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Inviting conversation: meaningful talk about texts for English language learners
Author(s) -
Purdy Joyce
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
literacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1741-4369
pISSN - 1741-4350
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9345.2008.00479.x
Subject(s) - situated , ell , conversation , literacy , reading (process) , vocabulary , proposition , meaning (existential) , pedagogy , psychology , identity (music) , vocabulary development , task (project management) , linguistics , teaching method , mathematics education , computer science , communication , philosophy , physics , management , artificial intelligence , acoustics , economics , psychotherapist
In Canada, as in other anglophone countries, classrooms are becoming more diverse as the number of English language learners (ELLs) increases. More and more teachers are faced with the task of meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. In this article, I share excerpts of dialogue between ELL students, native English‐speaking children and their teacher during guided reading events. Excerpts will illustrate how conversations around texts during reading activities can shape and extend the construction of meaning for the benefit of all, but especially for ELL students. Based on Vygotsky's (1986) proposition that learning is socially situated, I suggest four ways for teachers to structure meaningful conversations: through questioning, teaching vocabulary, engaging in collaborative talk and recognising that the culture and identity of the child are important to literacy learning.