•  
  •  
 

Abstract

According to Thomas (1987), though learning is a private process, it is also the result of the external interaction which takes place between the participants viz. the teacher and the learners in the classroom. The language classroom can be considered as a microcosm of society and as such the interaction in the classroom can be considered as a reflection of the communication outside it. The cultural conditioning and defining of the roles of the teacher and the learner play an important role in the teaching-learning process. The feedback that is provided by the teacher is an important part of classroom interaction. This paper attempts to determine the quality of the informal feedback in the English language class and also tries to ascertain the extent to which it is provided to the undergraduate students of Gauhati University. It is believed that the findings will throw light on the quality of classroom interaction and also assist in raising awareness about it’s importance. A few aspects of feedback that will be analysed in this paper in an ethnography of communication (EoC) framework are provided below.  How does the relationship between the participants i.e. the teacher and the learners influence the kind of feedback and in turn the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom?  Does cultural conditioning play a role in the classroom interaction? For this study a survey was conducted in three colleges affiliated to Gauhati University. Students and teachers of the General English paper were interviewed with the help of semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that the feedback system is almost non-existent in colleges due to numerous problems that need to be addressed in an expedited manner. The reasons for the faulty feedback system have also been addressed in the paper.

Download

Share

COinS