Towards an analysis of discourse 27to move the class step by step to a conclusion. Sometimes an elicit is used
in isolation in the middle of a series of informs to check that the pupils have
remembered a fact. The elicit exchanges which occur inside the classroom
have a different function from most occurring outside it. Usually when we
ask a question we don’t know the answer; very frequently the teacher does
know the answer, indeed the pupils may get quite annoyed if he doesn’t—
after all that is his job!
This fact enables us to explain why feedback is an essential element in
an eliciting exchange inside the classroom. Having given their reply the
pupils want to know if it was correct. So important is feedback that if it
does not occur we feel confident in saying that the teacher has deliberately
withheld it for some strategic purpose. It is deviant to withhold feedback
continually—we have a tape of one lesson where a teacher, new to the class,
and trying to suggest to them that there aren’t always right answers, does
withhold feedback and eventually reduces the children to silence—they cannot
see the point of his questioning. Thus the structure of elicits differs from
that of directs in that F is a compulsory element.
IV Pupil elicit
In many classrooms children rarely ask questions and when they do they are
mainly of the order ‘Do we put the date’ or ‘Can I go to the lavatory’.
Usually the child has to catch the teacher’s attention and get permission to
speak. (See Sacks 1972 on the ways children get into ordinary conversation.)
This permission may not be granted. The initial bid may be countered with
a ‘not now’ or ‘just a minute’ and the exchange never get off the ground.
The crucial difference between teacher and pupil elicits is that the pupil
provides no feedback—an evaluation of a teacher reply would be cheeky.
Thus the structure is IR.