How classroom talk supports reading comprehension

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How was the study designed?

The study set out to examine teacher student interactions in order to identify the characteristics of the teachers’ talk that facilitated rigorous discussion, and reinforced students’ understanding. It involved observing twenty one teachers and 441 students from ten schools, between the ages of six and fourteen. The students were from diverse ethnic backgrounds and twenty percent were considered to be English language learners.

Each lesson observed lasted 45-50 minutes and included:

reading text aloud to, with or by the students;
teacher led whole group discussion for about 20 minutes; and
teacher assigned group work or individual tasks for small group or independent work.

The lessons were analysed against the following two criteria:

how well the talk encouraged meaningful student participation; and
how well the talk helped to deepen understanding of the lesson.

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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 How was the study designed? The study set out to examine teacher student interactions in order to identify the characteristics of the teachers’ talk that facilitated rigorous discussion, and reinforced students’ understanding. It involved observing twenty one teachers and 441 students from ten schools, between the ages of six and fourteen. The students were from diverse ethnic backgrounds and twenty percent were considered to be English language learners. Each lesson observed lasted 45-50 minutes and included: reading text aloud to, with or by the students; teacher led whole group discussion for about 20 minutes; and teacher assigned group work or individual tasks for small group or independent work. The lessons were analysed against the following two criteria: how well the talk encouraged meaningful student participation; and how well the talk helped to deepen understanding of the lesson.