The study examines the interactive functions of gesture repetitions as a specific form of interpersonal synchronization in argumentative decision-making processes of peers (1-6 graders). Based on a collection of 13 instances, gesture repetitions are investigated in the process of collaboratively co-constructing arguments. Drawing on multimodal…

Background: Effective health education fosters lifelong well-being, but traditional educator-centered methods in Morocco may limit student engagement and comprehension. Understanding educator-student communication is key to designing early interventions that enhance learning. Methods: This exploratory quantitative study analyzed health education…

The purpose of this study was to understand how the social and cultural practices of classroom literacy instruction afforded students opportunities to make meaning with texts. Research was conducted from a sociocultural perspective that focused on students as participants in social learning, in a context of interactive relations. This study was…

An enduring problem in English curriculum and pedagogy is that listening and speaking, as intricately interconnected interactional practices, are often treated separately. In classroom discussions, attention is predominantly drawn to vocalisation as the key element of dialogue. Furthermore, listening as a silent embodied activity, is often taken…

Translanguaging in classrooms opens spaces for multilingual students to engage in learning across the full range of their linguistic repertoire. We argue that one result of translanguaging pedagogy is that it can transform the talk-for-learning in the classroom and create a corriente or flow of ideas that is more free and less constrained than…

The Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) sequence dominates whole-class talk and results in limited interactional opportunities for students. This article examines multiple-response sequences identified during a practitioner action research project when a teacher set out to change interactions between herself and her young students. Conversation…

This article reports a case study on classroom interaction in teacher education in Norway. It addresses how teacher students in the school subject Norwegian constitute scientific talk in a student-led discussion. First, the analysis reveals tension in the classroom conversation between "mundane talk"--that is, where students make claims…

Based on a qualitative analysis of classroom discourse in Italian primary schools, this paper analyses the micro-processes that are emergent moment-by-moment in the unfolding interactions between teacher and pupils. More in particular, our purpose is to identify the conditions under which the interactive orientation of a sequence changes. We argue…

Numerous studies hold that interaction has beneficial effects on second language acquisition among adults and children in second language contexts. However, data from children learning English as a foreign language are still unavailable. In order to fill this research niche, this study examines the conversational interactions of 8 pairs of young…

Background: A sequential analysis of classroom discourse is needed to investigate the conditions under which the triadic initiation-response-feedback (IRF) pattern may host different teaching orientations. Aim: The purpose of the study is twofold: first, to describe the characteristics of classroom discourse and, second, to identify and explore…

The aim of this qualitative case study is to investigate how learning in "democratic participation" is constituted by the social interaction and conversation pattern in school democratic meetings in a Swedish primary school. According to the findings, a pupil control discourse and the Initiation-Response-Evaluation pattern dominates the…

Presents a framework for the analysis of verbal interaction between teacher and pupils in primary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) lessons. Attempts to illuminate the support to learning which can be offered by the teacher's responsiveness to pupils. The research data-base includes audio and video tapes from EFL classes in Malaysia,…

Experimental and supplementary observational studies of how children help one another learn are reported. In the experiment, developmental patterns in children's discourse in two common peer-learning situations were investigated. Sixty-four pairs of children, drawn equally from kindergarten and second grade, participated in the study. Dyads,…

Play sessions of two Mexican children (one five and one eight years old) with English-speaking friends were recorded and the use of language play was examined. Language play is viewed as a non-literal, rule-bound use of language that children engage in for its own sake, either cooperatively or competitively. Practice opportunities and children's…

Describes the hierarchical values attached to languages in Botswana as reflected in an educational policy placing English in a prestigious position and marginalizing indigenous languages. The article argues that code switching to English during ritualized question-and-answer performances derives from conventions imposed during colonial rule. (24…