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ERIC Number: ED150107
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1977-Aug
Pages: 74
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
An Analysis of Verbal Interaction in Multiage Classrooms.
Way, Joyce W.; Conning, Don
The purpose of this study was to analyze the verbal interactions of children assigned to multiage classrooms. Specifically, the study investigated whether children of a particular age group interact with other children across age groups and the types of interactions each age group display. It also investigated student-to-teacher interactions and student-to-student interactions to see if interactions initiated by children are dispersed across age groups. An interaction in this study is defined as a verbal exchange between two children or between a child and the teacher. Groups studied consisted of classrooms containing children of two ages (e.g., six- and seven-year-olds) and groups containing children of three ages (e.g., eight-, nine-, and ten-year-olds). When three ages were combined in a classroom, the older children tended to dominate the conversation directed to other children in the class. This tendency was not present when two ages were combined. Combining children of different ages in classrooms did not result in any age dominating the teachers' attention. When three ages were combined in a classroom interaction seldom occurred across age groups, but when it did occur it was initiated by children in the middle age grouping. Multiage classrooms composed of two ages combined resulted in random interaction across age groups. Appended to this document are tables presenting data resulting from the research. (JD)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: State Univ. of New York, Cortland. Coll. at Cortland. Inst. for Experimentation in Teacher Education.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A