Classroom interactional patterns depend on some contextual, cultural and local factors in addition to the methodologies employed in the classroom. In order to delineate such factors, the focus of classroom interaction research needs to shift from the observables to the unobservables like teachers' and learners' psychological states and cultural…

Samir Dukmak is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education in the Faculty of Education at the United Arab Emirates University. The research reported in this article investigated the frequency, types of and reasons for student-initiated interactions in both regular and special education classrooms in the United Arab Emirates…

The main purpose of this study was to explore teacher-student verbal interaction in the secondary level classes using the Flanders Interaction Analysis system (FIA). Its findings and conclusions may stimulate teachers at the secondary level to improve their teaching behaviour in order to maximize students' learning.

Teachers possess several strategies to fine-tune their purposive interactions to children's needs. Our study investigates which strategies teachers use in their goal oriented interactions with pupils, whether differentiation is perceptible in the way they interact with children whom they define as "children at risk" as compared to the…

One important challenge for researchers is to understand what happens inside classrooms that make the environment available for children's learning. This study develops the margin|centre dialectic as a general framework for describing participation of very young children in science-related activities. It employs a cultural-historical approach that…

Reports on research which examines the nature of the interaction between teachers and pupils when the Active Tutorial Work (ATW) strategy is used. Concludes that the teacher remains the center of the interaction whenever present in the learning group, despite the increased use of cooperative groupwork. Compares results with those obtained through…

This paper presents a study of the organization of 60 junior school classrooms in Great Britain. The study was conducted to examine changes occurring as a result of the move towards comprehensive secondary education in Britain and as a result of the recommendations of the Plowden Committee for more individualized instruction at the primary level.…

Identifies how well immigrant students can communicate among themselves. This research consists of eight steps: (1) identifying the problem; (2) investigating suitable research methods; (3) defining terms; (4) reviewing the literature; (5) doing preliminary investigations; (6) hypothesizing; (7) realizing outcomes for learners; (8) reporting. (12…

Written to assist future researchers in conducting cross-national studies of classroom behaviors, this study indicates a number of factors which may reduce the validity of comparisons made. It is based on an investigation which explored the feasibility of using the Activities Categories Instrument and the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories…

Background: After the failure of several important methods comparison studies in the 1960s, the influence of interaction analysis stimulated interest in foreign language classroom processes. More careful observational studies gradually revealed which process variables were of interest. Also, there has been much research on teacher talk, with a…

Describes the distribution of teacher interactions with male and female students in secondary geography classrooms. Reports that, in 70 percent of the classes, attention was unequally divided with the surplus in favor of males in 57 percent. Notes that the majority of geography students are female, whereas 80 percent of the teachers are male. (DK)