A1 Journal article (refereed)
Professional Embodiment : Walking, Re-engagement of Desk Interactions, and Provision of Instruction during Classroom Rounds (2020)

Jakonen, T. (2020). Professional Embodiment : Walking, Re-engagement of Desk Interactions, and Provision of Instruction during Classroom Rounds. Applied Linguistics, 41(2), 161-184. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amy034

JYU authors or editors

Jakonen, Teppo

Publication details

All authors or editors: Jakonen, Teppo

Journal or series: Applied Linguistics

ISSN: 0142-6001

eISSN: 1477-450X

Publication year: 2020

Volume: 41

Issue number: 2

Pages range: 161-184

Publisher: Oxford University Press; American and British Associations for Applied Linguistics

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amy034

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/75869

Abstract

Unlike continuous whole-class (plenary) interaction, independent task work involves incipient teacher–student talk, as the teacher typically ‘makes rounds’ to engage in brief desk interactions with students. This article draws on multimodal conversation analysis to investigate how teacher movement during tasks offers resources for re-engaging in desk interactions and offering task-related guidance. The focus is on teachers’ walking trajectories and ways of positioning the body, and students’ orientation to them, in (i) (pre-)opening moments of a desk interaction, and (ii) during a subsequent instructional turn that guides students with the ongoing task. The analysis shows how the pedagogical actions of checking and assessing student progress as well as making oneself available to students become observable in ways of walking, and how students display bodily whether they need teacher help. Movement also offers resources for shifting from individualized to collective instruction during rounds. These findings suggest that ways of navigating the body in the classroom space can index pedagogical concerns, which the students can use to make sense of the teachers’ ongoing and projected engagements.

Keywords: teachers; school children; interaction; movements; classroom work; teaching situation; teacher-pupil relationship; instructions