Classroom interaction and language learning: a case study of language-related episodes during in-class grammar activities between pairs of grade 4 students at an English program of a school in Northeast,Thailand

Communicative language practice is integral to learning new foreign languages. While teacher-student interaction has been widely studied, learner-learner interaction has often been neglected or viewed negatively. The present study aimed to investigate pairs of mixed ability students’ interactions during in-class activities to discover how students interact with each other during these activities. Six students were selected as participants. Two students are representatives of each of the three main groups of students: the high, moderate, and low ability groups, based on the grade average of all English classes they took at the school and the results of their English proficiency test. The participants were asked to work with different partners from different ability groups. Their interactions were recorded while interacting with other students during the paired activities in grammar class. Their interactions were transcribed and analyzed. The analysis focused on the frequency of conversation in each language conversation for each pair trying to complete the task. The results showed that there were twenty-seven language-related conversations out of twelve interactions. Their language-related episodes include initiation and interaction without feedback. Their initiations and interactions demonstrated six language functions. They are giving opinions, asking for opinions, confirmation, repetition, clarification, and correction. The findings offer insights into the nature of student-student interaction in EFL classrooms for young learners, with suggestions for exploiting the interactions for better language learning outcomes.