An integrated framework of oral interaction units for pre-service EFL teacher education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/2663-0303.2026.1.03Keywords:
oral interaction, turn-taking, adjacency pairs, speech acts, talk moves, strategies of oral interaction, ESP talk, pre-service EFL, teacher educationAbstract
This paper offers a theoretical and conceptual analysis of four core units of oral interaction – turns, adjacency pairs, speech acts, and talk moves – to integrate these constructs into a unified framework for EFL communicative professional competence, particularly in ESP classroom talk. Drawing on conversation analysis, speech act theory, pragmatics, and educational linguistics, the study examines how these units, typically treated in isolation across disciplinary traditions, operate as cofunctioning layers within institutional spoken discourse. The analysis shows that turns provide the structural vehicle; adjacency pairs determine sequential coherence; speech acts specify the social action performed; and talk moves operationalize interactional strategies toward professional and pedagogical goals. The article suggests that fluency in this integrated interactional framework constitutes a distinct professional competence that current EFL teacher education programs inadequately address. Eight pedagogical implications are proposed for pre-service EFL teacher preparation, including adjacency-pair awareness, speech-act instruction, talk-move repertoire development, dialogic teaching design, learner interactional agency, cross-cultural interaction norms, and interaction-sensitive oral assessment criteria.
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