BASTOS, Luzia da Conceição Alves Lage Machado. Group work and development of oral competences . []. , 19, 2, pp.139-155. ISSN 0871-9187.

Peer interaction in a group work context is a worthwhile alternative to the most traditional and common form of classroom interaction (teacher-whole class), as it contributes to the development of oral competences (object of our study). Data from the analysis of the corpus - ten classes of group work, with 8th form students -, based on two groups of categories - modes of interaction and problems of interaction -, show that students used language in a variety of functions, which doesn’t occur when they simply answer to the teacher’s questions; on the other hand, a low frequency of problems of interaction. Beyond the interest of these data regarding a comparison with teacher-whole class interaction, the need of a particular focus on different aspects of peer talk (turn-taking, variables of influence, among others) is highlighted, in order to understand the pedagogical implications it demands.

: Group work; Classroom interaction; Oral competency.

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