Explores how two students participated in classroom talk about written text. Finds students participated in talk in complicated, devolving ways over a school year--one participated in class talk about text with an assumption of expertise, only to lose credibility when his teacher expected richer insights; the other participated with such talk with…

Focuses on three students from mainland China as part of an investigation of Asian students' classroom communication patterns in United States universities to explore the complexities of silence, and the cultural interpretations of silence in various social contexts. Multiple functions of silence in terms of linkage, affecting, revelational,…

Describes the use of conversational partnerships (CP) in high school Spanish classes. CPs seek to improve spoken proficiency by allowing students to rehearse conversational roles, plan strategies, and polish pronunciation. (CB)

Examines elementary and secondary teachers' affinity-seeking strategies, things they do to get students to like them and their subject matter. Finds that personal and subject affinity-seeking efforts differ; teachers are less confident about the latter; and that strategies are drawn from a narrow range of affinity-seeking options. (SR)

Presents an activity in which college chemistry students collaboratively identify chemical substances. (MKR)

This article presents a theoretical consideration of the nature of classroom talk. It argues that traditional methods of instruction do not provide the conditions necessary to encourage pupils to think critically, and that a major reason for this is inappropriate discourse in schools. (JL)

Discusses the need for multicultural dialog as a meaningful exchange of ideas and emotions among stakeholders in a culturally diverse society. Presents strategies for incorporating multicultural dialog in specific science activities. (JRH)

Presents annotations of eight books in which teachers talk about their classrooms, reflecting upon the kinds of interactions they seek to promote among learners and the environments they have created in their schools. (SR)

Offers a narrative based on a real event, in the form of a "docustory," describing that moment when teaching worked--when, in an instructional setting, communication was "perfect,""best," or "excellent." Describes how, in a one-room country school where "buddy assignments" were common, a second-grade boy helped a third grader to finally understand…

Offers a narrative based on a real event, in the form of a "docustory," describing that moment when teaching worked--when, in an instructional setting, communication was "perfect,""best," or "excellent." Describes how the decision to make teaching his profession crept up on and seduced an unwary student who had other plans. (SR)

Discusses the use of "real talk" in the classroom (to develop critical thinking skills), where teachers share their views and reasoning processes with students and listen to students' points of view about topics they care about. (SR)

Reviews eight instruments designed to assess motivation to communicate in the classroom, including cross-situational anxiety (communication apprehension and shyness), situational anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Communication Anxiety Inventory, Form State), cross-situational willingness (willingness to communicate and communication…

Discusses ways teachers can enrich and expand literature discussions by asking questions to center discussion on aesthetic responses, rhetorical responses, metacognitive responses, and shared inquiry. (SR)

Reviews the book "Language, Classrooms and Computers," edited by Peter Scrimshaw. Notes that the book emphasizes the ways in which classroom computers can contribute to livelier, more productive classroom interaction. (SR)

Argues that the way in which students solve a particular problem can be analyzed to gain insight into how students think about the mathematics involved. Discusses the use of knowledge gained from listening to student conversations about their strategies to orchestrate classroom discussions. (ASK)