A Comparative Study Of Teacher-student Dialogue In High School Mathematics Classroom Based On ICAP Theory

Classroom dialogue is a benign exchange between teachers and students,between teachers and students or students and students around the goals of education and teaching.It is the main vehicle for interactive teaching and learning,and an important grip for exploring knowledge and inspiring thinking.Research on classroom teacher-student dialogue is therefore of great value in promoting deep learning,thinking enhancement and literacy progression in the classroom.The introduction of ICAP theory provides an new opportunity for an in-depth study of classroom dialogue.The four letters of ICAP correspond to the four different modes of cognitive engagement,I-Interactive,C-Constructive,A-Active and PPassive.In this study,a comparative analysis of eight high school mathematics classrooms was conducted based on the ICAP classroom dialogue coding framework with proficient and expert teachers in high school.A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to analyse the common features and differences in the dialogue structure and dialogue discourse in the mathematics classrooms of the two types of teachers,so as to provide a reference for teachers’ professional growth.The comparative analysis led to the following findings: In terms of classroom dialogue structure: 1.In senior secondary mathematics classrooms,teachers have a higher amount of discourse and discourse power,dominating the classroom,and their dialogue is mostly directed to all students in the class.2.Compared with proficient teachers,expert teachers’ mathematics classrooms have a higher level of student participation,and students have more time to think about problems and to express and communicate.The expert teachers also adopted more selective forms of interaction to motivate students to learn.From the analysis of classroom dialogue discourse: 1.Teachers of both types will rationalise the design of the ICAP dialogue structure in the classroom according to the different prior levels of students and different teaching contents.2.As teachers develop professionally,they will design more high-level constructive and interactive dialogues in the mathematics classroom to facilitate students’ meaningful construction of mathematical knowledge.3.Compared with proficient teachers,expert teachers’ questioning discourse will be more hierarchical and more focused on the developmental nature of students’ mathematical thinking.