The role of interpersonal communication

Interpersonal interaction is regarded as a fundamental requirement of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Researchers have asserted that language instruction requires the development of interactional competence and interaction is the key to language teaching for communication (Kramsch, 1986; Ellis, 1988). The interactionist perspectives in SLA place considerable attention on the role of interaction in general, and meaning negotiation in particular, with respect to the conditions considered theoretically important for SLA. In particular, Pica (1994) claims that meaning negotiation, as a particular way of modifying interaction, can accomplish a great deal for SLA by helping learners make input comprehensible and modifying their own output, and by providing opportunities for them to access second language form and meaning. In other words, when a proficient speaker is engaged in oral communication with a non-proficient speaker, a proficient speaker asks questions from the non-proficient speaker to see if he/she understood the message (comprehension checks), if the non-proficient speaker has not understood the message or finds difficulty in understanding, he/she can request the proficient speaker to clarify the message (clarification requests). In most cases, the proficient speaker repeats the message for the learner either partially or completely (self-repetitions).

      Students are not passive recipients of the instructors’ knowledge rather, they take an active part in their learning. In highlighting the active participation of learners, Poorman (2002) observes that true learning cannot take place when students are passive observers of the teaching process. Making learners interact in the class by using pair or group work not only helps learners acquire language skills but also it helps learners become empathetic and understandable of different socio-cultural and religious values so that making learners of different race and religions can help reduce racial prejudice (McGregor, 1993). The idea of reducing racial prejudice has become very important and relevant to my teaching context because in my classes I find Muslim students who come from three provinces in the Southern part of Thailand (Yala, Patani, and Naratiwas) where there has been an ongoing ethnic conflict between Malay Muslim insurgents and the Thai government for the past few years. International Crisis Group (2010) reports the aforesaid conflict as follows:

The conflict in the Deep South remains on the margins of Thai politics and

unresolved. A paradigm shift is needed to acknowledge that assimilation of

Malay Muslims has failed and that recognition of their distinct ethnoreligious

identity is essential.

(Stalemate in Southern Thailand, Asia Briefing N°113 3 Nov 2010.

(http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-east-asia/thailand/B113)

Please watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gKXCZgFUEM&feature=youtube_gdata to see how learners of different religions do a role-playing activity in the class.