This article discusses the place of thematic coherence in various approaches to educational dialogue and proposes a unifying approach to the analysis of thematic coherence of classroom conversations based on research in educational dialogue, philosophy of language and recent advances in linguistic research on discourse structure. Addressing the…

This article argues that provisional language is important for creating a dialogic space between speakers, where ideas are open for discussion; where participants respect each other's viewpoints; and where the goal is to encourage and explore multiple perspectives. Whilst much of the research on children's talk in the classroom focuses on the…

Taking a dialogic approach, this edited book engages in analysis and description of dialogic discourse in a number of different educational contexts, from early childhood to tertiary, with an international team of contributors from Australia, Finland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The chapters focus mostly on dialogic face-to-face discourse,…

This study contributes to discussions on facilitating students' sense-making in science by analyzing the utterances of high-achieving students in dialogues during practical work and identifying characteristics of their language use and learning processes. The context of the study is a general science course at an upper secondary school in Norway.…

The paper first reviews how conventionalized uses of dialogue in the language classroom have facilitated a neoliberalist agenda, mainly by positioning learners in a reproductive, consumer role, and teachers as deskilled operatives of scripted interactions. It then discusses three other conceptualizations of the role of dialogue which may offer an…

This article draws greater attention to the use of language as a pedagogical tool in science teaching and learning. Evidence shows that Alexander's (2020) 'dialogic teaching' approach is significant in promoting learning in science when used interchangeably with authoritative patterns of talk. This article explores dialogic teaching, drawing on…

Elementary school children bring a rich diversity of language to classrooms, a richness that often goes undervalued in educational settings in which teachers feel they must and do emphasize dominant ways of using English. The ways in which teachers interact with children about their language use can influence the linguistic belonging of children…

National standards that centre on the underpinning epistemic practices of the discipline has emphasised the need for teachers to focus much more on knowledge generation approaches to learning. Adopting a complexity perspective, we attempt to understand how teachers shift over time by examining their epistemic orientation to knowledge generation…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how triadic dialog promotes generalization of growing figural patterns during classroom talk in multilingual classrooms and crucial linguistic terms that the teacher and students draw on in their home language, as they engage in pattern generalization. Ten sessions in two classrooms in grade 7 were…

Frequent use of common words in teaching Turkish to Kyrgyz helps to increase students' attention to the lesson. However, some words may cause translation problems because their spelling and pronunciation are the same but their meanings are different. In this framework, it is important to take into consideration the false equivalents between…

Learning Assistants (LAs) are undergraduate peer-tutors who, having successfully passed a particular course, return to assist with teaching that course. Through their work across many STEM courses, LAs have been shown to have positive effects on several student outcomes, but little is known about why LAs' presence in classrooms is positively…

Critical Pedagogy (CP) has been carried out in many contexts, and reports of its success in language teaching in various countries have increasingly appeared (Bennet 2018; West 2014). However, South Korea (henceforth Korea) is not well-known for critical inquiry in language education, especially in private language institutions, so-called hagwon.…

The rich body of research on dialogic, exploratory talk points to its significance in developing and securing student learning (Alexander, 2018; Gillies, 2016; O'Connor & Michaels, 2007; Reznitskaya et al., 2009). More recently, this body of research has begun to consider dialogic talk specifically in the context of literacy education (for…

Dialectics and a dialogical approach constitute two distinct theoretical frameworks with long intellectual histories. The question of relations between dialogue and dialectics provokes discussions in academic communities. The present paper highlights the need to clarify the concepts "dialogue" and "dialectics" and explore their…

The concept of cultural literacy as a dialogic social practice celebrates alternative perspectives. Navigating multiple perspectives in dialogue requires high 'tolerance of ambiguity' characterised by a positive, open and flexible attitude towards uncertainty. This article aims to explore how provisional language is used in classroom dialogue to…