How classroom talk supports reading comprehension

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What role did teachers’ talk play in student discussion?

The researchers identified talk that was effective at encouraging meaningful student participation and enhancing students’ comprehension by these characteristics:

teachers reformulated and summarised what students had said which provided an opportunity for other students to build on these ideas;
teachers used a scaffolding strategy that encouraged students to put the main idea in their own words;
teachers pressed the students for elaboration of their ideas, e.g. How did you know that?; and
teachers supported rigorous thinking by asking ‘why’.

They found that effectively linking people’s ideas together created an environment that invited more interaction and ensured that all participants understood the main concepts covered in a particular lesson. Explicit linking of the student’s ideas involved providing opportunities for students to build on each other’s ideas (e.g. ‘Do you want to add anything?’, and reformulating what the student had said (‘So what I hear you saying is…’).

Example of Effective Talk (effectively linking people’s ideas together)
S1: I talked about Larry Brown. I said that I made text to text connection with Larry Dunn and Rufus because he felt like he wanted to cry but was thought – Rufus was too. And because he [Rufus] doesn’t have money to buy sandwiches, Rufus’s best friend was laughing at him.
T: So what I hear you saying is that you’re making a character trait connection. Both characters have that trait of pride they don’t want to show their true feelings that they’re hurt and I agree with you. Someone on the other side of the room want to share with me? Do you want to add something new?
S2: I’d like to add to David because they both have ripped clothes, and pride. Now they’re both getting beat up. Larry and Rufus are alike.
T: So they both shared similar experiences.

Talk that was ineffective was categorised by the following characteristics:

teachers explicitly asked students a question but didn’t follow up the question or link their answers to the text;
teachers merely checked students’ comprehension of what happened in the story, often limited to yes-no answers, and left little room for students to make sense of the text and select appropriate evidence from the text to back up their thoughts; and
teachers overscaffolded by providing too much information and framed the question in such a way that the student only had to complete the teachers’ incomplete sentence.

This study also found that a failure to reformulate ideas or press students to elaborate on their ideas, resulted in exchanges that tended to be brief and did not contribute to students’ substantial understanding of text.

Example of Ineffective Talk
  T: Did he travel the whole world over?
  S: No. He just went around the yard of his house.
  T: And he went to the barn. Is that travelling the whole world over?
  Ss: No.
  T: so we have a problem already, right?
  Ss: Yeah.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How did classroom talk affect students’ learning? What role did teachers’ talk play in student discussion? How was the study designed? How was talk assessed? What are the implications? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader How classroom talk supports reading comprehension This digest found in English Speaking and Listening Send to a friend Word doc 80KB Printer friendly Collate for later What role did teachers’ talk play in student discussion? The researchers identified talk that was effective at encouraging meaningful student participation and enhancing students’ comprehension by these characteristics: teachers reformulated and summarised what students had said which provided an opportunity for other students to build on these ideas; teachers used a scaffolding strategy that encouraged students to put the main idea in their own words; teachers pressed the students for elaboration of their ideas, e.g. How did you know that?; and teachers supported rigorous thinking by asking ‘why’. They found that effectively linking people’s ideas together created an environment that invited more interaction and ensured that all participants understood the main concepts covered in a particular lesson. Explicit linking of the student’s ideas involved providing opportunities for students to build on each other’s ideas (e.g. ‘Do you want to add anything?’, and reformulating what the student had said (‘So what I hear you saying is…’). Example of Effective Talk (effectively linking people’s ideas together) S1: I talked about Larry Brown. I said that I made text to text connection with Larry Dunn and Rufus because he felt like he wanted to cry but was thought – Rufus was too. And because he [Rufus] doesn’t have money to buy sandwiches, Rufus’s best friend was laughing at him. T: So what I hear you saying is that you’re making a character trait connection. Both characters have that trait of pride they don’t want to show their true feelings that they’re hurt and I agree with you. Someone on the other side of the room want to share with me? Do you want to add something new? S2: I’d like to add to David because they both have ripped clothes, and pride. Now they’re both getting beat up. Larry and Rufus are alike. T: So they both shared similar experiences. Talk that was ineffective was categorised by the following characteristics: teachers explicitly asked students a question but didn’t follow up the question or link their answers to the text; teachers merely checked students’ comprehension of what happened in the story, often limited to yes-no answers, and left little room for students to make sense of the text and select appropriate evidence from the text to back up their thoughts; and teachers overscaffolded by providing too much information and framed the question in such a way that the student only had to complete the teachers’ incomplete sentence. This study also found that a failure to reformulate ideas or press students to elaborate on their ideas, resulted in exchanges that tended to be brief and did not contribute to students’ substantial understanding of text. Example of Ineffective Talk T: Did he travel the whole world over? S: No. He just went around the yard of his house. T: And he went to the barn. Is that travelling the whole world over? Ss: No. T: so we have a problem already, right? Ss: Yeah.