Book reviews

Reflecting on classroom communication in Asia, T.S.C. Farrell. Longman/Pearson

Education, Singapore (2004). vii +130pp

Whether teachers realize it or not, they control the communication patterns in theirclassrooms. Different patterns of communication allow for various degrees of learning.However, because every classroom is different, it is impossible to prescribe a single com-munication pattern that works best for everyone. Therefore, teachers need to take theresponsibility for ensuring that the patterns of communication that they establish providethe most effective framework for learning in their unique context. In this book, Farrelltries to show teachers how to take this responsibility.

One strength of this book is that it provides a clear introduction for teachers who havenever reflected (or thought about reflecting) on classroom communication. Farrell beginswith an introduction to the unmarked, or most typical, pattern of communication estab-lished by teachers: Initiation by the teacher, Response by the student, Evaluation by the tea-cher (IRE). Although Farrell does not say outright that this unmarked pattern may not bethe most effective pattern (even though it is the most common) in many situations, he doesexplain that too many evaluations on the teacher’s part can lead to ‘‘devaluing’’ the stu-dents’ opinions and ‘‘even their ability to contribute to a lesson’’ (p. 7). Farrell maintains,therefore, that it is important for teachers to record and transcribe some of their lessons inorder to see which communication patterns they are establishing. By analyzing transcripts,teachers can see if their actions reflect their beliefs about how they teach. Furthermore, byanalyzing transcripts, teachers can identify areas in their communication patterns thatthey may like to change in order to better establish a framework for learning. In thisway, teachers will truly be taking responsibility for the way that they teach.

A second strength of this book is that Farrell takes the reader step-by-step through tran-script analysis. Farrell focuses on a different aspect of communication in each chapter. Hediscusses marked patterns of communication, types of questions teachers ask, as well aspatterns that exist in student group work. Although he provides example transcripts, aftereach section Farrell encourages the reader to look at the same aspects in their own tran-scripts. Thus, he continually reinforces the idea that every teacher and every group of stu-dents is unique, and the only way to know which patterns are the most effective is for eachteacher to study his/her own patterns of communication in his/her own classroom.

Although Farrell’s examples are taken from different countries in Asia (hence the title),a third strength of this book is that teachers of any subject from any part of the world canbenefit from reading it. Any teacher, given the time and the tools, can learn somethingabout his/her classroom by analyzing the transcripts. Because communication happensin every classroom, the types of communication Farrell identifies, such as ‘‘exploratorytalk’’ and ‘‘final draft talk’’ (p. 61), are not limited to teachers in Asia. Therefore, theauthor should consider eliminating Asia from the title for future editions.

System 34 (2006) 451–457

www.elsevier.com/locate/system

SYSTEM

Although Reflecting on Classroom Communication in Asia has many strengths, there arealso some weaknesses. First, Farrell does not explain how to transcribe a recording.Although he provides examples of transcripts, he does not explain what has been includedand what has been omitted. The transcripts include body language, but there are no sym-bols to indicate other important communicative devices such as intonation. The reader isleft wondering if intonation is not important in classroom communication or if the authormerely forgot to include it. Furthermore, Farrell admits that transcribing is not an easyprocess since one recorded hour may take up to 8 h to transcribe. Thus, upon completionof the book, the reader still does not know important practical information such as how totranscribe or how long it will actually take.

The second weakness of the book is the underlying assumption that by reading transcriptsteachers will know what students understand. In the preface, Farrell states that teachers ‘‘cancheck that their students understand the academic task structure they have set and if the stu-dents are able to perceive what is expected of them’’ (pvi, emphasis added). However, he doesnot comment on the possibility that teachers may misinterpret their own transcripts. Re-search has shown that teachers sometimes misunderstand their students because they are fil-tering their knowledge of classroom occurrences through schemata that are different fromtheir students’ schemata. For example, teachers who do not share the same culture as theirstudents may assume that the students are misbehaving when in fact they are acting in accor-dance to the norms of a different culture. Thus, teachers may analyze their transcripts, mis-interpret the students’ communication, and subsequently misinterpret the effectiveness (orlack of effectiveness) of the communication pattern that they established. It is unfortunatethat Farrell did not include some strategies for critically interpreting student utterances.

These weaknesses are, however, outweighed by the strengths of this book, and theundeniable importance of its basic premises for all teachers. Given the privileged positionteachers hold in the classroom, it is without question that they should be responsible forthe framework of communication in their classrooms. Farrell provides teachers with thebackground information they need in order to make their first step toward truly takingthis responsibility. For this reason alone, Reflecting on Classroom Communication in Asiashould be read by all teachers, not just those in Asia.

Sonia MartinDepartment of Applied Linguistics,

Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue,

St. Catharines, Ont., Canada L2S 3A1

doi:10.1016/j.system.2006.07.002

Textual patterns: Key words and corpus analysis in language education, M. Scott, C. Tribble.

John Benjamins, Amsterdam (2006). x + 203 pp

Scott and Tribbles’ Textual Patterns is volume 22 in Benjamins’ Studies in Corpus Linguis-

tics series which is designed to focus on the development of a quantitative approach to thestudy of linguistics. It is intended for a readership of ‘‘language teachers and teacher educa-tors’’ who cannot be expected to be expert in the subject. All writers of this genre will face the

452 Book reviews / System 34 (2006) 451–457