2021 Volume 19 Pages 175-196
By considering the voluntary utterances of learners on the basis of agency from a sociocultural theory perspective, this study analyzed classroom discourse and discussed the factors that cause such utterances to occur. Specifically, it examined “agency” as the ability to act in a collaborative/co-constructive manner through intermediary means and grouped voluntary utterances into four categories . The categories were, namely, participatory, inquisitive, autonomous, and committed. Furthermore, a detailed analysis was conducted on the process by which each utterance was generated. The result revealed that learners perform voluntary utterances based on agency and, in the process, use contextual footholds, such as their utterances; teachers’ utterances; their turns; the wait time taken by teachers; revoicing by teachers; non-verbal information, such as gestures; and other fillers and misuses by learners during their utterances.
