The Language of Interpretation: Patterns of Discourse in Discussions of Literature

Complements or Conflicts: Conceptions of Discussion and Multicultural Literature in a Teachers-as-Readers Discussion Group

“…On average, the turns were over three times as long as the average turn of the students (1.8 communication units) in Marshall's studies and slightly longer than the turns of the teachers (5.4 communication units) in those same studies. Interestingly, the length of the turns were also three times longer than those members of adult book clubs took (Marshall et al, 1995). Instead of the quick give-and-take that characterized those discussions, in our group, speakers more often made extended observations.…”

“…As Cazden explains, the IRE sequence is so deeply ingrained in schools that it becomes the default option for teachers, IRE for teachers is "doing what comes naturally" (p. 54). Marshall et al (1995) note that the strength of this default pattern makes it difficult, even for those teachers who are committed to change, to do so.…”

“…In his review of research and theory on autobiographical writing in the teaching of literature, Smith (1993) notes how different ap-J L R proaches to writing are informed by different conceptions of what is imComplements portant in reading literature. Marshall et al (1995) argue that the kind of or Conflicts writing that accompanies discussions of literature strongly suggests to participants the kinds of reasoning one ought to employ and the kinds of knowledge on which one ought to draw.…”

“…To examine the conduct of the discussion, we examined the relationship among turns. Our analysis was informed by the coding system used by Marshall, Smagorinsky, and Smith (1995) to analyze the nature of responses participants in discussions of literature made to each other. Our analysis suggested that slight modifications ofthat coding system were needed.…”

“…That is, we work with teachers to help them encourage talk that more nearly resembles conversation than recitation (cf. Marshall, Smagorinsky, & Smith, 1995;Weiss,Strickland,Walmsley,&Bronk,i995).With these goals in mind, we invited teachers from two urban elementary schools to join us in a teachers-as-readers discussion group to read and talk about a variety of multicultural picture books, young adult novels, and adult short stories.…”