Accessing the Classroom Discourse Community Through Accountable Talk: English Learners’ Voices

Abstract

This case study draws on Gee's (1989) D/discourse theory to investigate English learners’ (ELs’) perspectives regarding Accountable Talk (AT)—a structured, discourse‐intensive instructional approach—after a yearlong implementation in three content‐based (mathematics) middle school classrooms. Interviews with 21 ELs (3 Advanced Placement, 18 comprehensive) revealed that students perceived AT as a means for (a) improving the quality of classroom interactions, (b) having expanded learning opportunities, and (c) getting ahead in school and life. In particular, students felt that by establishing shared norms for talk, explicitly teaching them verbal and nonverbal features of the school Discourse (e.g., active listening strategies), and increasing their access to peer experts and to opportunities to take on roles of authority (i.e., teachers/helpers), AT enabled their classroom participation on a more equal footing. These results suggest that giving the school‐based Discourse a name (such as AT) and explicitly teaching about its principles may benefit culturally and linguistically diverse students by facilitating their socialization into the community of practice. At the same time, the study revealed that teacher perceptions and practices may limit the benefits of AT for ELs.

Team learning potential in TESOL practice

“…Although content can come from the teacher via texts, students' research, interests, personal knowledge, and questions should be exploited as much as possible. Linguistic strategies and gambits (i.e., stating opinions, soliciting ideas, summarizing and clarifying) are introduced by the teacher and used by students, who are encouraged to pay attention to the quality of group discourse (Ardasheva, Howell, & Magaña, ) and use English to interthink (Mercer, ). That is, teachers make language explicit and provide interaction strategies that open possibilities for student control of communication.…”

Beyond sentence frames: Scaffolding emergent multilingual students' participation in science discourse

“…Existing research points to several instructional practices beyond sentence stems and frames that teachers can use to scaffold emergent multilingual students' participation in content‐area discussions: Creating contexts that invite and leverage students' full linguistic repertoires (Bang et al, 2017; Grapin et al, 2023; Lee et al, 2013); engaging students in inquiry that builds on their experiences (Grapin et al, 2023; Haneda & Wells, 2008, 2010; Segal et al, 2017); crafting open‐ended prompts and designing tasks that require students to grapple collaboratively (Alvarez et al, 2021; Lotan, 2008; Park et al, 2021; Segal et al, 2017); designing multimodal experiences that enable students to make sense of concepts through hands‐on investigation, talk, video, images, reading, and writing (Alvarez et al, 2021; Grapin et al, 2023; Haneda & Wells, 2008, 2010); intentionally sequencing learning tasks over time (Walqui, 2006; Walqui & Bunch, 2019); and establishing inclusive learning environments with relational trust, safety, and clear norms, in which emergent multilingual students are positioned as valued contributors to the community's intellectual work and students feel safe offering emergent ideas and taking risks with language (Alvarez et al, 2021, 2022a, 2022b; Ardasheva et al, 2016; Haneda & Wells, 2008; Lee et al, 2021; Mercer & Dawes, 2008; Park et al, 2021). …”

TRANSFORMING PRACTICES FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM Edited by MandyStewart and HollyHansen‐ThomasTESOL International Association. ISBN 978‐194279‐954‐2. Price USD 45.95 (paperback). vii + 176 pages.

“…The chapter includes helpful rubrics for group presentations. Chapter 8 introduces the concept of accountable talk (AT) (Ardasheva, Howell, & Vidrio Magaña, 2016) to promote academic discourse development in the science classroom. Chapter 9 provides a compelling example of supporting science literacies by means of guided visualization.…”