Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Thinking About Classroom Dialogue: Introduction and Theoretical Background

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Getting Dialogic Teaching into Classrooms

Part of the book series: Understanding Teaching-Learning Practice ((UTLP))

  • 664 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter is an introduction to this book. First, we reveal our motivation for writing it—to contribute to understanding how teachers can improve classroom dialogue and thereby boost student learning. Second, we present the organization of the book and the content of individual chapters. Third, we define dialogic teaching. Fourth, we outline the essential concepts and theoretical inspirations that were the basis for this study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Czech names are spelled with diacritical marks. We trust that the reader will be able to recognize Sedova (Šeďová), Salamounova (Šalamounová), Svaricek (Švaříček) and Sedlacek (Sedláček).

References

  • Alexander, R. J. (2001). Culture and pedagogy: International comparisons in primary education. London: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R. J. (2008). Essays on pedagogy. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R. J. (2017). Towards dialogic teaching: Rethinking classroom talk (5th ed.). Cambridge: Dialogos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R. J. (2018). Developing dialogic teaching: Genesis, process, trial. Research Papers in Education, 33(5), 561–598.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R. J. (2020). A dialogic teaching companion. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Applebee, A. N., Langer, J. A., Nystrand, M., et al. (2003). Discussion-based approaches to developing understanding: Classroom instruction and student performance in middle and high school English. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 685–730. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312040003685

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, D., & Todd, F. (1977). Communication and Learning in Small Groups. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burbules, N. C. (1993). Dialogue in teaching: Theory and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, C., & Myhil, D. A. (2004). Interactive or inactive? A consideration of the nature of interaction in whole class teaching. Cambridge Journal of Education, 34(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764042000183115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Candela, A. (2005). Students’ participation as co-authoring of school institutional practices. Cult Psychol, 1(3), 321–337. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X05055523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chin, C. (2006). Classroom interaction in science: Teacher questioning and feedback to students’ responses. International Journal Science Education, 28(11), 1315–1346. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690600621100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chinn, C. A., Anderson, R. C., & Waggoner, M. A. (2001). Patterns of discourse in two kinds of literature discussion. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(4), 378–411. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.36.4.3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheyne, J. A., & Tarulli, D. (1999). Dialogue, difference and voice in the zone of proximal development. Theoretical Psychology, 9(1), 5–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354399091001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, K. F., Reinsvold, L. A., & Hess, C. A. (2017). Giving students the power to engage with learning. Research Science Ed, 47(6), 1379–1401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9555-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corden, R. (2000). Literacy and learning through talk: Strategies for the primary classroom. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornelius, L. L., & Herrenkohl, L. R. (2004). Power in the classroom: How the classroom environment shapes students’ relationships with each other and with concept. Cognition Instrutional, 22(4), 467–498. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532690Xci2204_4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutierrez, K. D. (1994). How talk, context, and script shape contexts for learning: A cross-case comparison of journal sharing. Linguistics Education, 5(3–4), 335–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/0898-5898(93)90005-U

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, M. A. K. (1993). Towards a language-based theory of learning. Linguistics Education, 5(2), 93–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/0898-5898(93)90026-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howe, C., Hennessy, S., Mercer, N., et al. (2019). Teacher–student dialogue during classroom teaching: Does it really impact on student outcomes? Journal Learning Science. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2019.1573730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ing, M., Webb, N. M., Franke, M. L., et al. (2015). Student participation in elementary mathematics classrooms: The missing link between teacher practices and student achievement? Education Studies Mathematical, 90(3), 341–356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9625-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P., & Hammond, J. (2016). Talking to learn: Dialogic teaching in conversation with educational linguistics. Reseach Paper Education, 31(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2016.1106691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juzwik, M. M., Sherry, M. B., Caughlan, S., et al. (2012). Supporting dialogically organized instruction in an English teacher preparation program: A video-based, web 2.0-mediated response and revision pedagogy. Teacher College Record, 114(3), 1–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, M. Y., & Wilkinson, I. A. G. (2019). What is dialogic teaching? Constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing a pedagogy of classroom talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 21, 70–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2019.02.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumpulainen, K., & Lipponen, L. (2010). Productive interaction as agentic participation in dialogic enquiry. In K. Littleto, & C. Howe. (Eds.). Educational dialogues: Understanding and promoting productive interaction, 1st edn. Routledge, Abingdon, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larraín, A., Freire, P., López, P., et al. (2019). Counter-arguing during curriculum-supported peer interaction facilitates middle-school students’’ science content knowledge. Cognition Instruct, 37(4), 453–482. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2019.1627360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefstein, A., & Snell, J. (2014). Better than best practice: Developing teaching and learning through dialogue. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyle, S. (2008). Dialogic teaching: Discussing theoretical context and reviewing evidence from classroom practice. Language Education, 22(3), 222–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matusov, E. (2009). Journey into Dialogic Pedagogy. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maybin, J. (2013). Towards a sociocultural understanding of children’s voice. Language Education, 27(5), 383–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2012.704048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons: Social organisation in the classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N. (2000). Words and minds: How we use language to think together. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., & Hodgkinson, S. (Eds.). (2008). Exploring talk in school: Inspired by the work of Douglas Barnes. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., & Howe, C. (2012). Explaining the dialogic processes of teaching and learning: The value and potential of sociocultural theory. Learning Cultural Society International, 1(1), 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.10.1016/j.lcsi.2012.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., & Littleton, K. (2007). Dialogue and the development of children’s thinking: A sociocultural approach. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Michaels, S., O’Connor, C., & Resnick, L. B. (2008). Deliberative discourse idealized and realized: Accountable talk in the classroom and in civic life. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27(4), 283–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer, E. F., & Scott, P. H. (2003). Meaning making in science classrooms. Maidenhead, Philadelphia: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muhonen, H., Pakarinen, E., Poikkeus, A.-M., et al. (2018). Quality of educational dialogue and association with students academic performance. Learning Instruments, 55, 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.09.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neguerela-Azarola, E., García, P. N. & Buescher, K. (2015). From interaction to intra-action: The internalization of talk, gesture, and concepts in the second language classroom. In N. Markee (Ed) The handbook of classroom discourse and interaction, 1st edn. Wiley–Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nurkka, N., Viiri, J., Littleton, K., et al. (2014). A methodological approach to exploring the rhythm of classroom discourse in a cumulative frame in science teaching. Learning Culture Society International, 3(1), 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2014.01.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nystrand, M., Gamoran, A., Kachur, R., & Prendergast, C. (1997). Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, C., Michaels, S. & Chapin, S. (2015). “Scaling down” to explore the role of talk in learning: From district intervention to controlled classroom study. In L. B. Resnick, C. S. C. Asterhan & S. N. Clarke (Eds.), Socializing intelligence through academic talk and dialogue. 1st edn. American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palincsar, A. S., & Brown, A. L. (1984). Reciprocal Teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition Instruct, 1(2), 117–175. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532690xci0102_1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, M., & Hurry, J. (2007). Teachers’ use of questioning and modelling comprehension skills in primary classrooms. Education Review, 59(3), 299–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131910701427298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patchen, T., & Smithenry, D. W. (2014). Diversifying instruction and shifting authority: A cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) analysis of classroom participant structures. Journal Research Science Teacher, 51(5), 606–634. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, N., & Wegerif, R. (2016). Dialogic education: Mastering core concepts through thinking together. Abingdon, New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, L. B., Asterhan, C. S. C. & Clarke SN (2015) Talk, learning, and teaching. In L. B. Resnick, C. S. C. Asterhan & S. N. Clarke (Eds.). Socializing Intelligence Through Academic Talk and Dialogue, 1st edn. American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, L. B., Asterhan, C. S. C., & Clarke S. N. et al. (2018). Next generation research in dialogic learning. In G. E. Hall, L. F. Quinn & D. M. Gollnick (Eds.). The Wiley Handbook of Teaching and Learning, 1st edn. Wiley, Hoboken.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reznitskaya, A., Glina, M., Carolan, B., et al. (2012). Examining transfer effects from dialogic discussion to new tasks and contexts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37(4), 288–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2012.02.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reznitskaya, A., & Gregory, M. R. (2013). Student thought and classroom language: Examining the mechanisms of change in dialogic teaching. Educ Psychol, 48(2), 114–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2013.775898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reznitskaya, A., Wilkinson, I. A. G. (2015). Professional development in dialogic teaching: Helping teachers promote argument literacy in their classrooms. In D. Scott & E. Hargreaves (Eds.). The SAGE handbook of learning. 1st ed. SAGE, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roehler, L. R., Cantlon, D. J. (1997). Scaffolding: A powerful tool in social constructivist classrooms. In K. Hogan & M. Pressley (Eds.). Scaffolding Student Learning: Institutional Approaches and Issues. 1st Edn. Brookline Books, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, P. (2008). Talking a way to understanding in science. In N. Mercer & S. Hodgkinson (Eds.). Exploring Talk in Schools: Inspired by the Work of Douglas Barnes. SAGE, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedova, K. (2011). Mocenské konstelace ve výukové komunikaci [Constellations of power in the classroom]. Studia Paedagogica, 16(1), 89–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedova, K., Salamounova, Z., & Svaricek, R. (2014). Troubles with dialogic teaching. Learn Cult Soc Inter, 3(4), 274–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2014.04.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedova, K., Sedlacek, M., Svaricek, R., et al. (2019). Do those who talk more learn more? The relationship between student classroom talk and student achievement. Learn Instr, 63, 101217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segal, A., & Lefstein, A. (2016). Exuberant, voiceless participation: An unintended consequence of dialogic sensibilities? L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature 16:1–19. https://doi.org/10.17239/L1ESLL-2016.16.02.06

  • Segal, A., Pollak, I., & Lefstein, A. (2016). Democracy, voice and dialogic pedagogy: The struggle to be heard and heeded. Lang Educ, 31(1), 6–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2016.1230124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sfard, A. (2008). Thinking as communicating: Human development, the growth of discourses, and mathematizing (Learning in doing: Social, cognitive and computational perspectives). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Pol, J., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J. (2010). Scaffolding in teacher-student interaction: A decade of research. Education Psychology Review, 22(3), 271–296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9127-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Veen, C., de Mey, L., van Kruistum, C., et al. (2017). The effect of productive classroom talk and metacommunication on young children’’s oral communicative competence and subject matter knowledge: An intervention study in early childhood education. Learning Instrument, 48, 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.06.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, N. M., Franke, M. L., Ing, M., et al. (2014). Engaging with others mathematical ideas: Interrelationships among student participation, teachers instructional practices, and learning. International Journal Education Research, 63, 79–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.02.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, G., & Arauz, R. M. (2006). Dialogue in the classroom. J Learn Sci, 15(3), 379–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Vygotski and the social formation of mind. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, I. A. G., Murphy, P. K., & Binici, S. (2015). Dialogue-intensive pedagogies for promoting reading comprehension: What we know, what we need to know. In L. B. Resnick, C. S. C. Asterhan, & S. N. Clarke (Eds.). Socializing Intelligence Through Academic Talk and Dialogue. 1st Edn. American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. J Child Psychol Psyc, 17(2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Klára Šeďová, Zuzana Šalamounová, Roman Švaříček & Martin Sedláček

Authors
  1. Klára Šeďová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zuzana Šalamounová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Roman Švaříček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Martin Sedláček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Klára Šeďová .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Masaryk University

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Šeďová, K., Šalamounová, Z., Švaříček, R., Sedláček, M. (2020). Thinking About Classroom Dialogue: Introduction and Theoretical Background. In: Getting Dialogic Teaching into Classrooms. Understanding Teaching-Learning Practice. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9243-0_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9243-0_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-9242-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-9243-0

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation