Patterns of discourse during read-alouds in classrooms rated very effective or very ineffective
Submitted by:
Rachael Gabriel
Abstract:
This study presents a microanalysis of talk during episodes of instruction where a teacher reads some or all of a literary text aloud to students ("read alouds") in classrooms that were rated either very effective or very ineffective by evaluators trained as part of a longitudinal study of measures of effective teaching. Drawing on some of the analytic tools of conversation analysis (Sacks, 1992), I analyze turn-taking, lexical choice and the sequencing of student participation within the lesson, as well as the relationships between talk and text in order to generate comparisons of classrooms labeled either very effective or ineffective. By comparing features of the talk in classrooms labeled highly effective or ineffective with similar instructional routines (e.g. read alouds) I generate findings related to the nature of discourse associated with higher ratings and consider the utility and reliability of transcript analysis for reflection and evaluation.
Data for this study are drawn from a large database of classroom videos that were rated using a range of observation protocols and statistical analyses as part of the 2010 Measures of Effective Teaching project (c.f. MET Project, 2013) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. There are six videos of each classroom, captured across a year of instruction, and rated by two independent raters using a range of observation protocols. The sample used in this study included the five highest and five lowest scoring teachers/classrooms based on the Framework For Teaching rubric (Danielson, 1996) out of over 200 4th grade classrooms that represent five states in diverse geographical regions of the U.S. In total, two videotaped lessons from the five highest scoring teachers, and two from the five lowest scoring videos, were sampled for a total of 10 lessons. Each lesson was transcribed for close analysis. This analysis focuses on the section of a lesson that included the teacher reading a text aloud to the class and discussing it (5-20 minutes).
Reading aloud to students in English/Language Arts classrooms is a common practice that is included in a wide range of instructional frameworks. Both low- and high-scoring videos included teacher read-alouds as an instructional routine despite differences in their effectiveness ratings. Drawing on Vygotsky’s theory of sociogenesis, studies of classroom discourse assume that growth is “ more likely when one is required to defend one’s position to others, as well as to oneself; striving for an explanation often makes a learner integrate and elaborate knowledge in new ways” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 158). Thus discourse analysts have theorized that it is the moment-to-moment interactions of classroom instruction that constitute everything from students’ identities as learners (Gee, 1996) to the enacted curriculum (e.g. Cazden, 2001) and learning itself (Vygotsky, 1978). Dialogue and discussion during and after read-alouds are therefore an important site for inquiry because of the ubiquity and potential utility of read aloud as an instructional tool.
The results of this analysis include two main findings related to the sequence of participation and the content of student talk in classrooms rated as more versus less effective. First, classrooms rated as more effective included fewer interruptions of the read-aloud with longer, more extended student responses after reading. Student responses constituted a student-student discussion wherein students took up and built upon each other’s ideas, and text was discussed as an example of a style or type of story, rather than maintaining a focus on retelling or discussing the details of the particular text.
Classrooms rated less effective each demonstrated multiple teacher interruptions of the text being read aloud. Interruptions included short, initiate-response-evaluate (IRE, Cazden 2001) sequences wherein the teacher quizzed students on what was just read multiple times throughout the read aloud with minimal discussion at the end. Interruptions sometimes also included redirecting misbehavior, which suggests that the pattern of more interruptions is both a feature of the discourse and potentially in indication of the strength of other aspects of classroom instruction, including classroom climate, management, and engagement.
In keeping with the theme of the conference, challenges with analyzing video transcripts - including the difficulty of deciphering overlapping talk during partner or small group work - will be discussed in terms of implications for the possible use of such analyses for teacher evaluation or reflection. As Rex and Schiller (2011) have noted, feedback about teacher language use can focus teacher reflection in ways that drive professional growth and a level of interactional awareness that supports responsive teaching. Thus, I argue that identifying and disseminating a few key, observable features of classroom talk - such as the pattern of participation or focus of discussion during and after read alouds - could support teacher reflection on practice and provide a feasible and fruitful focus for observation. Future research will investigate whether, once identified, these patterns of dialogue and discussion may be observable in real time without transcript analysis.
References
Cazden, C. (2001). Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning, 2 ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
MET Project (2010) Learning about teaching: Initial findings from the measures of effective teaching project. Retrieved from: www.metproject.org/.../Preliminary_Finding- Policy_Brief.pdf
Rex, L. & Schiller, L. (2009) Using discourse analysis to improve classroom interaction. New York: Routledge.
Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures on Conversation. Oxford: Blackwell.
Vygotsky L.(1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses, 2 ed. London: Falmer Press.