Classroom Interaction

Been a while since I've posted but my MA has taken over things for a little while. I've been a lot on Interaction Hypothesis (Long, 1996) which has given be cause to really start to think about 'how' my learners interact and communicate in my classrooms.

Some of the major features of the Interaction Hypothesis are:
Negotiation of Meaning
Negative Feedback
Pushed output
Modified output

Basically, these features point towards our learners pushing themselves to provide the next level of output, whilst using feedback (from either other learners or the teacher) to modify that output, and in turn notice gaps in their existing knowledge. Such noticing will enable them to revise their existing hypotheses regarding language use.

A good overview of this, and how it applies to your classes, can be found here:
The Interaction Hypothesis: What it is and How it Naturally Occurs in the ESL Classroom

To work towards providing such an environment I decided to employ some of the "Spot the Difference" style tasks that I'd been reading about in the literature.

If you're not familiar, these work as follows:
1) Learners pair up
2) Each learner gets one picture from the "spot the difference" pair of pictures
3) Learners then have to use oral language to find the differences (WITHOUT SEEING EACH OTHERS' PICTURES!!!!)

I was very surprised at the amount of language this generated. I had otherwise quiet learners engaging in 20 minutes of solid English speaking. Not only that, it required them to engage in deeper-processing of what their partner was saying, as well as seeking clarification from them.

So, where can you find some of these?
A good source is Penny Ur's book Discussions that Work (1989). It's part of the excellent Cambridge Handbooks For Language Teachers series.

Or, you can simply Google "Spot the Difference" and use pictures that come up.

Would love to hear from some other teachers as to how they generate high-quality interaction amongst their learners or from anyone who has tried similar tasks.

Thanks