Thinking together in primary classrooms has received much scholarly attention in recent years, with a focus on educational dialogue at the forefront of studies concerned with identifying what constitutes effective language for learning. Whilst the expression of explicit reasoning is often discussed, less attention has been given to the role that…

This paper defines the notion of "dialogic local space" and highlights its importance to teaching and learning. A dialogic local space values multiple local realities as it invites us to listen to, take up, and have confidence in our own local everyday and personal realities, and to listen to, consider, and respond to other local…

Research into classroom dialogue suggests that certain forms are especially productive for students' learning. Despite the large number of studies in this area, there is inadequate evidence about the prevalence of the identified forms, let alone their productivity. However, scarcity is widely presumed. The overall aim of the study reported in this…

In this paper, we argue the importance of conceptualizing educational quality as located in everyday talk, and to search for it in the unfolding of classroom discourse and interactions. More specifically, we argue that for the discursive classroom process to be qualitatively effective it should be open and accessible by a series of…

Adopting a case study approach with multiple data sources, this paper explores the ways in which rapport is built, and its impact on the learning process based on five successive writing support consultations between a native English-speaking (NES) tutor and her second language (L2) tutee in a Hong Kong university. With reference to the prepared…

Framed within interactional sociolinguistics, microethnographic discourse analysis, and cognitive science, we examine how intercontextuality, collective memories, and classroom chronotopes were used in generating learning opportunities in a ninth-grade language arts classroom. Five consecutive videorecorded lessons were analyzed focusing on how…

Taking broadly sociocultural or sociolinguistic perspectives, the five contributions to this special issue investigate various aspects of the co-construction of knowledge, as this is manifested in K-16 classrooms in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. While the authors of these papers address different educational settings, student…

Explores a discussion in a bilingual education class of Haitian students where a non-teacher-directed discussion format and an emphasis on the students' own questions encourage the use of the students' everyday ways of talking and exploring ideas. The article's analysis of a discussion shows what and how the students are learning in this context.…