‘Go bolela, go a shikinya’ – Shaking utterances in learning interactions

Abstract

This article is an inquiry into how talking is used for learning. The focus is on utterances of significance where participants say something which brings some sense of surprise and cognitive dissonance, and the purpose is to develop an understanding of how such ‘shaking utterances’ contribute to learning. The study is conducted from a social interaction theory perspective and utilised conversation analysis methods to observe how such utterances come about, how they are sequentially organised, and how they contribute to learning. Findings indicate similarities in the origins and learning consequences of shaking interactions. The study demonstrates the value of conversation analysis research methods for the deepening of our understanding of the nature and learning benefits of talk in classroom settings.

Keywords

• classroom learning
• conversation analysis
• learning conversations
• peer interaction
• shaking utterances