Functional types of dialogue

Teaching dialogical speech in school is done with strictly limited, selected, finely tuned input. Selected input comprises both language and speech input. Language input contains phonetic, lexical and grammar material. Speech input is presented in pupils’ textbooks as samples of various types of dialogue existing in real-life communication. The results of T.I. Oleynick’s research work allow for discrimination among four main functional types of dialogue: 1) making inquiries; 2) agreeing; 3) exchanging impressions or opinions; 4) discussing.

Each functional type includes certain kinds of unit characteristic of a given type of dialogue and can be presented in the table:

It should be noted that kinds of DU are given in the table the same way they occur in real-life communication, starting with the most frequent up to less frequent occurrence.

Teaching dialogical speech at the elementary level usually begins with the formation of a skill to obtain information and to inquire about information, i.e. with the first functional type of dialogue. This type of dialogue can be both one-way directed (the 1^st partner asks for some information and the 2^nd answers) and a two-way exchange (mutual exchange of information takes place). The latter is closer to real-life communication that is why it should be given preference while teaching dialogue.

Among the other three functional types of dialogue, the second type – dialogue-agreement – is the most accessible for learners. Having mastered the first and the second types teaching the mixed type of dialogue begins. It is the combination of making inquiries and agreement/ refusing. Next in the degree of difficulty comes the 3^rd type – exchanging impressions/ opinions, when partners discuss some subjects, events, phenomena and express their opinions, agree/ disagree with the other partner’s point of view. Such a dialogue is characterised by a two-way initiative in conducting a conversation. The dialogue-discussion is the most difficult one to be mastered. With the discussion the participants of the dialogue are aimed at working out a certain judgement or decision or at coming to definite conclusions. As soon as the learners master the mentioned above types of dialogue, the teacher encourages them to combine these types, i.e. to master a dialogue of a mixed type.

A definite set of DUs corresponds to each functional type of dialogue.

As it is clearly seen from the above-mentioned kinds of DUs, the DU of a ‘question vs. answer’ kind makes up nearly 50% of all DUs reckoned among the dialogues in pupils’ textbooks. At the same time the ‘question vs. answer’ kind comes first only in the first type of dialogue, the one of making inquiries.

The DU of an ‘information vs. information’ kind and its variants are spread among all types of dialogue. This kind of DU comes first in the dialogue-exchange of impressions and in the dialogue-discussion. At the same time performing the dialogue-agreement is impossible without the DU of an ‘inducement vs. agreement/ refusal’ kind and so on.

Thus, starting to teach dialogical speech within a cycle of lessons based on a definite topic the teacher should clearly foresee what functional type of dialogue he would be teaching his pupils. Depending on the functional type of dialogue the teacher should select and compose the corresponding dialogues-patterns (dialogical standards). He will specify what DUs and set expressions his students are able to use and which of the units and expressions are to be mastered by them.