Making Spaces for Academic and Social Talk in Two First Grades: A Dual-Case Study

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Early Childhood Literacy

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative dual case study was to examine how teachers facilitated children’s opportunities to talk by studying the ways teachers organized for, and responded to, children in two first grade classrooms. “Talking time” was targeted as a key indicator of the learning experience, as language use is an essential component of cognitive and social development. Interview and observation methods were employed to better understand the lived experiences of the participants and to discern ways that children’s interactions were facilitated. A variety of avenues for considering classroom talk scenarios as significant exist in the field of education research. Calls for action taken up here included those for deeper investigations of the rich contexts that surround classroom talk.

Author

• Mary E. Lyons, Knox College