Abstract :
This research investigated interaction management strategies used in English
literature lecturers in a university in Indonesia. These strategies became a vital
factor in fostering the participants in the lectures. This research aimed to investigate
how the lecturers managed interaction through the types and functions of interaction
management strategies in the lectures. Focusing on prose and drama lectures, this
research chose two participants from Indonesian English literature lecturers with
two different lectures.
The theory of this research was adopted from Interaction Hypothesis by Long
(1983a) and the framework from Rido, Ibrahim, & Nambiar (2015). The researcher
employed a qualitative method and the data were gathered through video
recordings. The results showed that all literature lecturers employed three kinds of
interaction management strategies such as code strategies, emotional strategies, and
managing strategies. In code strategies, the lecturers used Bahasa Indonesia and
English during the entire class for clarity in the opening, explanation, example, and
closing. Meanwhile, in emotional strategies, the lecturers shared common strategies
namely using non-verbal gestures and using humor or joke to encourage
participation, to increase student?s motivation, and to create a conducive learning
environment. Then, in managing strategies, the lecturers decided a topic, controlled
or switched the topic of discussion, decided who speaks, gave direction or
commanded the students, gave extended wait time, and offered an opportunity for
the student to speak to enable the students to express their ideas and engage with
the lectures. Yet, only one lecturer used Bahasa Indonesia and all lecturers did not
decide how long to speak or when to stop during the lectures.
This research was hoped that gleaming insights from it would assist such lecturers
to successfully manage their lectures. Thus, the lecturers should manage the turn?taking and give the students a chance to speak. Thus, the students had an
interactional space and freedom to speak and share ideas, but they were still under
the lecturers? close supervision.
Keywords: English literature, Indonesian university, interaction management
strategies, lecturers