An analysis of Spanish bien as a marker of classroom management in teacher-student interaction

Abstract

This paper analyzes the function of the Spanish marker bien in classroom interaction. It is argued that bien has two main functions: a transitional and an evaluative one. Transitional bien is used to signal upcoming transitions between or within activities, while evaluative bien is used to signal a positive response by the teacher in the feedback move of an initiation/response/feedback cycle. Thus, transitional bien is essentially a contextualization cue since by signalling changes in classroom activities it leads to realignments and redefinitions of the situation by participants. The use of bien in classroom discourse is compared to its use in conversation and similarities and differences are discussed. It is argued that the study of markers within specific ‘language games’ can provide important elements to general analyses of the same markers since it allows an investigation of the situational variables that influence variations in their function and meaning.

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