Developing Chilean Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Classroom Interactional Competence in Simulated Co-Teaching Practice Sessions

This study explores pre-service teachers’ interactional practices during simulated co-teaching sessions to identify how they give instructions, manage interactions, and provide opportunities for language practice. Data were recorded at the undergraduate EFL training programme at Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia, Chile, and were analysed through Multimodal Conversation Analysis. A workshop on Interactional Competence and Interactional Awareness was carried out with the participating Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) applying the Self-Evaluation of Teacher Talk (SETT) framework (Walsh, 2013) on their own performance. Finally, structured interviews were held to identify the PSTs' experiences with the framework and its relevance as a reflexive practice tool to recognise the ways they promote oracy among their language learners. Results showed that the pre-service teachers were able to give instructions and open the floor for participation but needed training on feedback provision as they mostly oriented towards activity completion. They identified interactional practices through SETT and provided critical reflections. During the interviews, they recognised teachers’ Classroom Interactional Competence as key to enhancing language learners’ competences. This study has implications for teacher education: It shows a practice-led method of training teachers in the way they use language to promote better interactions and, thereby, enhance learners’ language development along the different strands of oracy.