Recent years have witnessed a rapidly growing trend of incorporating synchronous online teaching tools into language teaching, yet the interaction patterns that unfold in online environment and its effectiveness on young learners remain underexplored. The present study narrows this research gap through closely examining the multi-modal exchanges between a veteran primary teacher and his EFL Grade 6 students during synchronous online English lessons, using a video-conferencing tool called ZOOM. 80 recordings from whole-class and small-group sessions over a four-month span were obtained and the various modes of synchronous computer-mediated communication that the teacher employed as well as spoken discourses were analyzed. The findings indicated that the teacher successfully utilized the affordances provided by ZOOM to elicit a large number of non-verbal responses and expanded verbal responses from students. The better-able students also demonstrated remarkable interactional skills during small-group sessions, as seen from their increased use of prompting and repair speech acts. Students’ reticence emerged as an alarming concern, though it was alleviated by extending the wait-time. Overall, this study offers a prototype for primary teachers to base upon during synchronous online lessons, whilst also highlights the need for re-conceptualizing the constituents of classroom interactional competence (CIC).

近年来，将同步在线教学工具纳入语言教学的趋势迅速增长，但在线环境中展开的交互模式及其对年轻学习者的有效性仍未得到充分探索。本研究使用名为 ZOOM 的视频会议工具，通过密切检查在同步在线英语课程中一位资深小学教师和他的 EFL 6 年级学生之间的多模式交流，缩小了这一研究差距。获得了为期四个月的全班和小组会议的 80 条录音，并分析了教师采用的各种同步计算机介导的交流模式以及口语。研究结果表明，教师成功地利用 ZOOM 提供的可供性来引起学生的大量非语言反应和扩展的语言反应。能力较好的学生在小组会议中也表现出非凡的互动技巧，这从他们越来越多地使用提示和修复言语行为中可以看出。学生们的沉默令人担忧，尽管通过延长等待时间有所缓解。总的来说，这项研究为小学教师在同步在线课程中提供了一个原型，同时也强调了重新定义课堂互动能力 (CIC) 组成部分的必要性。从他们越来越多地使用提示和修复言语行为可以看出。学生们的沉默令人担忧，尽管通过延长等待时间有所缓解。总的来说，这项研究为小学教师在同步在线课程中提供了一个原型，同时也强调了重新定义课堂互动能力 (CIC) 组成部分的必要性。从他们越来越多地使用提示和修复言语行为可以看出。学生们的沉默令人担忧，尽管通过延长等待时间有所缓解。总的来说，这项研究为小学教师在同步在线课程中提供了一个原型，同时也强调了重新定义课堂互动能力 (CIC) 组成部分的必要性。