I Have Something to Say! Exploring the Dynamic Between Teacher Talk Moves and Quality Talk for Emerging Bilinguals

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Classroom Talk, Opportunities to Learn, and Student Understanding

Abstract

Drawn from a larger study, this paper addresses how two teachers facilitate discussion between emerging bilingual (EB) fourth-graders. Some research addresses the quality of student (Mercer, 2004) and teacher talk (Ossa-Parra et al., 2016; Wolf, Crosson, & Resnick, 2005), but little empirical work ties these concepts to an EB population. Using case study methods (Yin, 2014) and discourse analysis (Mercer & Howe, 2012), our study examines how teachers use specific talk-moves to promote student talk. Data sources include video and audio-recorded observations, field notes, and teacher surveys. We found four teacher talk-moves: prompting, encouraging participation/fostering independence, rephrasing/repeating, and checking for understanding. Our findings suggest the type of questions teachers ask impact the quality of student discussion, participation, understanding, and interactions.

Authors

• Christina Budde, University of Maryland - College Park

• Maggie Sullivan Marcus, University of Maryland - College Park

• Rebecca Deffes Silverman, University of Maryland - College Park