This paper is part of an ongoing study of discursive behaviour both at home and at school. The overall goal of the analysis presented was to explore the level of dialogicity (Linell, 1998) manifest in Israeli classrooms. This quest was motivated by a sociocultural inclination towards learning, which places instructive dialogue at the core of…

Asymmetry in classroom discourse, typified by teachers' frequent use of inauthentic initiating question turns, does not afford the best opportunities for the learning of language skills. More favourable conditions would appear to be associated with collaborative discourse patterns that display genuine interest in the child's contribution and build…

Ten students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: diversity, academic freedom, political tolerance, affirmative action, and gender. Upon completion of each discussion, they assessed their comfort, honesty, concern for others'…

Teacher should strive to be more than the authority in the classroom identifying right versus wrong relating to problem solving. Identifying and emphasizing what aspects of an answer are mathematically correct improves students' confidence to tackle challenging problems and they view themselves as mathematical problem solvers.

This article argues that "triadic dialogue" (Lemke, 1990), much criticized in the past, has an important role to play in L2 learning and that its effectiveness should be judged in accordance with the particular pedagogical goals that it is made to serve. Drawing on three recent studies of L2 classrooms in a variety of instructional settings, the…

PEPNet's "Perspectives" is the collaborative newsletter of the four PEPNet regional centers. This newsletter combines each centers individual strengths into a single resource that can be used on a national level. This issue focuses on the following topics: (1) PEPNet FAQs on Web, in Print; (2) Some Speech-to-Text FAQs; (3) Speech-to-Text…

This study examined the implementation and outcomes of a laptop program initiative in a predominantly low-income, minority school. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, analyzed, and compared with students in non-laptop classrooms within the same school. Results of the study revealed that in the hands of well prepared teachers,…

This study integrates the purposes of communication, i.e. in-class and on-line discussions, with problem solving skills in the process of learning professional knowledge of pre-service teachers. It attempts to foster both comprehension of professional knowledge and the attitude of contextualizing knowledge with situational factors. More…

Middle-grade students like to talk. This natural "gift of gab" may at times be suppressed by teachers who prefer to impart knowledge rather than allow students to participate in its development. Intelligence is a social practice. Students become adept at socializing their intelligence if they are encouraged to talk in meaningful and constructive…

Presumably, everyone shares the understanding that teaching for social justice means providing students with a supportive learning environment that is just, fair, democratic, and even compassionate. In reality, people are probably using this term to mean many things without actually embracing it as a perspective for educating students in urban…

In this study, we examined the nature of whole-class discussion and teachers' instruction during discussion about historical topics in one inclusive, middle-grade classroom. We videotaped and analyzed 4 lessons to determine the nature of discussion sequences, rates of participation, and instructional challenges encountered by the teacher and…

Studies on classroom interaction have typically focused on relationships between turn-taking patterns and some larger unit of analysis of varying length and nature. However, two questions still left unanswered are how teachers talk differently from students in general and how linguistic variation between two participants might relate to…

Wishing to explore the complexity of the conceptual, didactic and institutional aspects of learning a scientifically defined object of knowledge, we chose to study the link between the personal relation to numeration developed by six-year-old pupils in first grade ("cours preparatoire" the first level of primary school in France), and…

This study examines how one student pair working face-to-face at a computer and engaged in a web-based discussion environment negotiated meanings for their activity and what contextual resources they used in this negotiation process. The aim was also to study how the students themselves interpreted the learning activity. The subjects were two…

Literacy educators are troubled by the isolated nature of many contemporary reading programs. Too often in middle school classrooms, students read alone, take computerized tests, and do not engage in authentic dialogue with peers. In this article, the authors argue that reading texts individually, while necessary, is not sufficient, and through…