Asking questions as a classroom participation strategy in pre-university institutions at the National University of San Juan, Argentina

Abstract

This paper looks at the formulation of enunciative traces that encourage classroom dialogue, developed by teachers at three pre-university institutions within the National University of San Juan (UNSJ, Argentina). To this end, our analytical lens focuses on the diverse types of questions posed to students, understanding these as tools for the development of predefined participation. In this sense, we worked with two conceptual pillars, which function as a relational framework: communication as interaction within the space of the classroom (Green, 1983) and the conceptual contributions of the ethnography of communication (Saville-Troike, 2005). These pillars have allowed us to understand classroom dialogue as a social practice regulated by teachers. Our work consists of a case study, structured via a two-pronged strategic methodology. First, we proposed a descriptive instance, in which we defined classroom communication practices following the creation of a system of variables based on Jakobson’s language functions (1984); the basic structure of Initiation, Response, and Feedback (IRF) as set out by Sinclair and Coulthard (1978); and Flanders’ rule of two-thirds (1977). In a second instance, we centered on the analysis of strategies articulated by teachers and aimed at incentivizing dialogue. Among our findings, we highlight the development of a typology of dialogue-starting strategies in the context of the classroom, which allowed us to identify a tendency towards increasing complexity in student participation, depending on how much time the student has spent in the institution.