Exchange structure 67A teacher of course has more difficulty when responding to answers which
are incorrect or only partially correct. Obviously he has the option of high
key ‘no’ but seems only to use it at times of annoyance or exasperation:
19 T: What are three twos P: eight sir T: //p NO //
If at all possible he will use a mid key ‘yes’ which carries the meaning of
agreement, and co-select referring tone to indicate incompleteness. Thus the
move can be glossed as ‘OK so far but...’.
20 T: can you tell me why do P: to keep T: //r YES //
you eat all that food you strong
21 T: and why would you want P: to make T: //r YES //
to be stron gmuscles
It is noticeable how rarely teachers use even mid key ‘no’ and it is instructive
to look at the following occasion when it does occur.
22 T: Can you think what it means
P: Does it mean there’s been an accident further along the road
T: //r NO //
P: Does it mean double bend ahead
T: //r NO //
T: Look at the car
P:Slippery roads
T://pYES //
Both teacher and pupils work hard to create a situation in which ‘no’ is a
non-threatening, socially acceptable follow-up move. First the teacher implies
that the question is a difficult one by changing from her earlier ‘what is x’
formulation to ‘can you think what x means’; then the children respond
with interrogatives which simultaneously mark the tentativeness of their
answers and overtly request a ‘yes/no’ follow-up; finally the teacher does
not select evaluative high key, but mid key and referring tone which together
indicate that she is agreeing with their implied expectation that their answer
is incorrect.
We have so far discussed ‘yes’ and ‘no’ co-occurring with high and
mid key as options for the third move in an exchange; much more frequent,
in fact, is a repetition or reformulation of the response. Teachers very
often highlight part or the whole of a pupil’s response by first repeating
in high key, and thus marking it as important by contrast with whatever
else might have been said, and then going on to produce a mid key,
agreeing item:
23 T: How do you use your muscles
P: By working
T: //p by WOrking//pYES //