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 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…

Noting that conversation between adults and young children is a well-known stimulus to language development, but that conversation is seldom fully used in the classroom, this paper argues that conversations can and should be used more. It presents a range of research findings and classroom examples to support that argument. Chapter 1 examines the…

Teachers of young children affect not only their ability to speak correctly but also the way they learn to think. Since children view the world in different ways depending on cultural heritage as well as individual perception, and since different experiences require differing ways of thinking and differing ways of expression, it is important for…

Identifies verbal teacher immediacy behaviors which relate to increased learning, finding that the impact of both verbal and non-verbal behaviors on learners is enhanced as class size increases. Provides empirical definition of a specific set of low-inference verbal variables which, combined with previously identified nonverbal variables, clarify…

Claims that although a child-oriented classroom is organized by the teacher, the curriculum is enacted by everyone, and that dialogues in which teachers and children develop together provides the core of this enactment. (MM)

By offering children the opportunity to speak up in the classroom, educators help build a vital foundation in open-mindedness that is essential for critical thinking. Teaching children to be critical thinkers requires that teachers listen to what children say, encourage them to talk, and not insist that they share the teacher's beliefs. Young…

Transcripts of the classroom conversations of seven profoundly deaf 13- and 14-year-old students and their teachers were analyzed, using Vygotsky's theories on the social nature of learning and the role of mediation. Results of the study found that conversation builds ideas, facilitates comprehension of text, encourages cognitive development, and…

Videotape recordings and transcriptions of sequences of drama sessions in 10 elementary classrooms were analyzed to explore the utility of an anthropological perspective in assessing the nature of children's participation in improvisational drama project activities. Approximately 270 children and their teachers received seven and one half hours of…

Analyzes one third grader's participation in mathematics class discussions, his beliefs about class discussion, and his arithmetical development throughout a school year in a problem-centered learning classroom. Concludes that a fruitful classroom discussion both necessitates and, conversely, is facilitated by the negotiation of social norms and…

This paper addresses the question, "What teacher questioning behaviors influence student learning?" It synthesizes research findings, explicates their prescriptive implications, and presents behavioral guidelines for teachers who wish to make informed choices about improving classroom questioning behavior. The paper examines and…