Interactional Management in the English Classroom: Direct or Indirect Approaches?

Abstract

The request strategies employed by American teachers in ESL classroomsare examined in this study to see the extent to which they use directand indirect speech in their management of classroom interaction. Fouradult ESL classes are investigated: two beginning-level and twoadvanced-level classes. Results of the study indicate that teachers inthe two beginning-level ESL classes tended to use more directapproaches but they differed in the degree of the direct approachesused, depending on their perception of what is most urgent in theclassroom (i.e. transparency of meaning or manners of politeness). Onthe other hand, teachers in the two advanced-level ESL classes werefound to use both direct and indirect approaches. Their varied use ofdirect and indirect approaches may involve functional differences ormay have to do with one of the teachers' anxiety.