The Value of Exploratory Talk

Mercer, Neil; Dawes, Lyn

doi:10.4135/9781446279526.n4

Cited by 106 publications

(80 citation statements)

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“…Mercer & Dawes, 2008;Michaels, O'Connor & Resnick, 2008). In the classrooms we observed, emphasis of form over content was not unusual when it came to these dialogic moves.…”

Section: Research Context: Classroom Discourse In Israeli Primary Schmentioning

confidence: 82%

Exuberant, voiceless participation: an unintended consequence of dialogic sensibilities?

Segal¹,

Lefstein²

2016

L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature

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One approach to dialogic pedagogy focuses on the interplay of voices: Whose voices are expressed and attended to in classroom discourse? And how do these voices play off of one another in creating new ideas and meanings? In particular, to what extent are students empowered to express their own voices, rather than reproducing the teacher or textbook's authoritative discourse? Building on Bakhtin, Hymes and Blommaert, we argue that realizing voice involves (a) opportunity to speak, (b) expressing one's own ideas, (c) on one's own terms, and (d) being heeded by others. Employing this framework in an analysis of Hebrew language lessons in two Israeli primary schools, we identify patterns of exuberant, voiceless participation: students enthusiastically contribute to lively classroom discussion, often framing their contributions as dialogically responding to and building on one another's ideas, but at the level of voice the discussion is for the most part univocal since most student contributions are aligned with the official voice of the teacher and curriculum, and the rare independent student voices fall out of the conversation.

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“…Mercer & Dawes, 2008;Michaels, O'Connor & Resnick, 2008). In the classrooms we observed, emphasis of form over content was not unusual when it came to these dialogic moves.…”

Section: Research Context: Classroom Discourse In Israeli Primary Schmentioning

confidence: 82%

Exuberant, voiceless participation: an unintended consequence of dialogic sensibilities?

Segal¹,

Lefstein²

2016

L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature

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“…Still on the educational uses of languages, researchers identified the importance of exploratory talk in the development of learners' understanding of new concepts (Barnes 2008;Mercer and Dawes 2008). Exploratory talk promotes interaction and flourishes in mutually supportive groups.…”

Section: Previous Studies On Coping Strategies In Multilingual Highermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By exposing lack of knowledge and floating new and incomplete ideas, such talk presents scaffolding opportunities for a careful and knowledgeable facilitator and can culminate in knowledge sharing and development (Barnes 2008;Mercer 1995). Other studies also examined the contribution of peer network and collaboration as well as the ensuing talk as practices that are likely to mediate cognitively demanding academic concepts (Li et al 2010;Mercer 2008). …”

Section: Previous Studies On Coping Strategies In Multilingual Highermentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with English as Language of Instruction in Higher Education in Rwanda

Marie

2013

IJHE

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The present study examines strategies that multilingual university students in Rwanda use in order to successfully deal with complex academic material offered through the medium of English, a foreign language. The reported strategies emerged from group work discussions and interviews with students in the faculty of Economics and Management at a University in Rwanda. The data were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that students have multiple coping strategies that enable them to complete academic tasks given through the medium of English. One of the prominent strategies and practices is the successful use of other languages at their disposal to mediate cognitively demanding academic tasks. Although other spoken languages are not officially recognised as media of instruction in higher education, they play a mediating role in content learning through responsible code switching and translanguaging.

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“…As does Mercer and Dawes (2008), they also emphasize teacher's comments to the students' answers and responses as this allows the continuity of discourse and reconstruction of knowledge and thus help students get better understanding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…"What can I do by myself to discover the depths of the earth instead of spending a lot of money to discover space …." (Extract from student's text) Several authors (Hardman, 2008;Mercer & Dawes, 2008;Pimentel & McNeill, 2016) emphasize that when students try out ideas together and use dialogue language to think together, they are more likely to interact and be more productive. Working in pairs or in groups reduces the amount of teachers' interventions and assign more responsibilities for students autonomy in processing information (Watcyn, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science story writing as an instructional technique to enhance students’ learning and teachers’ professional development

Dajani¹

2017

Int J Recent Sci Res

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ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACTThis research aimed at exploring students' understanding of scientific vocabulary, concepts and information through story writing instructions in science classrooms. It also aimed to help teachers reflect on students' science story structure to generate and explore new ideas and strategies in teaching science. This study was carried out in science classrooms of grades four and five in the context of Jerusalem, Palestine for the school year 2015-2016.Qualitative data collection methods were classroom observation, field notes, video recordings, analysis of students' stories, and analysis of teachers' reflection. Thematic analysis was used to develop themes from the data. The coding analysis was based on three main thematic categories, which were based on answering the research questions of the study. The thematic categories used in the coding of data were: (a) story structures, (b) benefits of story-based instruction, and (d) reflections of teachers. Findings revealed that stories played a pivotal role in enhancing students' understanding and developing story writing skills. Dialogues and argumentative dialogues were the main structures of students story writing.Results also indicated that apart from fun and enjoyment of writing science stories, they were an effective tool for making students thinking visible and enhancing their imagination. Story based instruction helped students be engaged in authentic activities and had more control on their own inquiry learning process. Through reflection, teachers become more convinced of the importance of moving from a traditional classroom instruction to a more creative and powerful science classroom. Based on the research results, several recommendations are stated. Teaching and learning through science story writing is highly recommended to enhance and consolidate students' concept understanding in addition to developing students' writing skills. It is also recommended that teachers use science story writing as a pedagogical strategy in their science classrooms so as to facilitate and enhance students' science learning. More studies are needed to further explore teachers' application of being reflective through action research and its effect on improving teachers' practices and students' learning based on inquiry approach. Furthermore, studying how writing in science classrooms impact student achievement in science is highly suggested.

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The Value of Exploratory Talk

Cited by 106 publications

References 0 publications

Exuberant, voiceless participation: an unintended consequence of dialogic sensibilities?

Exuberant, voiceless participation: an unintended consequence of dialogic sensibilities?

Coping with English as Language of Instruction in Higher Education in Rwanda

Science story writing as an instructional technique to enhance students’ learning and teachers’ professional development

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