Designing for Dialogue in Place of Teacher Talk and Student Silence

Abstract

Research in classrooms reveals that the institution of school is not an empty slate, but rather is characterized by peculiar patterns of interaction which tend to be short exchanges directed by the teacher. Language teachers who wish children to learn language by participating in extended meaningful conversation, then, must consciously resist institutionally defined ‘teacher talk’. In this paper we examine a case of extended conversation in a dual-language kindergarten for clues as to how the teacher and children were able to negotiate alternative ways of engaging each other in a conversation. The purpose of the paper is to reveal both challenges and approaches for teachers to design real-life conversations in a traditional school where rigid ‘teacher talk’ dominates the classroom discourse.