Exploring Classroom Discourse

Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics consists of introductory level textbooks covering the core topics in Applied Linguistics, designed for those entering postgraduate studies and language professionals returning to academic study. The books take an innovative "practice to theory" approach, with a ‘back to front’ structure which takes the reader from real life problems and issues in the field, then enters into a discussion of intervention and how to engage with these concerns. The final section concludes by tying the practical issues to theoretical foundations. Additional features include tasks with commentaries, a glossary of key terms, and an annotated further reading section. This book looks particularly at the relationship between language, interaction and learning. Providing a comprehensive account of current perspectives on classroom discourse, the book aims to promote a fuller understanding of interaction, regarded as being central to effective teaching and introduces the concept of classroom interactional competence (CIC). The case is made in this book for a need not only to describe classroom discourse, but to ensure that teachers and learners develop the kind of interactional competence which will result in more engaged, dynamic classrooms where learners are actively involved in the learning process. This approach makes an invaluable resource for language teachers, as well as students of language and education, and language acquisition within the field of applied linguistics.

Offering an interdisciplinary approach, The Handbook of Classroom Discourse and Interaction presents a series of contributions written by educators and applied linguists that explores the latest research methodologies and theories related to classroom language. • Organized to facilitate a critical understanding of how and why various research traditions differ and how they overlap theoretically and methodologically • Discusses key issues in the future development of research in critical areas of education and applied linguistics • Provides empirically-based analysis of classroom talk to illustrate theoretical claims and methodologies • Includes multimodal transcripts, an emerging trend in education and applied linguistics, particularly in conversation analysis and sociocultural theory

This second edition of Classroom Discourse Analysis continues to make techniques widely used in the field of discourse analysis accessible to a broad audience and illustrates their practical application in the study of classroom talk, ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in discourse analysis, applied linguistics, and anthropology and education. Grounded in a unique tripartite "dimensional approach," individual chapters investigate interactional resources that model forms of discourse analysis teachers may practice in their own classrooms while other chapters provide students with a thorough understanding of how to actually collect and analyse data. The presence of a number of pedagogical features, including activities and exercises and a comprehensive glossary help to enhance students‘ understanding of these key tools in classroom discourse analysis research. Features new to this edition reflect current developments in the field, including: increased coverage of peer interaction in the classroom greater connecting analysis to curricular and policy mandates and standards-based reform movements sample excerpts from actual student classroom discourse analysis assignments a new chapter on the repertoire approach, an increasingly popular method of analysis of particular relevance to today’s multilingual classrooms

New technologies are constantly transforming traditional notions of language use and literacy in online communication environments. While previous research has provided a foundation for understanding the use of new technologies in instructed second language environments, few studies have investigated new literacies and electronic discourse beyond the classroom setting. This volume seeks to address this gap by providing corpus-based and empirical studies of electronic discourse analyzing social and linguistic variation as well as communicative practices in chat, discussion forums, blogs, and podcasts. Several chapters also examine the assessment and integration of new literacies. This volume will serve as a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and students interested in exploring electronic discourse and new literacies in language learning and teaching.

Readers will emerge from the book with a better understanding of the significance of quality teacher-student talk and some of the most important research and researchers.

This textbook shows how classroom discourse can be applied to develop and improve teaching. Combining examples from everyday practice with theoretical approaches, it provides a comprehensive account of current perspectives on classroom discourse.

Selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine, January 2010 Classroom talk, by which children make sense of what their peers and teachers mean, is the most important educational tool for guiding the development of understanding and for jointly constructing knowledge. So what practical steps can teachers take to develop effective classroom interaction? Bringing together leading international researchers and drawing on the pioneering work of Douglas Barnes, this book considers ways of improving classroom talk. Chapters cover: - classroom communication and managing social relations; - talk in science classrooms; - using critical conversations in studying literature; - exploratory talk and thinking skills; - talking to learn and learning to talk in the mathematics classroom; - the ′emerging pedagogy′ of the spoken word. With an accessible blend of theory, research and practice, the book will be a valuable resource for teachers, teacher-trainers, policy makers, researchers and students.

Introducing language use and interaction as the basis of good teaching and learning, this invaluable book equips teachers and researchers with the tools to analyze classroom discourse and move towards more effective instruction. Presenting an overview of existing approaches to describing and analyzing classroom discourse, Steve Walsh identifies the principal characteristics of classroom language in the contexts of second language classrooms, primary and secondary classrooms, and higher education settings. A distinct feature of the book are the classroom recordings and reflective feedback interviews from a sample group of teachers that Walsh uses to put forward SETT (Self Evaluation of Teacher Talk) as a framework for examining discourse within the classroom. This framework is used to identify different modes of discourse, which are employed by teachers and students, to increase awareness of the importance of interaction, and to maximize learning opportunities. This book will appeal to applied linguists, teachers and researchers of TESOL, as well as practitioners on MEd or taught doctorate programmes.

Studies on discourse and language learning originated in the field of general education and they focused on first language learning environments. However, since 1980s research on discourse and language learning broadened the scope of investigation to respond to second and foreign language environments. Recently, the emergence of new language learning contexts such as computer mediated communication, multilingual settings or content and language integrated contexts requires further research that focuses on discourse and language learning. From this perspective, the present volume aims to broaden the scope of investigation in foreign language contexts by exploring discourse patterns in the classroom and examining the impact of factors such as gender, explicitness of feedback or L1 use on language learning through discourse. With that aim in mind, this volume will bring together research that investigates discourse in various instructional settings, namely those of primary, secondary and university L2 learning environments, content and language integrated contexts and other new language learning settings. The number and variety of languages involved both as the first language (e.g. English, Finnish, Basque, Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian, Catalan) as well as the target foreign language (e.g. English, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish) makes the volume specially attractive. Additionally, the different approaches adopted by the researchers participating in this volume, such as information processing, sociocultural theory, or conversation analysis, widen the realm of investigation on discourse and language learning. Finally, the strength of the volume also lies in the range of educational settings (primary, secondary and tertiary education) and the worldwide representation of contributors across seven different countries, namely those of Spain, France, Austria, Finland, Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States. The uniqueness of the volume is due to its eclectic and comprehensive nature in tackling instructional discourse. Worldwide outstanding researchers, like Julianne House, Carme Muñoz, Ute Smit, Tarja Nikula or Roy Lyster, to quote but a few, adopt different perspectives in this joint contribution that will certainly broaden the scope of research on language learners’ discourse.

The authors present a social linguistic/social interactional approach to the discourse analysis of classroom language and literacy events. Building on recent theories in interactional sociolinguistics, literary theory, social anthropology, critical discourse analysis, and the New Literacy Studies, they describe a microethnographic approach to discourse analysis that provides a reflexive and recursive research process that continually questions what counts as knowledge in and of the interactions among teachers and students. The approach combines attention to how people use language and other systems of communication in constructing classroom events with attention to social, cultural, and political processes. The focus of attention is on actual people acting and reacting to each other, creating and recreating the worlds in which they live. One contribution of the microethnographic approach is to highlight the conception of people as complex, multi-dimensional actors who together use what is given by culture, language, social, and economic capital to create new meanings, social relationships and possibilities, and to recreate culture and language. The approach presented by the authors does not separate methodological, theoretical, and epistemological issues. Instead, they argue that research always involves a dialectical relationship among the object of the research, the theoretical frameworks and methodologies driving the research, and the situations within which the research is being conducted. Discourse Analysis and the Study of Classroom Language and Literacy Events: A Microethnographic Perspective: *introduces key constructs and the intellectual and disciplinary foundations of the microethnographic approach; *addresses the use of this approach to gain insight into three often discussed issues in research on classroom literacy events--classroom literacy events as cultural action, the social construction of identity, and power relations in and through classroom literacy events; *presents transcripts of classroom literacy events to illustrate how theoretical constructs, the research issue, the research site, methods, research techniques, and previous studies of discourse analysis come together to constitute a discourse analysis; and *discusses the complexity of "locating" microethnographic discourse analysis studies within the field of literacy studies and within broader intellectual movements. This volume is of broad interest and will be widely welcomed by scholars and students in the field language and literacy studies, educational researchers focusing on analysis of classroom discourse, educational sociolinguists, and sociologists and anthropologists focusing on face-to-face interaction and language use.