Text types: Texts for social interaction

Overview

Keeping the interaction going: Three-turn interaction pattern

Although the basic interaction pattern consists of two turns, often a further turn is added to this basic pattern to make a three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern. In the most straightforward Initiation-Response-Feedback interactions the initiation is a whole clause, the response is a clause fragment and the feedback is a formulaic expression. Here is an example from a children's conversation:

In real life there is an infinite number of variations on this basic pattern. For example, sometimes the feedback turn becomes (or expands into) an initiation turn for the next part of the interaction:

Speakers often intrude other clauses into the basic pattern as in the example below. Notice how the children vary the basic Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern to keep their conversation going:

Three-turn interaction pattern and classroom interaction

The three-turn Initiation-Response-Feedback pattern is typical of most teacher-student classroom interactions and is often used in the following way:

turn 1	Initiation	The teacher asks a student a Question.
turn 2	Response	The student answers the Question.
turn 3	feedback	The teacher evaluates the Response. Often the teacher also shows the student how to improve the Response.

For more information about Classroom interaction, click on the menu on the left.