This qualitative interpretative study serves to identify and compare the verbal discourse practices exhibited by students in traditional and inquiry-based undergraduate labs for non-science majors and to identify factors in both lab contexts that would facilitate and / or inhibit student participation in the discourse practices of the labs.…

This paper reports on a study of peer interaction in ten foreign language (FL) classes, six secondary and four primary, over a period of four months. The focus of this paper is the nature of peer interaction, including the purposes of second language use, and language choice. The data, comprising observation, audio and video recordings of five…

The purpose of this study was to extend the literature in both substance use implementation and persuasive health communication by examining the extent to which students' need for cognition and impulsive decision-making moderated the relationship between teachers' classroom communication behavior and program outcomes in an evidence-based middle…

Increased immigration in Europe and worldwide has led to more pre- and primary school students being educated through the medium of a second language, and there is considerable research, much of it coming from Australia, to suggest that in order to cope with this situation, children will need to begin to acquire, from their earliest years in…

Although scholars from across the field of communication have highlighted the importance of emotion in interpersonal relationships, persuasive messages, and organizations, the topic has yet to receive systematic attention from scholars who study classroom communication. Using interdisciplinary literature from communication and other fields as a…

As social creatures, humans relate to one another in environments that are created through interactions with one another. Because these environments are created through one's communication and interaction, they may be called verbal environments. With a renewed interest among educators in children's self-perceptions and the development of social…

This discussion paper highlights a number of themes emerging from contemporary research into teaching with whole-class interactive technologies. Focusing particularly on the contributions to this special issue, the paper considers the significance of whole-class interactive technologies (primarily interactive whiteboards) with respect to the use…

Learning to conduct interactive classroom discussions is a high priority for becoming an effective teacher, and most teachers view conducting productive classroom discussions as a complex undertaking. Because the dynamics of facilitating classroom discussions are multifaceted and hard to analyze in real time, there is a growing interest in how…

An outcome of science education is that young people have the understandings and skills to participate in public debate and make informed decisions about science issues that influence their lives. Toulmin's argumentation skills are emerging as an effective strategy to enhance the quality of evidence based decision making in science classrooms. In…

This paper reports on developing research into the learning potential of extended talk, (i.e. either spoken monologue or an extended turn-in dialogue). Despite a widespread belief that the ability to speak at length is personally, socially and professionally empowering, relatively little research has been undertaken into ways in which extended…

This paper is principally about methodology. It first summarizes five issues in the emerging research agenda of conversation analysis-for-second language acquisition (CA-for-SLA), and develops empirically based analyses of classroom talk that occurs over several days and months to illustrate how a longitudinal learning behavior tracking (LBT)…

It is not unusual to find elaborate schemes for compelling and assessing class participation. Although participation can take many forms, in practice it is most synonymous with discussion, which, at its core, is about student engagement. But with what should the students be engaged? When we make class participation a requirement and assess it,…

This study examines effective ways for teachers to interact with students when they are working collaboratively. Through prolonged daily engagement with one class of students working in groups, the nature and experience of one teacher's interventions are documented using practitioner action research. Specifically, small-group dynamics and teacher…

This research examines predictors of uncivil classroom behavior. Uncivil behaviors are disrespectful and disruptive and may include carrying on conversations with others during class, leaving class early, talking on cell phones, etc. Data from a survey of undergraduate students revealed that students who possessed a consumerism orientation,…

Background: Research on teacher-student relationships has focused logically on classroom talk. Investigations of classroom talk range from broad consideration of the structures of such talk to a somewhat narrower focus on the interpersonal dimensions of such talk, and their consequences for student achievement and motivation. Purpose: This study…