1. How classroom talk supports reading comprehension

2. Key issue addressed by the study  This study explored: –the quality of teachers’ and students’ talk in ten different US primary schools –the impact of talk on pupils’ ability to analyse and interpret text

3. Characteristics of effective teacher talk identified by the study  Features of teacher talk that encouraged pupil participation and enhanced their understanding, included: –reformulating and summarising what pupils had said to make their ideas accessible to others –using questions that encourage pupils to come up with their own ideas –pressing pupils to elaborate on their ideas, e.g. ‘How did you know that?’ or ‘That is what the author said, but what did the author mean?’

4. Characteristics of ineffective teacher talk  Asking a question without following it up or relating pupils’ answers to the text  Merely checking pupils’ comprehension often through yes-no answers that left little room for students to elaborate  Over-scaffolding pupils’ learning by providing too much information and framing questions so that they only had to complete the teachers’ sentence

5. Who were the children in the study?  441 students between the ages of six and fourteen from ten schools  The students were from diverse ethnic backgrounds and twenty percent were considered to be English language learners.  Twenty one teachers

6. How was the information gathered?  Researchers observed lessons that included the following elements: –reading text aloud to, with or by the pupils –teacher led whole group discussion for about 20 minutes –teacher assigned tasks for small group or independent work  Lessons were analysed against the following two criteria: –how well the talk encouraged meaningful student participation –how well the talk helped to deepen students’ understanding of the lesson

7. The criteria used to assess the quality of classroom talk  Encouraging participation – how far: –did teachers and pupils ensure that all followed the discussion? –did teachers and pupils ensure that answers were justified? –were speakers prompted to explain their thinking and draw logical conclusions?  Deepening understanding – how well: –did pupils engage in challenging tasks requiring them to explain their thinking? –did pupils engage in high-level tasks e.g. interpreting and analysing for underlying meaning?

8. How can teachers use the evidence in this study?  The study highlighted the ways in which effective teacher talk created a learning environment that engages pupils in rigorous thinking about the ideas being expressed. What strategies do you already use to help ensure that classroom talk encourages pupils to exploring their own and others’ ideas? What might help extend this?  To find out what talk is like in your classroom, would recording talk by video or as a sound recording help? Could you work together with colleagues on this in order to identify ways to encourage more effective student talk?

9. How can school leaders use the evidence in this study?  Pupils’ responses often depend on the type of questions that teachers use. –What support do you offer to help teachers to develop their questioning techniques? –Do teachers have opportunities to work with each other and their students to reflect on how they all use particular questioning strategies? –What CPD could you offer to help develop teachers’ strategies for improving classroom talk for learning?

10. Follow-up reading  Study reference: How classroom talk supports reading comprehension Wolf, M. K., Crosson, A. C., & Resnick, L. B., (2005) Reading Psychology, 26, 2005, pp. 27-53 [Original title: Classroom Talk for Rigorous Reading Comprehension Instruction]  Summary available at: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/speakandlisten/c lassroomtalk/ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/speakandlisten/c lassroomtalk/ http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/speakandlisten/c lassroomtalk/

11. Feedback  Did you find this useful?  What did you like?  What didn’t you like? Any feedback on this Research Bite would be much appreciated. Please email your feedback to: research.summaries@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk