Characteristics of the Teacher-Students’ Oral Interaction Process in the First Level Class at the English Language Institute In The Light Of the Notion of Communicative Competence

Abstract

Language teaching and learning in a classroom setting demands from the teacher a varied set of skills and knowledge to develop the wanted language competences in his/her students. This fact makes research in communicative competence very useful in order to improve methods and strategies. For this reason, in this paper the researcher gives response to the question: “What are the characteristics of the teacher-students’ oral interaction process in the first level class at the English Language Institute in the light of the notion of Communicative Competence?”. This descriptive ethnography took place in a small class of five adult students in elementary level who study English as a foreign language. Data collection is made through observation, and materials collection. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of four different theorists. After contrasting theory with data, organizational competence was proved to be the main competence developed in this classroom setting. This work is useful for all who want to do research on communicative competence, and those who are using class transcriptions to analyze and explain the nature of oral interaction in first or second language classrooms.