Page 295 - Karmen Pižorn, Alja Lipavic Oštir in Janja Žmavc, ur. • Obrazi več-/raznojezičnosti. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut, 2022. Digitalna knjižnica, Dissertationes 44
P. 295
rethinking language teaching: the theory and practice of plurilingual education
learners have the right to introduce a new topic or challenge another learn-
er’s or the teacher’s view; in other words, it is dialogic in the sense that the
power to take discourse initiatives is shared among all participants.
As Alexander (2020) points out, “dialogic” has assumed many dif-
ferent shades of meaning when applied to teaching, pedagogy and educa-
tion (for two wide-ranging research collections, see Resnick, Asterhan and
Clarke, 2015; Mercer, Wegerif and Major, 2019). But all versions of dialogic
pedagogy are founded on the belief that educational success is enhanced by
interactive talk that respects and fosters the agency of learners by allowing
them to take discourse initiatives. By building on one another’s contribu-
tions they jointly create new knowledge that individual learners could not
create on their own (Chi and Menekse, 2015, p. 267). Alexander (2020, p. 131)
offers six principles that can be used to guide the planning and conduct of
dialogic classroom talk:
– Collective. The classroom is a site of joint learning and enquiry,
and, whether in groups or as a class, students and teachers are
willing and able to address learning tasks together.
– Supportive. Students feel able to express ideas freely, without risk
of embarrassment over contributions that are hesitant or tenta-
tive, or that might be judged “wrong”, and they help each other to
reach common understandings.
– Reciprocal. Participants listen to each other, share ideas, ask ques-
tions and consider alternative viewpoints; and teachers ensure
that they have ample opportunities to do so.
– Deliberative. Participants discuss and seek to resolve different
points of view, they present and evaluate arguments and they
work towards reasoned positions and outcomes.
– Cumulative. Participants build on their own and each other’s con-
tributions and chain them into coherent lines of thinking and un-
derstanding.
– Purposeful. Classroom talk, though sometimes open-ended, is
nevertheless structured with specific learning goals in view.
Teachers who follow these principles continue to control classroom in-
teraction. But when they speak for several minutes in order to present new
information or provide an explanation, their talk is not monologue in the
“recitation” sense but a “long turn” in a learning conversation that is always
295
learners have the right to introduce a new topic or challenge another learn-
er’s or the teacher’s view; in other words, it is dialogic in the sense that the
power to take discourse initiatives is shared among all participants.
As Alexander (2020) points out, “dialogic” has assumed many dif-
ferent shades of meaning when applied to teaching, pedagogy and educa-
tion (for two wide-ranging research collections, see Resnick, Asterhan and
Clarke, 2015; Mercer, Wegerif and Major, 2019). But all versions of dialogic
pedagogy are founded on the belief that educational success is enhanced by
interactive talk that respects and fosters the agency of learners by allowing
them to take discourse initiatives. By building on one another’s contribu-
tions they jointly create new knowledge that individual learners could not
create on their own (Chi and Menekse, 2015, p. 267). Alexander (2020, p. 131)
offers six principles that can be used to guide the planning and conduct of
dialogic classroom talk:
– Collective. The classroom is a site of joint learning and enquiry,
and, whether in groups or as a class, students and teachers are
willing and able to address learning tasks together.
– Supportive. Students feel able to express ideas freely, without risk
of embarrassment over contributions that are hesitant or tenta-
tive, or that might be judged “wrong”, and they help each other to
reach common understandings.
– Reciprocal. Participants listen to each other, share ideas, ask ques-
tions and consider alternative viewpoints; and teachers ensure
that they have ample opportunities to do so.
– Deliberative. Participants discuss and seek to resolve different
points of view, they present and evaluate arguments and they
work towards reasoned positions and outcomes.
– Cumulative. Participants build on their own and each other’s con-
tributions and chain them into coherent lines of thinking and un-
derstanding.
– Purposeful. Classroom talk, though sometimes open-ended, is
nevertheless structured with specific learning goals in view.
Teachers who follow these principles continue to control classroom in-
teraction. But when they speak for several minutes in order to present new
information or provide an explanation, their talk is not monologue in the
“recitation” sense but a “long turn” in a learning conversation that is always
295
