A Conversational Analysis Model for Promoting Practices of Interactional Competence in the EFL Context

Abstract

Formulaic language is a typical feature of textbooks materials used in EFL classes. EFL students are not engaged in the process of recognizing how naturally occurring speech takes place and is carried on. EFL learners in their helpless attempts to converse with others may tend to memorize formulaic fixed expressions and sometimes whole conversations. Following a conversation analysis approach, the present study explores the significance of involving Saudi EFL learners in understanding the flow and structure of spontaneous and interactive conversation. A sample of an excerpt taken from a conversation of an American TV talk show was recorded and transcribed. Practices of interactional competence such as conversational organization, situational characteristics, lexical choices, linguistics devices, and other conventions of speech behavior are identified and then discussed in details. This CA approach is, therefore, meant to serve as a model of salient interactive practices and norms that present the conversational system of actual everyday talk. The purpose is to raise EFL learners' awareness of the socio-cultural features of real-world communication and enhance their interactional skills necessary to boost their communicative competencies.

A Review of Interactional Competence Assessment in the Saudi EFL Context

“…Needless to say, IC assessment as shown above is still under-researched in the Saudi context and needs further effort from teachers, researchers, and policymakers to bridge the existing gap in the literature. A major shift in the teaching methodology should take place in the Saudi EFL classrooms, as Al-wossabi (2016) highlighted that in order to prepare Saudi EFL students to communicate successfully with the interconnected world, interactional tasks must be vital components of the Saudi EFL speaking curriculum.…”

“…However, most of the studies that have examined this context were conducted from different perspectives, such as IC development, usage, sources, and features. Al-wossabi (2016) highlighted that studies of interactional competence of conversations are still under-researched in the Saudi EFL classroom. He described the current situation of teaching in Saudi Arabia as teacher-dominated where students are merely passive receptors of knowledge.…”