Instructors' Perceptions of Social Interaction and Its Practical Reflections in Foreign Language Classes

Abstract

This study aims to investigate instructors’ perceptions of academic social interaction and its impact on language development. The study was conducted at a school of foreign languages of a state university and the participants were six instructors. The phenomenological research design was used and interviews and observations were conducted with the instructors. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The results of the study show that a comfortable learning environment, interaction between peers, building personal interaction between students and teacher, and humor are facilitators of in-class interaction. Cultural differences among students, good command of English and overcrowded classrooms are obstacles to interaction. The main impacts of in-class interaction are learning by doing, ability of expressing oneself in daily interaction and improvement in language usage.