ABSTRACT
Studying the quality of teacher–student and student-to-student interaction in whole-class and group-based talk has received increasing attention over the past 40 years because of its perceived role in improving pedagogical practices and student learning (Howe & Abedin, 2013; Resnick, Asterhan & Clarke, 2015). Drawing on the socio-cultural theory suggesting that mental processes interact with social and cultural practices and are mediated through talk, researchers have increasingly focused on identifying productive talk moves used by teachers and students that may result in higher levels of student engagement and learning by extending their thinking, argumentation and reasoning in teacher–student and student–student interaction (Mercer & Howe, 2012; Hardman & Hardman, 2017; Hennessy et al., 2016). Whether the emphasis has been on whole-class or group-based teaching, research into a dialogic pedagogy suggests there are common features of an active approach to student learning including greater involvement in the classroom talk, an open exchange of ideas, joint inquiry and construction of knowledge, multiple voices and respectful classroom relations (Haneda, 2017; Khong, Saito & Gillies, 2019; Littleton & Mercer, 2013).
