Characteristics of Student Talk in High-Quality Text Discussions Across Secondary English Language Arts Classrooms

• In Event: Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Understanding Intruction, Motivation, and Learning in Literacy

Abstract

Research in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) has demonstrated the benefits of high-quality student-centered literary discussions; however, little is known about the specific characteristics of productive student talk that are generalizable across diverse classroom contexts. We studied student talk across diverse secondary ELA classrooms by analyzing 131 discussion episodes for argumentation, specificity, and domain, and then by comparing exemplar and “undetermined quality” episodes. Student talk across all episodes featured mostly claims (58%), some evidence (29%) and few warrants (13%). Statistically significant differences between the exemplar and undetermined episodes indicated that high-quality discussions had fewer claims and more warranting, but few differences between amount of talk in textual or personal domains. Implications for literacy pedagogy, equity, and democracy will be addressed.

Authors

• Christopher Alan Olshefski, University of Pittsburgh

• Amanda J. Godley, University of Pittsburgh