Zones of interactional transition in ESL classes

This article uses conversation analysis (CA) to describe the structural properties of zones of interactional transition (ZITs) or talk that occurs at the boundaries of different classroom (and perhaps other institutionally oriented) speech exchange systems. Two types of ZIT are analyzed in detail. Counter question sequences (Markee, 1995) are interactions in which teachers, in order to regain control of the classroom agenda, insert counter question turns between the question and answer turns of question-answer-comment sequences initiated by learners. Tactical fronting talk. involves ambiguous or misleading claims made by learners to the teacher concerning precisely who is having trouble understanding problematic language. ZITs are loci of potential trouble, whose explication is of interest to both CA and second language acquisition researchers, and also to teachers and teacher trainers.