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IRF在英語作為外語的課堂下的新模式
摘要：1975年Sinclair和Coulthard對課堂言語活動進行了分析，其分析理論為后來著名的“起始、回應、反饋（IRF）”模式奠定了基礎。然而，在對某一英語課的師生課堂話語觀察后，筆者發現師生之間的課堂話語并不是完全遵從固定的IRF模式，IRF會在教師與學生之間相互轉化；課堂中不被期望發生的事情也會打破這一模式。本文將以Sinclair和Coulthard的IRF為理論根據，以課堂中通常發生的三種師生之間的對話為現實依據，重新構建IRF模式。
關鍵詞：IRF；外語；新模式；分析
一、引言
Sinclair和Coulthard（1975: 27）將課堂互動結構分為五級：行為（Act）、話步（Move）、交換（Exchange）、活動（Transaction）、和教學（Lesson），Sinclair和Coulthard在研究過程中發現課堂上，師生間的對話遵從著一種非常嚴格的順序，且結構嚴密。此后，Coulthard 和Montgomery （1981）、Sinclair和Brazil（1982）繼續研究了短小的話語結構。這些研究大多數使用的是話語分析研究法（Discourse Analysis Approach），且研究的是“交換（Exchange）”級（如：Michael Stubbs, 1983）的對話。Sinclair和Coulthard（1975: 44）提出“交換”分為界限交換（Boundary Exchange）和傳授交換（Teaching Exchange）兩種類型。界限交換標記教學階段中的起始或結束，而傳授交換關注的是教學進展情況（White, 2003: 3）。在Sinclair和Coulthard最初的模式中，傳授交換包括三個話步（Move）：開始（Opening），回答了（Answering），續后（Follow-up），也就是后來為大家普遍熟悉的起始（Initiation)、回應（Response）、反饋（Feedback）。
二、基本理論
課堂話語調查的途徑有很多種，如話語分析、對話分析、語言民俗、多模態分析等。IRF交換是課堂中最普遍的師生對話模式，如：
T: What’s the capital of France?
S: Paris.
T: Yes, that’s right, Paris.
(Christie, 2002: 4)
該課堂互動包括教師提問（Initiation)、學生回應（Response）、反饋（Feedback）。教師上課時都希望按照事先準備好的內容一氣呵成的降下來，然而在實際的課堂對話中我們會發現并不是這樣子，課堂上經常會出現一些意想不到的時刻打斷對話，而此時對話結構也可能會改變。那么在這種情況下師生之間的課堂對話是否還遵守IRF結構；IRF的角色是否會有轉換；如果有轉換那又會出現什么樣的結構。本文應用話語分析觀點中最普遍的交換結構（Exchange Structure）理論對課堂文本進行分析。下面通過摘選的三段課堂對話來分析常見的課堂對話里IRF模式的轉變。為了更好地解釋這些結構，筆者用以下符號代表不同的IRF:
I Initiation 起始
R Response 回應
F Feedback 反饋
Ir Re-initiation 再次起始
Is Student initiation 學生起始
It Teacher initiation 教師起始
I1 First initiation 第一次起始
Rs Student response 學生回應
Rt Teacher response 教師回應
R1 First response 第一次回應
F1 First feedback 第一次反饋
三、文本分析
（一）師生之間的起始和回應交換
通常情況，教師是I和F的發出者，學生擔任R的角色，但是，課堂中是否會有學生發出I的情況呢？遇到這種情況，IRF又該如何排列呢？例如：
對話1：
(1) T: Kasha? Kasha, do you like pets? (The teacher faces to the board and draws a circle with “pet” in it).
(2) K: Do you like? Sorry.
(3) T: Do you like pet?
(4) K: Pets? Yes I do.
(5) T: Ok, very good. Sugar, do you like pet?
在這一段教師和Kasha的對話中，教師發出起始句（1）提問，在IRF結構中，學生Kasha應當回答“yes, I like”或者“no, I don’t like pets”，但是這時學生Kasha似乎沒有聽清教師的提問或者沒有注意聽講，結果她沒有按照教師預期的方式回答問題而是反問教師剛才問的是什么問題（2），這時師生間的IR結構交換了，教師重復了問題并再一次發出I，句（4）才是句（1）真正的R，句（5）為F。
該對話的話步交換不止三步，原因在于句（2）和（3）。筆者認為此對話可以有兩種解釋。第一種，句（2）可以看作是由學生發出的起始（Is），起始（I）一般由教師發出，而從該對話中我們可以看到在課堂中教師并不是唯一可以發出起始（I）的人，學生同樣可以發出（Is），而教師的起始（It）問題也可以變成教師回應（Rt）。若學生沒有聽清教師的提問或者思想不集中或者沒聽懂問題，他們可能會向教師發問。這種情況，學生的問題就成了起始（Is），老師則或重復剛才的問題或作為一種回應（Rt）回答學生的提問。這種結構交換可以表示為：
It – Is – Rt – Rs – F
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
第二種，句（2）可以看作是學生對教師的起始（It）的回應（Rs），教師重復她的問題（Ir），然后學生回應了教師的第二個起始。話步（2）和（3）表明學生在課堂聽講時可能沒聽到教師的提問或者沒聽懂，而教師不得不重復問題或幫助解決學生的問題，如果是這種情況，那么這就是下面另一種IRF模式：
It – Rs – Ir – Rs – F
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
該段對話表明，在課堂對話中，起始并不一定僅由教師發出，回應也并不一定只有學生才可以做，當學生對課堂所講授的內容有疑問時他們同樣可以對教師發出起始，而教師則會對學生的其實作出回應（Rt）。這種課堂師生對話具有普遍性，因此，I和R是可以在師生間交換的。
（二） “支架”在IRF結構的作用
IRF結構的局限性在于話步1和3都是由教師發出，這種模式不利于鼓勵學生發言和學生課堂語言的自身修正。然而在課堂中有時在第三步之前會有更多話步，如：
對話2：
(1) T: Ok, very good. Kasha, what color of cats do you like? (The teacher wipes the words “pets” “cats” and “dogs”)
[Students laugh when the teacher calls Kasha’s name]
(2) K: What color?
(3) T: Yeah.
(4) K: Any.
(5) T: Any?
[Everyone laughs]
(The teacher writes CATS inside the circle).
(6) K: ……
(7) T: For example?
(8) K: Black.
(9) T: Black cats (writing “black” on the board) can you ask the same question to me?
這些話步可以用下面的結構表示：
(1) – (2) – (3) – (4) – (5) – (6) – (7) – (8) – (9)
I1 R1 F1 Ir R F
句2和句3的結構特點可以歸為3.1中師生之間的起始和回應交換，而句6語言不清，故此三居不予考慮。這九個話步中，教師提問學生句1是起始，學生的回應是句4，但這個回應并不是教師期待的答案，而且沒想到學生如此回答，因此用了疑問的語調（句5）重復了學生的提問。之后教師進一步發問（句7），最終教師得到了想要的答案（句8）。事實上，只有句1、8和9是三步結構的I、R、F。但從課堂實際情況來看，學生一開始并沒有聽懂教師的問題，所以沒有給出教師期待的正確回應R。盡管學生給出了一個回應（句4），但教師不得不再一次發出起始（Ir）以獲得想要的結果。因此該結構中包含了一個內在的IRF結構（即I-R1-F1-Ir-R-F）。
IRF內部結構可以用Lev Vygotsky（1978）的近側發展區間 （Zone of Proximal Development，簡稱ZPD）來解釋。近側發展區間指學習者現時及實際可達到的發展的差距，這個差距是由學習者的獨立解題能力及其潛在發展水平而決定的。換句話說，就是學習者的學習能力以內，但暫時未能理解的知識。Lev Vygotsky認為一個學習者可以做的工作（Task）可以分為三個等級，即，可獨立處理工作、支架和需協助才可以完成的工作。而“支架”是介乎于學習者有能力與沒有能力獨立完成工作之間。假若沒有人協助學習者去把新的知識與舊有的知識聯系，學習者一般不能獨自跨過這個學習上的距離，需要在有能力者的帶領和輔助之下，才有機會完成工作。在課堂里，這個有能力的人就是教師。教師通過各種方法幫助學生完成工作，而這些輔助方法就是我們所說的“支架”（Bruner,1983）。在對話2中，IRF交換結構可以被視為“最大可能地幫助學生清晰地表達自己觀點的方法”（van Lier, 2001）。當學生在追尋答案的過程中有任何困難時，教師責無旁貸地會幫助學生。這些方法可以是實物也可以是聲音方面的。如果教師使用的是聲音方面的方式，如語言，那么這里就會出現更多的內部IRF結構。因此當分析師生談話時，有必要找出內部IRF結構，以便于我們更好的理解教、學過程。
（三）“沉默”在IRF結構的作用
當學生被提問到時，他們可能會給出正確的答案，或錯誤答案。在課堂中還會有一種情況出現，那就是學生會用沉默回應起始。見下面的對話：
對話3：
(1) T: Tracy, what color are they?
(2) Tracy: … (3 seconds)
(3) T: They are black or they are white.
(4) Tracy: … (2 seconds) Black
(5) T: Great, very good. (The teacher writes “black” in front of the “six brothers and sisters”).
該對話中的話步可以用以下結果表示：
– (2) – (3) – (4) – (5)
I R Ir R F
對話3的課堂背景是，在教師講完一段故事后，為了檢查學生Tracy是否聽講，教師向她提問問題，也就是起始（句1）。但學生什么也沒說（句2），沉默了大約3秒。之后教師只好重新發出起始且是二選一的問題的支架（句3）式問題。最后學生在兩秒鐘的沉默后給出了回應（句4）。
盡管學生對教師的提問沒有做出任何回答，但是在本例中她的沉默也是一種回應。在課堂中，教師經常會遇到這種情況。教師也經常頭痛和抱怨如何如處理學生的沉默。學生沉默的原因有多種：不愿意回應、不知道答案、沒有認真聽講、或者是學生個人性格原因。如果學生對教師或教師的教學方法有偏見，他們可能會拒絕回應教師的提問；如果學生在知識方面有障礙而無法回答問題，他們可能會保持沉默；若學生對教師所講授內容覺得無聊而失去興趣，他們可能無法認真聽講；若學生性格內向他們可能很難與他人交流，而選擇用沉默回應教師的提問。對話3的情況是，教師講課時，學生Tracy正看窗外下雨，屬于學生沒有認真聽講的情況。
面對學生的沉默，教師可以通過叫另外一個同學幫助這個學生說出答案。這時，教師不得不重新發出起始（Ir）。當教師再次發出起始時要注意學生說話的態度和語氣，否則可能會削弱學生的信心和打擊學生的自尊心。大多數學生當無法正面回答教師問題時會覺得尷尬或害羞，這時，如果教師責備他們，學生可能會擔心被同學取笑，以后都不敢在課堂上回答問題。教師可以通過各種技巧處理學生的沉默：將問題換成另一種更容易理解和回答的方式發出起始，如給出二選一的句型，或把原起始句分解成一個個小的問句，逐漸得出最終答案，以增強學生信心。這樣的話，教師的Ir不止一個，直到學生給出最終答案為止。
四、結論
筆者用Sinclair 和Coulthard的IRF交換結構分析了一堂英語課中的三個師生對話，分別是起始和回應在師生對話間的交換、IRF的內部結構、沉默在IRF中的作用以及如何處理學生課堂的沉默。事實上，本文分析的課堂是一堂“故事型”（story-based）課堂，教師過多的使用了提問問題的方式（提問45次）讓學生集中注意力，因此，該課堂大多數的師生談話是IRF交換結構。然而，在筆者分析該類型課堂師生對話時想IRF交換結構是否適用于交際性語言教學課堂，在交際性語言教學課堂中，師生互動和學生間互動環節會更多，盡管我們可以用其他話語分析方法，但是IRF交換結構是否也可以應用到交際性課堂環境呢，如果可以會是什么樣的結構，這是我們下一步可以探討的問題。
參考文獻：
[1]Bruner, J. (1983). Child’s talk: learning to use language. New York: Norton.
[2]Christie, F. (2002).Classroom discourse analysis. London: Continuum.
[3]Coulthard, M. (1977). An introduction to discourse analysis. London: Longman.
[4]Coulthard, M and Montgomery, M., eds. (1981). Studies in discourse analysis. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
[5]Sinclair, J. McH. and Brazil, D. (1982). Teacher talk. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[6]Sinclair, J. McH. and Coulthard, M. (1975). Towards an analysis of discourse. London: Oxford University Press.
[7]Stubbs, M. (1983). Discourse analysis. Oxford : Blackwell Publishers.
[8]van Lier, L. (2001). Constrains and resources in classroom talk: issues of equality and symmetry in C. Candin and N. Mercer (eds.) English language teaching in its social context. London: Routledge.
[9]Vygotsky, Lev, S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[10]White, A. (2005). The application of Sinclair and Couldthard’s IRF structure to a classroom lesson: analysis and discourse. Retrieved 19 Jun, 2007, from http://www.cels.bham.ac.uk/resources/essays/AWhite4.pdf.
附錄1 Transcription
T: my target students are from five, my target students may be between ten to eleven, the level is actually pre-intermediate, the number of students in class is five to ten, time and length of class maybe come to approach and 45 minutes longest, and they are quite motivated, and they are motivated to approach, and several students have experiences in traveling to English speaking countries, in this class new language will be “witch, look for, cottage, broom and blind”, the objective of this activity, first of all, the students should be able to retell the story, and the other one should be able to make their own……story
T: Kasha? Kasha, do you like pets? (The teacher faces to the board and draws a circle with “pet” in it).
K: do you like? Sorry.
T: do you like pet
K: pets? Yes I do
T: ok, very good. Sugar, do you like pet?
T: ok. erm, Kasha, what kinds of …(1s) o sorry, Tracy do you like pets?
Tracy: yes I do
T: ok. Kasha what kinds of pets do you like?
K: cats
T: cats, great （the teacher draws a branch from the circle and writes cats）Kasha, could you ask the same question to Tracy?
K: Tracy … (2s) what kind of pets do you like?
T: ok very good.
Tracy: er, I like dog
T: great (the teacher draws the second branch from the circle and writes dogs) ok, we like cats and dogs. Ok, everyone repeat after me we like cats and dogs.
Ss: we like cats and dogs
T: very good. Rachel, what did I say?
R: we like cats and dogs
T: ok, very good. Kasha, what color of cats do you like? (The teacher wipes the words “pets” “cats” and “dogs” )
[Rachel, Megumi and other students laugh when the teacher calls Kasha’s name]
K: what color?
T: yeah
K: any
T: any?
[Everyone laughs]
(The teacher writes CATS inside the circle)
K: ……
T: for example?
K: black
T: black cats (writing “black” on the board) can you ask the same question to me?
K: what color of cats do you like teacher?
T: I like white cats (writing “white” on the other side)
Er, Sugar what color of cats does Kasha like?
S: er, she like …(1s) likes, er, she likes black cats
T: she likes black cats
S: she likes black cats
T: ok, very good. Enyon, what kind of color do I like? What color of cats do I like?
E: er, you like white cats
T: ok, very good
Er do you know the meaning of “witch” (writing “witch” on the right side of the board. Then pick up a picture and show to the students) what is she?
Ss: witch
T: good everyone read after me witch
Ss: witch
T: she is a witch
Ss: she is a witch
T: witch
Ss: witch
T: Tracy what is she?
Tracy: she is a witch
T: very good. Enyon who what is she?
E: she is a witch
T: very good. Ok, er what color of the cat does witch like do witches like? What color of cat do witches like?
S: black cats
Tracy: black
T: good very good. Megumi could you please …… the first sentence?
witches
M: witches like black cats
T: great very good. Rachel, what did she say?
R: witches like black cats.
T: ok, very good. Everyone repeat after me. Witches like black cats.
Ss: Witches like black cats.
T: ok, very good. Today I want to talk about black cat or white cat?
Ss: black cat
T: (smile) today I want to talk about white cat (wipe “black” “cat” and “white”)
Ss: [students laugh] why?
(The teacher writes “white” in the circle. But she seems to forget something and face to students)
T: oh, ok, today I wanna tell a story about a little white cat. Kasha what is the today’s topic?
K: er, a little white cat.
T: ok very good.(wipe the “white” on the board and rewrite “little white cat”) Enyon what did she say?
E: today’s topic is the little white cat.
T: ok, very good. Everyone read after me. Today’s topic is the little white cat (pointing the words she wrote just now).
Ss: today’s topic is the little white cat.
T: great. Before telling the story, I want to introduce the words. Do you know what it is? (Show a picture)
Ss: ……
T: ok very good. Everyone read after me (writing “cottage”) cottage.
Ss: cottage
T: cottage
Ss: cottage
T: Rachel, what is it?
R: cottage
T: cottage.
R: cottage.
T: ok very good. Sugar, what is it?
S: cottage
T: cottage.
S: cottage
T: cottage. Great, very good….(2s) er, do you know the meaning of broom (writing “broom” on the right side of board.)
Ss: broom (small sounds)
T: (pick up a picture) this is a broom. Everyone read after me broom.
Ss: broom
T: Megumi, what is it?
M: broom
T: great, Kasha what is it?
K: broom
T: ok, very good. Ok and do you know the meaning of look for (writing “look for” on the right side)? Do you know the same words, the same meaning words?
S: find
Tracy: seek
T: ok, very good find. It is the same word as find. Everyone read after me look for.
Ss: look for.
T: look for
Ss: look for
T: and do you know the meaning of blind? Blind
Ss: ……
T: ok, somebody who cannot see. Ok, Megumi, could you make a sentence with using “blind”?
M: er, er, I saw a blind man … (2s) I saw a blind man walking on the street
T: ok, very good. Kasha, what did she say?
K: she said I saw a blind man walking on the street.
T: ok, very good. Ok, now I will tell a story about a white cat. (The teacher shows a picture). Once of the time, there was a white cat. And she has six brothers and sisters. But all of them are blind. Ok, Rachel, how many brothers and sisters does the little white cat have?
R: it has six sisters and brothers.
T: ok, great. (The teacher writes “six brothers and sisters” on one branch). Tracy, what color are they?
Tracy: …(3s)
T: They are black or they are white.
Tracy: …(2s) black
T: great, very good. (the teacher writes “black” in front of the “six brothers and sisters”). But the little white cat does not know she is white. …(5s) (the teacher looks at her teaching plan). The little white cat goes older and older, and bigger and bigger. One day she says do I want to be a farmer? No. and do I want to be a teacher? No. I want to be a witch’s cat. Ok. Er, Enyon? Does the little white cat want to be a farmer?
E: no.
T: what does the little white cat want to be?
E: …(3s) she wants to be a witch’s cat.
T: great, very good. (The teacher writes “witch’s cat”) the little white cat wants to be a witch’s cat.
Ss: the little white cat wants to be a witch’s cat.
T: ok, very good. Tracy, does the little white cat know she is a white cat?
Tracy: …(2s) no
T: she doesn’t know she is a white cat. Rachel what did I say?
R: the little white cat doesn’t know she is a white cat.
T: ok, very good. …(2s) (the teacher looks at her lesson plan) the little white cat looks for a witch. She walks and she walks. At last she finds a witch. The little white cat says have you got a cat (the teacher pretends to be the little white cat) no I have never got a cat (the teacher pretends to be the witch). Great, now I am your cat (the teacher pretends to be the little white cat). No, you are a white cat (the teacher pretends to be the witch). Witches have got a black cat. Ok, Kasha, does the witch wants a white cat?
K: no, she wants a black
T: ok, very good. (The teacher writes “witches / black”) witches want black cats. Ok, witches like one black cat. Sugar, what did I say?
S: witches like black cat.
T: ok very good. Rachel if I were this little white cat how would feel
R: sad [laugh]
T: ok, very good, Megumi, how about you. If you were this little white cat how would you feel?
M: … (5s) Depressed?
T: ok great, very good, very, ok
The poor little cat the poor little cat the little white cat is so sad. She looks for another witch. She walks, she walks, (the teacher laughs and wants students speak with her), please, she walks
Ss: she walks
T: at last, she find she looks for she finds out a witch another witch. Have you got a cat (the teacher pretends to be the little white cat) no I have never got a cat (the teacher pretends to be the witch). Sounds great now I am your cat (the teacher pretends to be the little white cat).
Tracy: no
T: great. No, you are white. Witches have got black cats (the teacher pretends to be the witch).
Ok, Enyon? Does the witch want this little white cat?
E: no
T: Sugar, why does this why does not? The witch want this little white cat?
S: the witch wants a black cat.
附錄2 Transcription System
The description in the round brackets indicates the teacher’s performance in the classroom.
The description in the square brackets indicates the students’ performance in the classroom.
(1 s): A one second pause
Cannot hear clearly
Uttering at the same time
Abstract: in 1975, Sinclair and Coulthard on classroom speech activity were analyzed, the theory and later the famous" initiation, response, feedback ( IRF )" model laid the foundation. However, in a English teacher-student classroom discourse after observation, the author found between teachers’ and students’ classroom discourse does not fully comply with the fixed IRF mode, IRF between teachers and the students interaction; classroom are not expected to happen it would break this pattern. This paper will be the Sinclair and Coulthard IRF as the theory basis to the classroom, usually happens in three between teachers and students of the dialogue is the reality basis, constructs the IRF model.
Key words: IRF; foreign language; new mode; analysis of
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