A model for analyzing classroom interaction is presented. The model focuses on two issues: management of turn-taking and the relationship between ways of interacting and outcome of the teaching/learning process. Turn-taking is seen as one element of conversational style, in which speakers signal degree of involvement by using different linguistic devices. Deciding the rules for taking turns is one way the teacher can signal the kind of control he wants to exercise in the interaction. Turn-regulating cues analyzed include those that signal turn-claiming (including hand-raising and interruptions), turn-keeping (including intonation, sociocentric expressions, and shifts in speech volume and pace), and turn-yielding (including intonation and questions addressed to other speakers). Interruptions are further classified as being accepted, objected, or neglected. The connection between conversational style and ways of interacting in the classroom is then examined by comparing four aspects of conversation (turn-taking, exchanges, amount of speech, and choice of topic and coherence) in two kinds of conversation (competitive and cooperative). It is suggested that students learn from classroom interaction that: (1) they can learn what the teacher knows by carefully reproducing teacher language or book content; and (2) competitive interaction gives them a passive discourse role. (MSE)