Creative methods of linguistic and communicative com- petence development

The article refers to Li’s research conducted so as to “illustrate features of classroom interaction in EFL classrooms where teachers facilitate or obstruct opportunities to develop learners’ thinking skills”. The data for it, gathered during 2005-2009, come from a data pool consisting of 18 video-recorded EFL lessons of both lower secondary and upper secondary Chinese students, with their English levels ranging from lower intermediate to upper-intermediate. Li's findings are of tripartite character and suggest that: 1) “language classrooms are complex social and discourse communities”, 2) “it is the teacher who manages the turn-taking and -giving in such classroom discourse” and, finally 3) “thinking activities can be identified by examining the role of language in classroom activities”.