Teacher Talk During Whole-Class Lessons: Engagement Strategies to Support the Verbal Participation of Students with Learning Disabilities

Author: Berry, Ruth A. W.

Source: Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, Volume 21, Number 4, November 2006 , pp. 211-232(22)

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $48.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

The analysis identified discursive strategies used by general education teachers in inclusion classrooms to orchestrate and scaffold the verbal participation of all students, including students with learning disabilities (LD). The context was writing instruction. A whole-class lesson involving teacher-student collaboration to write a text was analyzed for each of two teachers in two urban elementary inclusion classrooms totaling 67 students; 23 students had LD. Analysis of teacher talk focused on procedural strategies (help the lesson run smoothly and make it easier to follow) and involvement strategies (elicit students' attention to and participation in the lesson). Results indicated that both teachers used a variety of similar strategies to provide spaces for student contributions and, at the same time, move the lessons along. However, they also used contrasting strategies unique to their contrasting pedagogical frames of reference (structural vs. interactional).

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2006.00219.x

Affiliations: 1: University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Publication date: 2006-11-01