Repair In Classroom Interaction: A Conversation Analytic Approach

The thesis reports on a conversation analysis of repair in talk–in-interaction conducted inCollege English classroom in China, specially focusing on teacher-student interaction. Theaim of this study is to describe how repair is actually organized and to demonstrate how repairfunctions in this particular setting. In accordance with the findings of ordinary conversation by Schegloff, Jefferson andSacks, we identify five types of repair in our data: self-initiated same-turn repair, self-initiatedrepair in transition space, self-initiated other-repair at the completion point of the turn,other-initiated next-turn self-repair and other-initiated next-turn other-repair. Detailed analysisshows that each type of repair is characterized by its distinct, regular repair trajectories andrepair initiating techniques. The research also shows that teachers and students adopt differentinitiating techniques to issue repair in order to fulfill their respective communicative goals.Repairs can be used to deal with slips of tongue, modify inappropriate expressions, clear upmisunderstandings and solve other problems concerning speaking, hearing and understandingin classroom interaction, which enables to maintain a smooth communication. The present thesis could throw light on the use of repair, gain deeper insights into thenature of classroom interaction, and further advance the quality of teaching.