LANGUAGE AND ROLE : WHY SOME NUS STUDENTS ARE NOT TALKING IN TUTORIAL?

Abstract

In normal conversation, talk is well distributed between the actors. In the classroom, talk is skewed towards the tutor/teacher, and students are relegated to the role of the respondent. The lack of verbal display becomes an indicator of role conformity. This study attempts to suggest that the presence or absence of talk is influenced by the amount of role fixity of the students. Role fixity is in turn influenced by the amount of other – and object-regulation and the strength of the corrections norm experienced by the student.