interactions teachers can use the Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern to:

	check that students have learned what they are supposed to have learned
	lead students step-by-step through a logical process, eg showing them how to solve a problem
	make important knowledge and understanding clear to students
	use the Feedback turn to improve the students' knowledge and understanding as necessary

In the Feedback move, teachers very often reword or recast students' responses in order to show students a more appropriate way to express an idea, or develop the student's idea in some way. For example in the following interaction between a teacher and student about the findings of an experiment with magnets:

	Teacher:	What did you find out?
	Student:	We found out that the two magnets pushed each other away.
	Teacher:	So, you found that they repelled.

In the Feedback move here, the teacher gives the student a more appropriate expression, ie the technical term repelled.

Teachers can also use the Initiation turn to give students a clue about what kind of Response is required. This is very helpful for students who are learning English.

For an analysis of an interaction between a teacher and a student learning about magnets, click here:

For more information about the three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern, click on the menu on the left: Texts for social interaction: Overview