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Abstract
This paper explores the importance of classroom discourse analysis in language learning classes. It presents the language teacher’s perspectives and attitudes in implementing discourse analysis in language classes. Discourse analysis assists students in evaluating their acquired knowledge critically, strengthens social interaction, and builds self-confidence. Furthermore, it reduces the dominant role of the teacher in the class and allows students to be more active participants. In addition, students gain enough linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge to reflect critically. Likewise, discourse analysis discovers the hidden talents and abilities of the students, and it allows them to observe and evaluate problems from a higher perspective and obtain a comprehensive view of learning problems. Classroom discourse analysis minimizes the role of teachers in the class and maximizes the role of students in language learning. Discourse analysis deals with intended meaning and its relationships within the context, while pragmatics deals with the interpreted meaning from linguistic processing and social interaction. In addition to that, classroom discourse analysis enhances teachers’ and students’ meta-discursive reflection, and at the level of the current globalized educational system, it is considered critical in multilingual education. Lastly, the discourse analysis research found that classroom discourse analysis enriches the language learning process and diminishes the teachers’ load covering all class activities.
Keywords
- Language teaching aims to help language learners to communicate, even sometimes in a limitedscope. The use of the target language gives learners real opportunities to experience andpractice communication. Discourse analysis has emerged as an essential component in analyzingteaching language through the communicative approach (Olshtain & Celce-Murcia, 2001, as citedin Alsoraihi, 2019). According to Berrocal et al., (2016) to analyze the way foreign and nativespeakers use language within the social context, discourse analysis greatly focuses on languageforms and functions in social interactions to improve language acquisition. Moreover, it deeplyconcentrates on details of speech to covey the social meaning used by the people using the components of language represented in morphology, syntax, phonetics, and phonology.
- Most of the researchers believe that in language teaching and learning, discourse analysis andpragmatics are two essential parts. Discourse analysis deals with intended meaning and itsrelationships within the context, while pragmatics deals with the interpreted meaning fromlinguistic processing and social interaction. Furthermore, according to Hai (2004), in acomprehensive framework of meaning, discourse analysis attempts to deal with how the relationship between different language components is interpreted.
- Discourse analysis has a significant role in language teaching and learning. Classroom discourseanalysis enhances teachers’ and students’ meta-discursive reflection, and at the level of currentglobalized educational systems, it is considered critical in multilingual education. Classroomdiscourse analysis helps us to understand the complex relationship between students andteachers, and its effects on the learning process in the classroom environment (Woodward-Kron& Remedios, 2007). Furthermore, classroom discourse analysis is a crucial element of classroompractice; it enables us to understand the complex relationship between students and teachers and provides us with valuable information related to language analysis (Alsoraihi, 2019).
- According to Martinez (2012) classroom discourse analysis helps us understand the extent towhich teachers can use language in the classroom, and provides us with valuable information forlanguage analysis and its reflection on cultural awareness. Moreover, it enables both teachersand students to understand the different contexts and enables them to identify correspondinglanguage functionality. Also, discourse analysis is used by teachers to develop social interactions in the classroom environment.
- A study by Luo (2013) posited that teacher-reading and student-repeating sessions present alost opportunity in the classroom for students to develop learner autonomy. Moreover, otherresearch shows limited opportunities for student-initiated participation in the classroomdiscourse as well as situations that require students’ higher-order thinking (Hardman & Abd- Kadir, 2007).
- According to Widdowson (1972) “knowing a language does not mean understanding, speaking,reading and writing a sentence; it means knowing how sentences are used to communicateeffectively” (p. 11). To increase the level of student participation in the classroom and student-centered language teaching, it is necessary to reduce the teacher’s dominance in the classroom.However, it is worth noting that teachers should praise and encourage whenever students dopositive work. Teachers and students must use language discourse carefully, in order to avoidpragmatic difficulties in language teaching. Furthermore, the teachers should provide studentswith a suitable environment for interactions and real opportunities to exercise the language indifferent situations to enhance the language acquisition and language development processes under the communicative perspective (Alsoraihi, 2019).
- Teachers are the ones who create the teaching environment, guide students to learn, and giveacademic advice to students. However, in traditional teaching methods, teachers are the centerto convey knowledge, and students are the object to receive knowledge. All the teachingprocesses are organized and guided by the teacher. With new teaching methods, teachers canassist students to develop their technique, affection, attitude, and habit of learning. Moreover,teachers can inspire and guide students to learn effectively (Jia, Q. 2010). Ye, L. (n.d., as cited inJia, Q. 2010) stated that “today’s teaching reform should change not only the teaching theory but also the teachers’ teaching views, together with teacher’s daily teaching activities” (p. 198).
- Before entering the class, teachers should focus on two points. First, for the teaching targets,teachers should evaluate and compare the curriculum and textbooks, and use them flexibly.Second, teachers should be aware of the knowledge and experiences of students. In addition,teachers should respect, provide opportunities, trust, and build harmonious relationships withstudents. Furthermore, teachers should treat students fairly and equally, be kind and supportive,and provide a friendly environment for them to learn. On the other hand, they should letstudents solve their problems and connect new knowledge with their previous knowledge toenhance their ability to solve difficulties (Jia, Q. 2010). Teachers should permit and providepossibilities for student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions. Also, students shouldactively engage in classroom interaction, and reduce teachers’ dominant role in the class (River, 1987, as cited in Ab Rashid, & Al-Smadi, 2017).
- According to Ye, L. (n.d. as cited in Jia, Q. 2010) there should be reforms in today’s teachingprinciples, and also teachers’ teaching views, together with their daily teaching activities. Thereshould be a great change in language teaching theory and a shift from lockstep or teacher-centered to student-centered teaching because it reduces the teacher’s load in the class, and itallows students to have more chance to share ideas, criticize and observe their languageteaching process. Due to student-centered learning, there should be lots of opportunities andmethods to be implemented in language teaching classes and classroom discourse analysis isone of those approaches. As River, 1987, (as cited in Ab Rashid, & Al-Smadi, 2017) stated,students should actively engage in classroom interaction, and we should reduce the teachers’ dominant role in the class.
- Alsoraihi, M. H. (2019). Bridging the gap between discourse analysis and language classroom practice. English Language Teaching, 12 (8), 81-86. doi: 10.5539.
- Ab Rashid, R., & Al-Smadi, O. A. (2017). A theoretical review of classroom discourse. International Journalof Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 6 (3),166. doi: 10.6007/IJARPED/v6-i3/3169.
- Berrocal, M. L., Villegas, V. M., & Barquero, V. V. (2016). Bringing critical discourse analysis into the foreignlanguage classroom: A case study of a Taiwanese learner of Spanish in Costa Rica. Revista de Lenguas Modernas, 24, 215-266.
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