A Model of Verbal Interaction: a Portrait of English Language Classrooms in Jamaica

A Model of Verbal Interaction presents a vivid portrait of the verbal encounters that constitute teaching and learning of English in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Jamaica. It describes the linguistic codes used by teachers and students in the normal course of teaching and learning in the classrooms studied, and explores their context and motivations. Against that background, the writer then uses script theory to execute a detailed analysis of the linguistic patterns of the interaction and their relationship to the ecology (construed as physical space as well as network of cognitive and social relations). The book makes an important contribution to the discourse on the challenges of teaching the official language in post-colonial, Creole-speaking societies, and enriches our understanding of classroom encounters.