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Dialogic teaching,cooperative learning and the EFL classroom
Dr Margaret KettleFaculty of Education
QUTAustralia
Overview
• Defining dialogic teaching
• Classroom talk for teaching and learning
• Talk in the EL classroom
• Language in the classroom: functions
• A classroom case study
• Implications for the Chinese EFL classroom
• Pedagogic models: Content-focused, language-focused
• Summary: Teaching, classroom talk and cooperative learning.
Focus of presentation
• Acute interest in teaching in Australia and internationally
• Interest is in teaching as dialogue to emphasise and foreground classroom talk
• What talk promotes what learning?
Testing doesn’t make a student learn more; teaching does. (Alexander, 2010)
• Linking learning to teaching:
• this does not preclude cooperative learning,
• this does not mean teacher-centred teaching.
Focus of presentation
Defining dialogic teaching:
Dialogic teaching harnesses the power of talk to engage (students), stimulate and extend their thinking, and advance their learning and understanding.
(Alexander 2008, p. 185)
Classroom talk for teaching and learning (adapted from Alexander, 2008)
1. Classroom talk: social and cognitive/learning purposes
- Important not to prioritise one over the other;
- English classrooms;
- Emphasis on social can be cognitively undemanding if feedback not focused on learning.
2. The distinction between conversation (locally-managed) and dialogue (teacher-managed):
Continuity of interaction through questions and responses leads to cumulation of knowledge and concepts.
Talk for teaching and learning (adapted from Alexander, 2008)
This does not mean teacher-centredness:
• classroom interaction patterns (Initiation-Response-Evaluation) dominated by teacher
• Rather through task design and classroom organisation, these interactions can be student-student
• Depends on aims of lesson: e.g. language (grammar, vocabulary, macroskills) presentation and mechanical practice, meaningful production, content-based.
Talk for teaching and learning (adapted from Alexander, 2008)
Talk for teaching:
Rote (t-class): drilling of facts, ideas and routines
Recitation (t-class; t-group): accumulation of knowledge through questioning; cueing students
Instruction/exposition (t-class; t-group; t-individual): imparting information, explaining, giving instructions
Discussion (t-class/group/individual; st-sts; st-st): exchanging ideas to share information and solve problems
Dialogue (t-class/group/individual; st-sts; st-st): “achieving common understanding through structured and cumulative questioning and discussion which guide and prompt … and expedite ‘handover’ of concepts and principles (p. 186).
Talk for teaching and learning (adapted from Alexander, 2008)
Talk for learning:
• narrate
• explain
• ask different questions
• receive, act and build on answers
• analyse and solve problems
• speculate
• discuss
• argue, reason, justify
• negotiate
Talk in the EL classroom: Questioning (adapted from Murray & Christison, 2011)
1. Two sets of questions:
i. Lower-order questions – factual
- recall, comprehension, application
ii. Higher-order questions – thought-provoking
- analysis, synthesis, evaluation
2. Managing questioning and interaction:
i. feedback;
ii. wait time;
iii. question distribution.
Review
• What is talk for teaching: who can undertake it and how can it be organised?
• What is talk for learning: who can undertake it and how can it be organised?
• How does this link to cooperative learning?
Teaching and learning in the language classroom
Language in the classroom fulfils three functions
(Cazden, 2001) :
1. build content knowledge;
2. establish and maintain social relationships;
3. self-representation and identifying.
How do we teach so our students can accomplish these functions when they are using English as a Foreign Language?
A classroom case study
Study: Investigating teaching in a Master of Education course.
Data: Interviews, classroom videos, observations, teaching evaluations.
Aim: What makes for highly effective teaching with L2 students?
The participants
• The teacher: A senior academic with a reputation
for teaching excellence
• Six international students:
Anna (China), Erica (Singapore), Grace (Mozambique),
Hanh (Vietnam), Javier (Argentina), Sonny (Thailand)
The course
• MEd course: Issues in Education and Leadership• University: A large, Australian university• Semester: 13 weeks• Class: 10 international students; 11 domestic• Course design: - three-hour weekly sessions of seminar-style classes;
- two pieces of written assessment: - an extended literature review (40%)
- a critical discussion (60%)
1a: Assembling topics/disciplinary knowledge
TRS 1: Workplace T: But it’s very important. Good good
TRS 2:Hierarchy
What else? Javier (gestures to Javier)S-Javier: I like the part when he said no leader puts himself above the people and above the team, meaning that the leader is no more than the people that he or she leads.T: Do people agree with that? Julie have a comment back.
(Interactive sequences forming the TRS)
T: Ok, that is the significant distinction – you might be at the top but that doesn’t make you more important than everybody else. So basically he is talking about a certain set of values and assumptions. What I remember about the video is how much emphasis he was putting on morals, the common good and leading for the betterment of others. That for me was a very strong message he was putting out – that leadership is a moral act and he was also talking about vision – something greater than the individual. Now this is a very important idea that you are going to come back to and back to and back to throughout the leadership course – and that is the extent to which leadership is about vision and the extent to which it is a moral kind of action. Next week and the week after we will be revisiting this idea so hold it in your minds for then.
TRS 3: Vision
Anything else strike you about what Mandela said about leadership?
TRS 1: Workplace T: But it’s very important. Good good
TRS 2:Hierarchy
What else? Javier (gestures to Javier)S-Javier: I like the part when he said no leader puts himself above the people and above the team, meaning that the leader is no more than the people that he or she leads.T: Do people agree with that? Julie have a comment back.
(Interactive sequences forming the TRS)
T: Ok, that is the significant distinction – you might be at the top but that doesn’t make you more important than everybody else. So basically he is talking about a certain set of values and assumptions. What I remember about the video is how much emphasis he was putting on morals, the common good and leading for the betterment of others. That for me was a very strong message he was putting out – that leadership is a moral act and he was also talking about vision – something greater than the individual. Now this is a very important idea that you are going to come back to and back to and back to throughout the leadership course – and that is the extent to which leadership is about vision and the extent to which it is a moral kind of action. Next week and the week after we will be revisiting this idea so hold it in your minds for then.
TRS 3: Vision
Anything else strike you about what Mandela said about leadership?
What is happening?
• Assembling topically-related sets (Mehan, 1979) in a
lesson on leadership
• Continuous and cumulative questioning by teacher
• Student-centred (IRE): asking questions, discussing,
arguing and justifying, negotiating
• Demarcating topics – the prerogative of the teacher.
• Topics linked to the conceptual framework of the lesson
and the course.
Student response: Anna
Even though sometimes I feel a bit uncomfortable because
the questions she’s asking, maybe I don’t know how to
answer but you know that feels good. It’s a big challenge
for me. … It (the Issues in Education and Leadership
course) helps you to be more critical because when I
participate in the discussion in class, I begin to think.
1b. Reformulating knowledge
Student formulation Teacher reformulation Pedagogical implications
…through her position, marrying
into the royal family, she (Princess
Diana) was able to initiate lots of
charity work – you know, all the
things that she did – and yet if
she’d never actually had that
position, she would never have
been able to achieve so much.
OK OK so that’s a really important
point and it relates to this. What
Tom is suggesting to us is that there
are two parts to this – one is the
actual position that you hold in an
organisation, and that relates to
what Javier was saying that it is
actually easier to lead from a
position of power – so there’s the
position that you hold and then
there’s your attitude towards your
position. OK.
The teacher marks the point as
important. She indicates that she is
referring to Tom’s comment and
explicating it further. She links it
to an earlier point from Javier and
delineates two clear propositions,
about (i) position and (ii) attitude.
Her language is an academic
reformulation of Tom’s –
depersonalised, field-specific with
more concentrated information
(Gibbons, 2002).
Student formulation Teacher reformulation Pedagogical implications
…through her position, marrying
into the royal family, she (Princess
Diana) was able to initiate lots of
charity work – you know, all the
things that she did – and yet if
she’d never actually had that
position, she would never have
been able to achieve so much.
OK OK so that’s a really important
point and it relates to this. What
Tom is suggesting to us is that there
are two parts to this – one is the
actual position that you hold in an
organisation, and that relates to
what Javier was saying that it is
actually easier to lead from a
position of power – so there’s the
position that you hold and then
there’s your attitude towards your
position. OK.
The teacher marks the point as
important. She indicates that she is
referring to Tom’s comment and
explicating it further. She links it
to an earlier point from Javier and
delineates two clear propositions,
about (i) position and (ii) attitude.
Her language is an academic
reformulation of Tom’s –
depersonalised, field-specific with
more concentrated information
(Gibbons, 2002).
What is happening?
• Teacher is ‘revoicing’ students’ contributions in
disciplinary terms and concepts.
• Reconceptualising students’ existing knowledge into more
‘culturally mature formulations’ (Cazden, 2001, p. 76).
• Providing new ways of thinking and talking about the
topic.
• Often accompanied by gestures: ‘message abundancy’
(Gibbons, 2003)
1c. Building ‘other’ knowledge: Strategies for learning
Teacher
So when you’re reading, try to get a sense all the
time of where you’re going to. Don’t just start the
chapter. Flip through; look at it. You might want
to read the introductory paragraph; you might
want to read the concluding paragraph. But don’t
just sit down and settle into the text before you’ve
had a look around it. (Week Three )
1c. Building ‘other’ knowledge: Strategies for learning
Anna
One of her unique methods, she’s teaching you
something like techniques of reading or writing. I
think that’s good especially for Asian or
international students – they are not quite used to
this kind of writing style. She’s helping us
gradually to adapt to this kind of writing and also
through this kind of style, you realise the author
is organising this way and then you understand it
in a better way.
What is happening?
• Explicit teaching of academic strategies:
• induction into the practices of the academic
context;
• encouraging learner autonomy;
• teaching management of reading task
(metacognitive), summarising and
understanding of content (cognitive); provision
of support (social/affective).
• unusual for a postgraduate class; more EAP.
2. Promoting social relations and participation
Teacher uses two prominent strategies to promote student
participation in lessons:
1. Attribution
a) What Tom is suggesting to us is …
b) …and that relates to what Javier was saying that it is
actually easier to lead from a position of power.
2. ‘Cued elicitation’ (Mercer, 1995).
Teacher OK… Javier
Javier He tried to make a differentiation between the leader and a boss
Teacher OK do people get that. Grace did you get that? …(laughs)
Grace Are we talking about the leader in general or the organisation?
Teacher We were talking about in fact what Javier thought was one of the most important parts of the speech so get him to tell you again and then see if you agree with him.(Grace nods in the direction of Javier)
Javier I like the part where Mandela says that no leader should put himself or herself above the people which he leads
Grace I agree with it. Most of the literature is trying to open our mind to this issue when they think of the good of the organisation and not themselves (Teacher nodding encouragement.)
Teacher OK so there’s an aspect in it where Mandela is talking against hierarchy …
Teacher OK… Javier
Javier He tried to make a differentiation between the leader and a boss
Teacher OK do people get that. Grace did you get that? …(laughs)
Grace Are we talking about the leader in general or the organisation?
Teacher We were talking about in fact what Javier thought was one of the most important parts of the speech so get him to tell you again and then see if you agree with him.(Grace nods in the direction of Javier)
Javier I like the part where Mandela says that no leader should put himself or herself above the people which he leads
Grace I agree with it. Most of the literature is trying to open our mind to this issue when they think of the good of the organisation and not themselves (Teacher nodding encouragement.)
Teacher OK so there’s an aspect in it where Mandela is talking against hierarchy …
What is happening?
• Cued elicitation through nomination.
• Scaffolding students’ contributions.
• Opportunities provided to rehear and formulate response
before public performance.
• ‘Naming’ considered very useful by Sonny:
Names student to say something – very, very good. Stimulates
ideas for students. Makes me try to understand and say
something that will show my idea.
• Teacher as supportive ‘other’, providing interactive
possibilities (Kettle, 2005).
3. Self-representation and identifying
Sonny
For the first time, it was very difficult to get involved in class activity. In
Thailand, there’s no problem – It’s OK if a student just sits and listen
but here …I feel very ashamed for myself after I don’t have
participation in class just like I am nobody. I can’t even express my
ideas in class. It’s very hard and very uncomfortable…
… but right now I think I’m better. I’m more know what they want to
express and still a problem how to express my ideas…For t… but right now I think I’m better. I’m know more what they want to
express and still a problem for me how to express my ideas …the first time, it was very difficult to get myself involved in class activity.
In Thailand, there’s no problem – it’s OK if a student just sits and listen
What is happening?
• Classroom talk is important for:
• presenting and conceptualising ideas
• contributing to the class
• self-representing in the class group
• How you ‘sound’ and are ‘heard’ is very important for
legitimacy (motivation, confidence, self-value):
‘audibility’(Kettle, 2005; Miller, 2003)
Review
Learning cooperatively in a L2 to build:
- content knowledge;
- social relations
- positive self-representations.
Achieved through different types of teaching talk and
learning talk.
Implications for the Chinese EFL classroom
Content-focused: A pedagogic cycle for text construction (Hammond & Macken-Horarik, 1999)
Establish content
knowledge: concepts and
vocabulary (video
Explicit teaching of key textual and language
features
Collaborative text
construction
Individual text
construction
Critical engagement with content
Language-focused: The task cycle for language presentation and practice (Shehadah, 2006; Willis, 1995):
Pre-task: Introduction to task; provision of input
and essential language; definition of task
(objectives,
procedures, time limits); building
motivationTask:
Planning; doing;
reporting; presenting
.
Post-task: reflection on task;
focus on language form; learner errors.
Teaching, classroom talk and cooperative learning
Teaching
Cooperative learning
Classroom talk (teaching & learning)
content, social relations, identity
References
Alexander, R. (2008). Essays on pedagogy. London: Routledge.
Cazden, C. (2001). Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning
(2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gibbons, P. (2003). Mediating language learning: Teacher interactions with ESL
students in a content-based classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 37(2), 247-273.
Hammond, J & Macken-Horarik, M. (1999). Critical literacy: Challenges and
questions for the ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 33(3), 528-544.
Kettle, M. (2005). Agency as a discursive practice: From ‘nobody’ to ‘somebody’ as
an international student in Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of Education. 25(1), 45-
60.
Mehan, H. (1979). Learning Lessons. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
References
Mercer, N. (1995). The guided construction of knowledge: Talk amongst
teachers and learners. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Miller, J. (2003). Audible difference: ESL and social identity in schools.
Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Murray, D. & Christison, M.A. (2011). What English language teachers need
to know – Volume II: Facilitating learning. New York: Routledge.
Shehadeh, A. (2005). Task-based language learning and teaching: Theories
and applications. In C. Edwards & J. Willis. (Eds.) Teachers exploring
tasks in English language teaching. (pp. 13-30). Hampshire: Palgrave
Macmillan.
