A Teacher’s Mediation of a Thinking-Aloud Discussion in a 6th Grade Mathematics Classroom

Abstract

This article presents a Vygotsky-inspired analysis of how a teacher mediated a "thinking aloud" whole-group discussion in a 6th grade mathematics classroom. This discussion centered on finding patterns in a triangular array of consecutive numbers as a phase towards building recursive and direct algebraic formulas. By a "thinking aloud" discussion we mean a conversation wherein students exchange and further develop ideasin-the-making with their peers under the teacher's guidance. Drawing upon Halliday's systemic functional linguistics (SFL), we treated the selected discussion as a text. We then analyzed how the teacher mediated the conjoined making of this text so that it served as an interpersonal gateway for students to practice searching for patterns and signifying these patterns in propositional form. This analysis was guided by the following questions: How did the discussion as a text-in-the-making mean what it did? What was the role of the teacher in the conjoined making of this text? Our study illustrates the power of SFL for capturing the inner grammar of instructional conversations thus illuminating the complexities and subtleties of the teacher's role in mediating semiotic mediation in mathematics classrooms.

Geometry students’ hedged statements and their self-regulation of mathematics

“…Various authors have, for example, used modality to examine mathematical discourse (e.g., de Freitas & Zokower, 2009;Zolkower & Shreyer, 2007). The study I present sought to offer an additional contribution by illustrating a connection between student perceptions and their positing of mathematical information.…”

Lexical bundle analysis in mathematics classroom discourse: the significance of stance

“…Some of this scholarship has focused on trying to understand the complex dynamics between teachers and students in the mathematics classroom (e.g., Atweh, Bleicher, & Cooper, 1998;Brodie, 2007;Hufferd-Ackles, Fuson, & Sherin, 2004;Moschkovich, 1999Moschkovich, , 2007O'Connor, 2001;Shreyar et al, 2009;Staples, 2007;Wood, 1999;Zolkower & Shreyar, 2007). Other researchers have interviewed students about issues related to classroom discourse and have set this alongside an analysis of classroom discourse (e.g., Jansen, 2006;Wagner, 2007).…”

Techno-Mathematical Discourse: A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Classroom Discussions

“…When students have opportunities to articulate and discuss mathematical concepts, they develop a deep understanding of those concepts. With its roots in Vygotskian social learning theories, the study of the structure and flow of mathematical discourse in the classroom has generally taken a socio-cultural or socio-linguistic perspective, and many researchers have developed different ways to conceptualize and classify how discourse occurs in classrooms and its impact on learning [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”