Erving Goffman "Forms of Talk"

In my analysis of classroom interactions I am honing in on three characteristics of classrooms that I consider to be differentiating factors between "traditional" classrooms and "progressive classrooms". These three dimensions are as follows:

1) symbols and sources of knowledge
2) questioning types
3) reward and punishment

I have just read Erving Goffman's article "Replies and Responses" in his book "Forms of Talk" in an effort to stimulate my thinking specifically related to dimension 2.

much of the article is devoted to a kind of taxonomy of dialogic pairs and focused also on anatomy and details of conversation. I am not quite sure what i am looking for i suppose in my effort to connect these three dimension to interaction theories. i suppose i am looking for ways in which questioning type situations might differ and what implications this might have for outcomes of the interactions. if we are talking about interactions constructing individuals we are ultimately talking about outcomes.

another thing that i feel about the article is that it does appear to be largely dealing with what Collins refers to as "natural interaction rituals" and perhaps all the rituals that i am interested in looking at in the classroom are formal rituals even in the context of a more open classroom environment.

Nevertheless there are a few excerpts from the article that i find interesting:

"Whenever persons talk there are very likely to be questions and answers." p. 5 i feel that this is even more so the case in the context of the classroom environment. in the context of the traditional classroom the questions almost always originate from the teacher and the correct answer is clear in the mind of the teacher. it only remains for the student to supply the one right and perfect answer for the teacher's ratification. the questions and answers are another means for students to master the content of the lesson, another tool in the chief task of the education to transmit knowledge from the texts and teachers into the minds of the students.

here is another point that is interesting: "the constraining influence of the question-answer format is somewhat independent of what is being talked about, and whether, for example, the matter is of great moment to those involved in the exchange or of no moment at all." p. 6

this gets at the ritualistic part of questions and answers or face to face talk. Goffman terms them "ritual interchanges" p. 17. there are rules involved and i would argue that these rules and the expected possible answers in the two types of ideal-type classrooms might be different.

"in making an assertion about facts, the maker must count on not being considered hopelessly wrong headed; if a greeting, that contact is wanted; if an excuse, that it will be acceptable; if an avowal of feeling and attitude, that these will be credited; if a summons, that it will be deferred to; if a serious offer, that it won't be considered presumptuous or mean; if an overgenerous one, that it will be declined; if an inquiry, that it will be denied." p. 16-17

this uncovers the expectations that parties have in engaging in interaction and exchange as such exchanges can be hazardous. much anger that arises on the part of teachers perhaps comes from student responses that the teacher deems inappropriate or unacceptable. for an open classroom environment students must also feel safe to respond to teachers questions in certain ways. in the traditional classrooms there are very fixed question and answer "ritual exchanges". students know inherently when to respond in chorus to the teachers questions and they seem to be able to answer as an entirety even if the question appears to be one that could have more than one answer.

question types in chinese classrooms: questions that elicit a choral response, questions that call for the one right and perfect answer and students raise their hands and wait for teacher to call on them...very rarely are open ended questions posed in the traditional classroom whereas in more open classrooms the possibility for multiple acceptable answers is more frequent.

then there are those questions that students can ask of teachers.

"may i add that a feature of face-to-face interaction is not only that it provides a scene for playing out of ritually relevant expressions, but also that it is the location of a special class of quite conventionalized utterances, lexicalizations whose controlling purpose is to give praise, blame, thanks, support, affection, or show gratitude, diapproval, dislike, sympathy, or greet, say farewell, adn so forth. part of the force of these speech acts comes from the feelings that they directly index; little of the force derives from the semantic content of the words. We can refer here to interpersonal rituals. these rituals often serve a bracketing function, celebratively marking a perceived change in the physical and social accessibility of two individuals to each other as well as beginnings and endings of a days activity, a social occasion, a speech, an encounter, an interchange." p. 21

there are many of these types of spcecifically ritual interchanges in the highly ritualized context of the traditional classroom. the good morning teacher and again the rhythms of the ritualized conversation between the teacher and the entire class.