Implementing Dialogic Teaching in a Singapore English Language Classroom

RELC Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Lee
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Discourse ◽  
English Language ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Reading Literacy ◽  
Government School ◽  
Dialogic Teaching ◽  
Student Talk ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Teachers And Students

Despite the fact that Singaporean students consistently perform well in literacy tests such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, employers have reported that Singaporean employees in general lack confidence in articulating their views in the workplace. This may be attributed to the practice of teacher-fronted and monologic classroom discourse, which does not allow opportunities for teachers and students to construct knowledge and understanding together during curriculum time. The article reports on one classroom-based research conducted on a Secondary Three (age 15) class in one Singaporean government school. The purpose of this article is to show how classroom talk could be made more dialogic, through an intervention, to enhance students’ talk opportunities and to build up literacy skills. The article argues that over time, the habitual practice of a dialogic form of teacher-student talk would help to open up the space of learning for students. To do that, it would be necessary to begin with raising teachers’ awareness of the benefits of dialogic talk.

Teacher-student interaction and management practices in Pakistani English language classrooms

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-134
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ahmad ◽  
Aleem Shakir ◽  
Ali Raza Siddique
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Management ◽  
English Language ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Wait Time ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Teacher Student Interaction ◽  
Language Classrooms

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the amount and type of teacher-talk, frequently asked questions and feedback provided by the teacher on learners’ performance in a language classroom. For this purpose, a lecture was recorded from a secondary level English language classroom of a public sector school and interpreted in the light of teacher-student interaction and classroom management model by David Nunan. Results revealed that the maximum amount of time (i.e. 80.1%) was consumed by the teacher which was appropriate. However, certain deviations from classroom management principles were also observed regarding frequently asked questions (i.e. 50% of the total questions were elicitation questions) and the feedback (it was ‘romantic’ in nature). Moreover, wait-time was sufficient but it was of no use to the learners. The study concluded that classroom practices did not conform to the principles therefore, it proposed to ask questions and provide feedback appropriately.

scholarly journals Use of Journal Articles in English Language Classroom

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Sagar Poudel
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers And Students

Teaching English without any instructional materials may be difficult or even impossible. There are lots of materials which facilitate both the teachers and students in language teaching and learning. As with other teaching materials and resources, journal articles are also an important source for language teaching. Taking this into account, this article tries to explore how EFL teachers perceive the value of journal articles and how they use them in their classrooms. More specifically, the article tries to explore whether and to what extent journal articles can be used as instructional materials, and what strategies teachers employ to use journals articles to enhance language proficiency of their students.Journal of NELTA ,  Vol. 22, No. 1-2, 2017 December, Page: 110-116

scholarly journals Critical literacy in the english language classroom

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarissa Menezes Jordão ◽  
Francisco Carlos Fogaça
Keyword(s):  
Critical Literacy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Public School Teachers ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Education Department ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Sense Of Reality

This paper reports the experience of developing teaching materials for public school teachers and students in southern Brazil in a project funded by the Education Department of Paraná State. The materials were intended as resources to be used by teachers according to their needs and those of their local communities, rather than as a textbook per se. The theory underlying this project is based on critical literacy and the idea that language is discourse, i.e. embedded in cultural and ideological values which determine its meaning and establish power relations among texts, among readers and among texts and their readers - Freirean "readers of the wor(l)d". Student-readers are, in this sense, co-constructors of meanings and responsible for making sense of reality. We expect students and teachers who use the materials we designed to become more aware of their possibilities as agents and this way we intend to foster a sense of active citizenship.

scholarly journals Analysing the Situation of ESL Teaching and Learning in Large University Classes in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 250
Author(s):  
Abdul Hameed Panhwar ◽  
Shah Nawaz Barich ◽  
Syed Khuram Shahzad
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Large Classes ◽  
Language Support ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The University

The present study is based on a chapter of the PhD project conducted by the main researcher. It aims to explore the ESL teaching and learning practices in a Pakistani university by focusing on difficulties perceived and confronted by learners and teachers, and solutions suggested by them. One of the most significant issues at the university is large classes-exceeding to 100 and more students on average. The main researcher, being an ESL teacher at the target university, faced the same problem of large size and found it difficult to teach these classes. He embarked on analysing the situation so that he might come across some solutions through the suggestions and experiences of the ESL teachers and students of the same university. The design of the study is descriptive and the results of the present study come from the quantitative data collected through student and teacher questionnaires. The Student-participants were 300 undergraduate students from various major subjects attending English language support classes and 22 ESL teachers teaching these English language support classes at different institutes of the university. The data were analysed descriptively and presented with help of the boxplots. The views, commonly held by teachers are supported by the study’s findings i.e., large classes are likely to endorse teacher-centred approaches of teaching; very little significant student-student and teacher-student interaction is practised because of the inadequate physical environment; majority of learners remain off-task and appear to be unruly and they are given little, if any, feedback on their in-class and home tasks. Conversely, many teachers and learners reported that the adoption of group/pair work is likely to be an effective technique to use in these classes. Albeit a few teachers revealed having adopted group work infrequently, none used it all the time.

Discourse of Integrating Science and Literacy

2019 ◽  
pp. 12-26
Author(s):  
Huili Hong ◽  
Renee M. R. Moran ◽  
LaShay Jennings ◽  
Laura Robertson ◽  
Stacey Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Discourse ◽  
Science Literacy ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Teachers ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Science Concepts

The authors start this chapter with a reconceptualization of science literacy and proceed to discuss why science literacy matters and why discourse in various forms matters to science literacy. Then, drawing on their recent research study on science literacy integration, the authors center on the teacher-student interactive discourses revolving around science concepts and literacy skills. They particularly examined some of the seemingly off-topic classroom dialogues. Doing so aims to explore how the potential opportunities of science literacy integration can be discursively co-constructed by the teacher and the students in naturally occurring classroom activities. Further, doing so aims to show science literacy integration can become more enjoyable to students. Meanwhile, the authors advocate that both science and literacy teachers should see themselves as teachers of language as well as examine and think how their classroom discourse can be orchestrated for the purposes of integrating science and literacy.

scholarly journals Six Thinking Hats: A Study to Understand the Reasons and Extent of their Application in the English Language Classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-92
Author(s):  
Saroja Dhanapal ◽  
Khoo Tabitha Wern Ling
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Educational Beliefs ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Language Competency ◽  
Whole School Approach

A qualitative case study was carried out in a school that encourages the application of the Six Thinking Hats (STH) to understand the reasons and extent of their application in the English Language classroom. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the literature in this area with the view to help situate the factors affecting the STH application. Research methods applied in the research include interview as well as the distribution, collection and data analysis of both teachers and students’ survey questionnaires, using systematic and convenience sampling methods. From these, the factors affecting the application of the Six Thinking Hats in the English Language classroom was identified. Moreover, the extent to which the STH are implemented at different levels of education were found to conform with the factors of the STH application. Responses regarding the use of the Six Hats were generally positive but varied mainly according to teachers’ personal educational beliefs as well as students’ language competency levels and thinking skills. In order to increase the effectiveness of the STH application in all classes, beginning from the early levels of education, implications include a whole-school approach to create awareness and to encourage implementation. Positive implications of applying the STH is found to be related to its practicality and further recommendations as to how the STH may be applied in various classes to maximize learning outcomes by directing learners to think independently from an early age are made. Finally, areas which this study may be used for future research are also suggested.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Code Mixing and Code Switching: Insights on Language Barriers in EFL Classroom

AL-TA LIM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-91
Author(s):  
Rafqi Awlia Siddiq ◽  
Martin Kustati ◽  
Luli Sari Yustina
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study aims to investigate code mixing and code switching used by English teachers in EFL classrooms. There are two major focuses in this study; the type of dominant code mixing and code switching used by the teachers. A qualitative study was used where the data were teachers’ language classroom gained by observing their classroom practices and utterances obtained through in-depth interviews. The result shows that there were three kinds of code mixing found in teachers’ and students’ utterances in EFL classroom. They were intra-sentential code mixing, intra-lexical code mixing, and pronunciation shifting. The study also found that there were four kinds of code switching found in teachers’ and students’ utterances. They were random mixing, English-Indonesian translation or vice versa, English precedes Indonesian or vice versa, and English sentences precede Indonesian sentences or vice versa. It indicated that code mixing and code switching cannot be separated in English language teaching and learning process. This study has proved that the English teachers used code mixing and code switching in teaching speaking in some types.

scholarly journals Attitudes Of Tertiary Students Towards Using Smart Phone Applications In Learning English

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Abeer Z. Barakat
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Smart Phone ◽  
Smart Phones ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Freshmen Students ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The University ◽  
Learning English

The Use of mobile phones and smart phones in education has become very popular with the emergence of this technology and its availability among both learners and teachers. The current study attempted to examine the attitudes of the freshmen students registering in the General English Requirement in the University College of Applied Science towards the use of smart phone applications in learning English. The results of the questionnaire analysis indicate that the majority of the students have positive attitudes towards using English language applications to help them learn English. Yet, student's use of smart phone applications is limited to downloading English language games and dictionaries. Therefore, both teachers and students need to be more aware of the beneficial options that these applications offer to the English language classroom.

scholarly journals Teaching and Learning of Piano Timbre Through Teacher–Student Interactions in Lessons

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen Li ◽  
Renee Timmers
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Interactions ◽  
Tone Production ◽  
Dialogic Teaching ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Piano Lessons ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Teaching Learning

The ability to play the piano with a variety of timbres requires a performer to have advanced pianistic skills. Little is known about how these skills are acquired and developed in piano lessons and what the role is of elements such as concepts, technique, sonic outcomes, and bodily movements. To investigate the teaching and learning of piano timbre, the lessons of three pairs of university-level teachers and students (two teachers and three students) were observed, during which they behaved as usual in the first two lessons and were asked to use a dialogic teaching approach in the third lesson. Verbal communications of teachers and students about timbre were coded and analyzed, aiming to gain insight into the teaching/learning process of piano timbre and the roles of embodiment and teacher–student interaction in the context of higher music education. The results suggest that piano timbre is not learned through imitation or as “fixed” and objective knowledge, but as a co-constructed conception between the teachers and the students. The meaning of timbre goals in piano lessons is enacted through “in-the-moment” bodily experience and embodied through performance actions. This study contributes to the understanding of piano timbre as a multifaceted phenomenon and illustrates the teacher's role in developing the student's mind–body integration involved in tone production.

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