From a cognitivist theory stance, domain-specific subject knowledge is necessary for deep learning and cognitive advance. What opportunities for deep learning and cognitive advance are provided in geography classrooms? This analysis of teaching in geography classrooms is framed by the concepts of deep learning, pedagogic discourse, and a…

In recent decades, important advances have been made in understanding how discursive symmetry can be achieved in whole-class dialogue. However, very little is known about how this dialogue may progress in the sense of critically linking ideas in coherent lines of collective inquiry. This article investigates this issue by analyzing 4 consecutive…

Both early childhood maternal language input and the quality of classroom instruction in elementary school have been shown to be important environmental supports in predicting children's literacy skill development. However, no studies have simultaneously examined these two environmental supports in relation to children's early language skills and…

This book provides a wide-ranging and in-depth theoretical perspective on dialogue in teaching. It explores the philosophy of dialogism as a social theory of language and explains its importance in teaching and learning. Departing from the more traditional teacher-led mode of teacher-student communication, the dialogic approach is more egalitarian…

This paper investigates the discoursal strategies of four teachers in providing feedback to student responses in English classrooms in Xi'an, People's Republic of China. The findings indicate that the teachers provide positive feedback for students English learning in various ways, including using the most common strategies such as accepting,…

In this ethnographic study, I investigate heterogeneous-language peer interactions in an English-only kindergarten classroom. English Learners and English Proficient students co-created language necessary to build an argument, one discourse valued in schools. Students developed complex oral language proficiency skills but were viewed as engaging…

This article describes a detailed analysis of knowledge building in a problem-based learning group. Knowledge building involves increasing the collective knowledge of a group through social discourse. For knowledge building to occur in the classroom, the teacher needs to create opportunities for constructive discourse in order to support student…

This study examined whether stimulation of immigrant and national pupils' use of high-quality helping behaviour (experimental condition) during cooperative learning (CL) in classrooms boosts their maths-related talk more than in an educational situation in which such stimulation is largely absent (control condition). A total of 59 elementary-age…

This study analyzed children's comprehension of teacher directives at three levels of clarity. A total of 64 subjects, ages 5 1/2, 7 1/2, 9 1/2 and 11 1/2, participated. Photographic slides of teacher-pupil directive interactions paired with tape recorded teacher directives were presented to subjects under one of four levels of verbal context:…

This study evaluated three models of gifted education implemented by seven elementary regular classroom teachers. All models showed a strong relationship between cognitive level of teacher queries and student responses. The Cognitive-Affective Interaction Model produced the best increases in cognitive complexity of classroom interactions and…

Focuses on whether teachers' enabling styles in talking with young pupils depends on supportive strategies on teacher's part or whether any more specific teacher discourse-moves can be identified as productive. Analyzes one extended recording in which the teacher talks with a group of 5-year olds for approximately 30 minutes. Conclusions are drawn…

In everyday teaching, the mathematical meaning of new knowledge is frequently devalued during ritualized formats of communication and replaced by social conventions. Specific aspects of the problem of meaning development were investigated in two second-grade teaching cases. These were used to develop decisive requirements for maintenance of an…

This paper discusses some of the results of a study conducted in Papua New Guinea on students' comprehension of 45 non-technical words used in science classes. Four words, "component,""devise,""exert," and "random," are considered in detail. (CW)

In order to prescribe instructional strategies that match individual learning styles, a study examined the relationships among students' gender, communication avoidance behavior, and classroom achievement. Additionally, the study investigated the relationship of the instructor's gender to the student's perception of instructor immediacy and the…

Reports on an 18-month investigation of a teacher's actions during class discussions in a second-grade classroom in which student disagreement was resolved by argumentation. Concludes that creating a classroom environment in which students struggle with their own learning requires that teachers understand the complex relationship between the…