Systematicity in Foreign Language Classroom Communication

The paper discusses the intrinsic potential offered by classroom interaction for language development. The first part examines several theoretical aspects and characteristics of classroom communication. The second part presents the results of a study which investigates different aspects of classroom interaction in foreign language teaching and the strategies used to encourage classroom communication in the target language. The study, which combines quantitative and qualitative research methods, is based on a survey of Slovene teachers teaching English in primary school. Results suggest that while the respondents are well aware of the benefits of using English in classroom communication, they generally use it in an arbitrary and unsystematic fashion. We would like to argue that we can contribute to the effectiveness of the teaching process by approaching classroom communication with a systematic and consistent format.