Structural Patterns of Conversational Discourse: Ethiopian EFL Textbooks in Focus

This study investigates the grammatical patterns prevalent in conversational discourse as presented in selected Ethiopian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. It aims to identify and analyze the features of spoken conversational discourse that shape the structure of dialogues and spoken interactions within these educational materials. Focusing on both the frequency and function of grammatical forms, the research explores how these textbooks incorporate conversational discourse structures, such as heads and tails, ellipsis, backchannels, phrasal chunks, and adjacency pairs, to facilitate language acquisition. By examining a selection of course materials for the course “Spoken English I” collected from three randomly selected universities in Ethiopia, the study assesses whether the grammatical structures align with authentic conversational norms and pedagogical objectives. The findings provided insights into the effectiveness of these materials in promoting communicative competence and offered recommendations for improving the representation of real-world discourse in EFL resources.