The dialogic construction of explanation in university language classrooms

The present study proposes an investigation of explanation as occurring in university second language classrooms, and compares the results of this analysis with those of a questionnaire on explanation carried on the same university context. The questionnaire examines educators' beliefs and opinions on explanation. It addresses issues related to: (a) the interactants' roles; (b) the triggering factors; (e) the content; (d) the delivery style, and (e) the relation of explanations to proficiency levels, and (f) activity variations. The classroom data (video-taped interactions), in contras!, report what educators really do in classroom settings and allow an investigation of five categories of variables related to: (1) the initiator and the real performer of explanatory sequences; (2) the type of on-going explanation; (3) the content of the same; (4) the factors which cause explanations to occur in the interaction, and (5) the style of the explanatory delivery. Both data were collected at the American Language Institute, University in Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1987-88. The comparative analysis of the data indicates interesting matches as well as discrepancies between what educators think of explanations and what they actually do in their classes during explanatory activities.