E-CLASSROOM LANGUAGE: A CONVERSATION ANALYSIS OF SYNCHRONOUS INSTRUCTIONS DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Abstract

A growing body of research has documented classroom language use in traditional classrooms. However, how teachers use language in virtual classrooms remains largely under-researched. This study was carried out to fill this gap. The purpose was to examine teachers' use of classroom language in synchronous virtual classrooms and how it facilitated learning opportunities for EFL learners. Under the qualitative research framework, video recordings of online instructional activities were analyzed using a conversation analysis approach. The results show that the majority of expressions used in online synchronous instructions were quite similar to those used in traditional classrooms except for the expressions like "let me share my screen," "turn on the camera," and "I will mute everyone." The results also show that teachers' e-classroom language use provided learning opportunities for students employing recast, scaffolding, and extended wait time for students' turns. Information on teachers' classroom language use in online learning environments presented in this paper is based on limited data, and further studies involving more significant participants are recommended.