Abstract:

This research article addresses the use of the Initiation Move (I-Move) at higher learning and how the students’ communicative competence is developed. The overall purpose of this research article was to investigate the different types of the I-Move in Communication and Study Skills (CSS) classes at the University of Botswana (UB). In investigating the I-Move to establish the different types, the Classroom Observations were used among nine lecturers from the seven faculties of the UB. The said Classroom Observations were captured by video recording the nine lessons in CSS classes of the UB. From the nine lessons observed, a transaction was selected for the analysis. In addition, the Initiation, Response, Feedback (IRF) moves were used to analyse the discourse from the Classroom Observations. The results indicate that a number of I-Move types namely; Informs, Directs, Checks, Questions were used and the most commonly used type was the ‘lecturer questions’. Further, the results indicate a few instances where the students attempted to initiate the classroom talk, which in the process encourage communicative competence. The conclusion of the study was that the CSS classes are dominated by the lecturers. This is because during the I-Move, the lecturers take most of their time asking the students questions and informing them about the topics under discussion. The investigation of the I-Move was meant to shed some light on how the lecturers can initiate the classroom talk in an endeavour to develop the students’ communicative competence.

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