Classroom interaction: possibilities of approaches

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence (or non-existence) of a space inside the classroom which is favorable to the practice of argumentation in situations of conflict related to the teacher-student interaction. In view of the fact that interaction is mediated by the language, it is interesting to investigate how the feelings produced by the language influence the subjects involved, collaborating or not for their actions toward the practice of the argumentative speech. The method of investigation consists of observations of a 3rd grade High School Course, in public school located in the outskirts of São Paulo. The analyses are based in the Conversation Analysis, Theory of Argumentation and Discourse Analysis. The analysis results show that the space in classroom that privileges the argumentation does not come to be effective. There is a way to go, in terms of understanding the following aspects: the concepts of language; the interaction process; the discourse, its wider context of elaboration and possible effects; the conflict; the art of argumentation in specific situations of conflict, so that such un­derstanding can be reverted to actions, whose effects will be able to change the reality involving the teacher-student interaction.