ABSTRACT

Educational classroom talk is beneficial for children’s learning and communicative development (Alexander 2018); however, current research has focused predominantly on classroom talk starting at the primary school level. This study explored types of educational classroom talk between teachers and children as early as in early childhood education (ECE) in the United Arab Emirates. It also examined variations in the occurrence of different types of classroom talk, depending on activities and content areas. Twenty-nine video-recorded and transcribed sessions from 11 ECE classrooms serving three- to four-year-old children were analysed; the analysis was partly theory driven and partly data driven with respect to communicative acts, events, and situations. Four types of educational classroom talk were identified: initiation–response–feedback (IRF), open naming, open informal discussion, and teacher-directed exploration. IRF dominated the interactions across all content areas and activities. More extended exchanges between teachers and children occurred predominantly in small-group activities. No strictly defined educational teacher–student dialogue was found. The study showed variations in educational classroom talk in ECE settings and suggests that there is an urgent need to increase extended educational classroom talk between teachers and children in the early stages of pre-primary education to support children’s development and learning.

摘要

教育课堂谈话有利于儿童的学习和交际发展（Alexander 2018）；然而，目前的研究主要集中在从小学开始的课堂谈话上。这项研究早在阿拉伯联合酋长国的幼儿教育 (ECE) 中就探索了教师和儿童之间的教育课堂谈话类型。它还检查了不同类型的课堂谈话发生的变化，这取决于活动和内容领域。分析了 11 个为 3 至 4 岁儿童服务的 ECE 教室的 29 个视频录制和转录的课程；就交流行为、事件和情况而言，分析部分是理论驱动的，部分是数据驱动的。确定了四种类型的教育课堂谈话：启动-响应-反馈（IRF），公开命名、公开的非正式讨论和教师指导的探索。IRF 主导了所有内容领域和活动的互动。教师和孩子之间更广泛的交流主要发生在小组活动中。没有发现严格定义的教育师生对话。该研究显示了 ECE 环境中教育课堂谈话的差异，并表明迫切需要在学前教育的早期阶段增加教师和儿童之间的扩展教育课堂谈话，以支持儿童的发展和学习。没有发现严格定义的教育师生对话。该研究显示了 ECE 环境中教育课堂谈话的差异，并表明迫切需要在学前教育的早期阶段增加教师和儿童之间的扩展教育课堂谈话，以支持儿童的发展和学习。没有发现严格定义的教育师生对话。该研究显示了 ECE 环境中教育课堂谈话的差异，并表明迫切需要在学前教育的早期阶段增加教师和儿童之间的扩展教育课堂谈话，以支持儿童的发展和学习。