In Pursuit of an Optimal Model of Teacher Talk

Abstract

The increasing interest in optimal teaching and learning frames after Coronavirus lockdown (Nunes, 2021; UNICEF, 2020; Coman, Tiru, Mesesan Schmitz, Stanciu & Bularca, 2020) identified new roles allocated to teachers and learners and revived the age-long debate between didactics and dialogics in evaluating teacher talk (Gemertz, 2020; Coman, Tiru, Mesesan Schmitz, Stanciu & Bularca, 2020). Gewertz (2020), Davis (2011) and Zhou & Zhou (2002) interrogate teacher talk time (TTT) and its dominance of classroom talk. The study traces the didactic and dialogic models and addresses their main characteristics and ideals through a quasi-experiment in an attempt to put forth a tangible teacher talk model. Thirty-two participants working in the field of education took part in a quasi-experiment then completed a survey questionnaire based on the quasi-experiment, followed by small group discussions, to identify the componential values, objectives, characteristics of teacher talk and ways of maximizing participants’ talk time. The replies identified the epistemological nature of teacher talk makes it a necessary component in any model of teaching be it didactic or dialogic. Furthermore, the study proposed that teacher talk time (TTT) and student talk time (STT) should not be perceived as fixed notions but rather proportional entities that vary according to the estimated knowledge thresholds of the learners.