This study investigates how pre-service English teachers interrupt extended wait-time in English as a foreign language classroom contexts. Utilizing extended wait-time is an indicator of Classroom Interactional Competence, and thus it is an essential skill for efficient language teachers. In the literature, there are quite a few studies on how…

Speakers in conversation typically repeat and modify earlier comments. In mathematics conversations, these repetitions, or poetic structures, can facilitate the collaborative discovery of mathematical relationships. A close analysis of 90 turns of an algebraic problem-solving conversation reveals eight types of poetic structures. This report…

Contradictory evidence has been reported on the effects of discovery learning approach and the role of instructional explanations. By manipulating the presence of instruction (verbal explanation) and transparency of problem structures, we investigated how effects of instructional explanations differed depending on the transparency of problem…

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of effective teacher-student verbal interaction during the instructional time with the emphasis on teacher's talk, and its role on linguistically and culturally diverse adult English language learners' (ELL) learning English as a second language. A group of advanced-level English as a Second…

A review of the research of E.G. Mishler, H. Mehan, and others suggests that a unified theory of the mechanics of how continuous discourse is accounted for in classroom behavior is necessary for further study. Discourse analysis meets the criteria for selection of a theoretical framework because it deals with all the language within the classroom…

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:…

Teachers have always understood the critical significance of good teaching to their students' learning. However, the practical question for teachers is what this looks like in actual classroom lessons and how they shape a culture of authentic learning in schools, which prepares young people for tomorrow's world. Essentially, this paper establishes…

The difficulties and obstacles encountered in research in the analysis and interpretation of writing conference talk are theoretically important. These dilemmas may serve as markers to help researchers see how the routines of research and the interpretations of findings are integrally related. The ways in which talk "rearranges" problems…

This document is written to describe a model which will enable teachers to incorporate values clarification and moral development within content-centered learning episodes. It also attempts to explain to teachers what the processes of values clarification and moral development are and to train teachers to recognize student verbal behaviors…

A study examined the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and academic achievement among elementary school students and whether that relationship was different for males and females. Subjects were 144 (74 females, 70 males) students enrolled in grades 2-5 at a laboratory school on the campus of a midwestern university. Academic…

A case study examined the classroom behavior of a third grader named Andrea. Andrea's lips moved but no response could be heard. Because Andrea was an appealing child, her lack of oral communication became a challenge for her teacher. Members of the Educators Forum supported feelings that Andrea needed to be helped to use oral language. An…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which preschoolers have acquired some of the rules governing politeness when they interrupt conversations. (An interruption was defined as an utterance by a child to two or more people who were already engaged in conversation, and where the topic of the child utterance was unrelated to the…

A study explored the extent to which affinity-seeking strategies are used in elementary and secondary school classrooms. Subjects, 311 elementary and secondary school teachers enrolled in classes related to communication instruction, completed a measurement instrument designed to evaluate their use of affinity-seeking strategies. Analysis of the…

Since confusion continues to exist over what teachers mean when they say they are holding a discussion over previously assigned content reading materials, a study compared and contrasted the verbal and nonverbal interactions between teachers and students (or students and students) in eight content area classrooms in rural high schools in Georgia.…

Silent students are often actively involved in classroom learning despite appearances to the contrary, and teachers can use special instructional strategies to guide them to overt participation. Students with "communication apprehension" are often assumed to have low intelligence, but they may suffer instead from shyness, various…