A case study examines a 5th-grade teacher's orchestration of discourse and interaction to create opportunities for English language learners to participate in the repair of mathematical errors during a unit on finding the area of geometric shapes. The findings detail how the teacher used gestures in grounding her questioning, revoicing students'…

Neither teachers nor students have been instructed in the meaning of non-verbal communication. Several assumptions are presented regarding the nature of non-verbal communication. It has been difficult to do research and reporting in this field due to difficulty in data collection, the complexity of human communication, analization difficulty,…

Only when one can describe teaching behavior in concrete terms, and can prove objectively whether a given type of behavior did or did not occur, can he hope to modify teaching methods with any efficiency. (Author)

The author focuses on various types of nonverbal communication, reactions of both students and teachers to nonverbal communication, and techniques of developing improved communication to support openness in the classroom. An extensive literature review is presented to support the thesis that the essence of communication is nonverbal; if someone…

This paper reports the development of a classroom observation instrument designed to broaden and extend the power of existing tools to provide a balanced, reciprocal perspective of both verbal and nonverbal communication. An introductory section discusses developments in communication analysis. The Miniaturized Total Interaction Analysis System…

Because of the need to describe and analyze nonverbal as well as verbal classroom interaction, an attempt has been made to develop an observational system of complete behavioral analysis using the Flanders system as a base. Each of the 10 Flanders verbal categories (based on direct and indirect teacher influence) is combined with relevant…

Articles is this issue represent the substantive content of a series of 25 workshops sponsored by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). The four major articles discuss innovative models based on four approaches for improving teacher performance: (1) "Interaction Analysis" by Edmund J. Amidon, San Francisco State…

Described is the development of an observation instrument that is designed to give a measure of the overall teaching strategy or style used by a teacher including both verbal and non-verbal interactions between teachers, students, and the physical materials which constitute the classroom environment. The instrument was developed to give a single…

A systematic procedure for obtaining objective data of nonverbal teaching behaviors focusing on specific behaviors is presented. Teacher behaviors, recorded on video-tape, are studied and evaluated for the following nonverbal behaviors: (1) use of proximity control in maintaining discipline; (2) emphasis on the need for eye contact as a speaker;…

These materials will help the educator develop an awareness of nonverbal behavior, which is complimentary to and independent of the verbal realm, to give a complete picture of the classroom. The purpose of the manual is to enable the teacher to identify nonverbal components of behavior, including dimensions other than behavioral of the teacher's…

Based upon the communications process model of teaching and learning, the Miniaturized Total Interaction Analysis System (Mini-TIA) establishes a conceptual framework for observing symptomatic classroom behaviors. It provides a means for the evaluation of classroom communication. Interpersonal communication is defined as either verbal (using…

The emphasis in this paper is on developing teacher awareness of how nonverbal communication fits into the classroom setting. Various positive and negative aspects of this phase of communication in the classroom are explored. A classroom teacher is observed closely by students every day, and her/his attitude, feelings, mood or state of mind,…

Peer influence on students has been of interest to sociologists for some time. But most studies of elementary classroom interaction have focused primarily on teacher-student interaction. A study of peer influence on other group members was designed to explain why students assigned to low ability groups became inattentive more frequently than…

The Miniaturized Interaction Analysis System (Mini-TIA) was developed to permit improved analysis of classroom communication in conjunction with video taping. Each of seven verbal event categories is subdivided into two categories according to the nature of the nonverbal events paralleling them. Integrated into the system are (1) defined verbal…