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 study investigates how shared understanding is established during a rarely researched instructional and interactional context, namely teacher-student interactions during between-desk instructions (BDIs). Specifically, the authors focus on instructional interactions initiated by students during project-based language teaching in an…

Deaf learners are among the most disadvantaged when it comes to educational outcomes in South Africa. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to explore the educational needs of learners who are deaf and use the findings as a basis from which to strengthen their education. This research employed a qualitative research design, drawing on interviews…

Generalizing is a critical aspect of mathematics learning, with researchers and policy documents highlighting generalizing as a core mathematical practice. It can also be challenging to foster in class settings, and teachers need access to better resources to teach generalizing, including an understanding of effective forms of instruction. This…

Dialogic teaching -- in which teachers and students address controversial issues -- has become increasingly common in school education to promote civic participation in deliberative democracy. This study addresses this question: when leading whole-class discussions on controversial issues, what discursive moves could teachers adopt to enact…

The interactional roles of smile and laughter have been widely explored in both institutional settings and mundane talk (e.g. Holt 2016; Potter and Hepburn 2010). However, the role of one specific kind of smile, what we call a 'squeezed-mouth smile' (SMS), remains unexamined. Using CA, this study explores one teacher's use of SMS in response to…

Purpose: This article aims to analyse how a teacher leads whole-class discussions during and after participating in lesson studies and to what extent that participation influences her teaching practice. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative/interpretative research with a case study design, carried out with a secondary school…

Purpose: This study aims to illustrate how one-sixth grade language arts teacher transforms the theory of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) into practice, an effort made visible through classroom discourse. Design/methodology/approach: This classroom discourse inquiry is guided by tools of reconstructive discourse analysis which encourage a…

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how students' mathematics identities were developed and how their agency was fostered through the use of a mathematical action technology (MAT), Desmo, during stages of learning beyond noticing and wondering. The authors describe how they enacted an eighth-grade mathematics lesson depicting students…

This study explores how preservice (PST) English language arts teachers fostered dialogue in virtual classrooms by using both dialogic and digital tools. Qualitative analysis of PST-created transcripts and lesson plan reflections revealed successes and challenges PSTs experienced in supporting students' participation and response to others' ideas.…

In this study, I examined the ways in which teachers' facilitation techniques are associated with students' mathematical thinking. The teachers' beliefs and students' perception about mathematics discussions were also examined in order to determine whether or not the connection of the teachers' facilitation techniques with students' thinking were…

Language development is integral to a child's early childhood foundational skills. This research study aimed to determine how early childhood teachers' language use impacts young children in early childhood classrooms. The study examined the extent to which a relationship existed between the daily average number of conversational turns, as…

Using Conversation Analysis, this article explores the ways in which teasing is employed as an interactional tool to respond to learner-initiated departures in videotaped adult English as Foreign Language classrooms. The analysis focuses on the moments of classroom interaction where student contributions and behaviours initiate shifts from the…

Many American Jewish day schools, where most staff and students adhere to Ashkenazic traditions, perpetuate the normativity of Ashkenazic practice and culture, both reflecting and reinforcing the status of Sephardic communities as "minorities within a minority." This article draws on Sephardic adults' recollections of the…

This article focuses on how Grade 6 students interactionally make meaning out of subject-related language encountered in civics textbook material by searching for synonyms and engaging in discussions. Employing ethnographically-inspired methods, data was collected through observations and audio recordings of civics teaching in two linguistically…