Learning in Interaction

Interactional Competence by Learning in Interaction on NotaInteractional Competence...Hugh Mehan“‘Competence’ becomes interactional in two senses of the term. One, it is the competence necessary for effective interaction. Two, it is the competence that is available in the interaction between people (65).”Competence can be found “in the talk, the gestures, and the other interactional work that people use to make sense of one another and to assemble the organized character of social situations (65)”Students do not merely have to have knowledge but know how to appropriately display it.“This involves knowing that certain ways of talking and acting are appropriate on some occasions and not others, knowing with whom, when, and where they can speak and act. They also need to provide the speech and behavior appropriate for a given classroom situation, which involves relating behavior to different classroom situations by interpreting classroom rules that are often implicit (79).”The form and content of student’s responses affect how the teacher views the student, what the teacher expects of the student, and the teacher's interactions with the student. The classroom is "mutually constitutive" meaning that the students affect the teacher and the environment of the classroom as well as the teacher affecting the students and the environment of the classroomMehan, H. (1982). The structure of classroom events and their consequences for student performance. In P. Gilmore & A. Glatthorn (Eds.), Children in and out of school: Ethnography and education (pp. 59-87). Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.(Enable JavaScript in your browser, please.)