Turn Taking Strategies in Teacher Students’ Interaction

This study investigates the turn taking strategies used by the teacher and students
in EFL classroom interaction at SMA Negeri 8 Medan. The objectives of this
study are to identify the types of turn taking strategies and to examine how those
strategies are realized during classroom interaction. Employing a descriptive
qualitative research design. The data were collected through classroom
observation and audio recording, transcribed using the Sacks, Schegloff, and
Jefferson conventions, and analyzed using Stenström‘s theory of strategies. The
findings reveal that all three types of turn taking strategies were employed. Taking
the turn was realized with taking over as the most dominant strategy. Holding the
turn was realized through filled and verbal pauses, silent pauses, lexical repetition,
and new starts. Yielding the turn was realized with prompting as the dominant
strategy. Regarding the realization of turn taking strategies, both smooth and
unsmooth speaker shifts were identified. Smooth speaker shifts occurred more
frequently and were realized through appealers and uptake, whereas unsmooth
speaker shifts appeared through overlapping talk, cut off, and unwanted silence.
These findings indicate the interaction was predominantly teacher controlled, with
turn taking functioning to organize participation and support the instructional
process.