Negotiation of Meaning Through Teacher Talk: A SETT-Based Analysis of EFL Classroom Interaction
Abstract
Classroom interaction plays a central role in facilitating language development in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, particularly where learners have limited exposure to English outside the classroom. However, previous studies have shown that classroom discourse in Indonesian EFL settings is frequently dominated by teacher talk, which restricts students’ opportunities to negotiate meaning and participate in meaningful communication. While negotiation of meaning is widely recognized as an essential process in second language acquisition, existing research has rarely examined how interactional features of teacher talk simultaneously initiate and constrain negotiation during classroom interaction. This study aimed to investigate how negotiation of meaning was constructed through teacher talk and how interactional features either sustained or restricted interactional development in EFL classrooms. The study employed a qualitative multiple case study design involving three English teachers and nine students from two junior high schools in Makassar, Indonesia. Data were collected through classroom observations, video recordings, and semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using Walsh’s Self-Evaluation of Teacher Talk (SETT) framework and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that negotiation of meaning was frequently initiated through referential questions, clarification requests, and scaffolding strategies. However, interaction often failed to develop into sustained meaning-making sequences because teachers tended to close interaction through immediate evaluation, teacher echo, and rapid turn transitions. As a result, negotiation remained episodic rather than cumulative, limiting students’ opportunities to elaborate responses, justify ideas, and participate in extended discourse. The study concludes that the effectiveness of negotiation of meaning depends not only on the presence of interactional features but also on how teachers sustain interactional space through follow-up questioning and elaborative discourse moves.