An Analysis of the Inclusion of Mathematical Discourse Components in Arabic Mathematical Textbooks: The Case of Saudi Arabia

This study analyzes the content of 12th-grade mathematics textbooks and workbooks, based on their inclusion of mathematical discourse components. The mathematics textbooks and workbooks were used in a Saudi Arabian school, where students are transitioning from secondary education to university. The results revealed that Saudi Arabian school textbooks and workbooks did not appropriately include discourse components or discourse skills to help facilitate mathematical learning among students. Furthermore, these textbooks did not exceed level two of the four levels of inclusion. As a result, the inclusion was insufficient in helping students meaningfully understand mathematical concepts, become active students, and develop successful community leadership. This implies that mathematics textbooks and workbooks should be revised to include mathematical discourse so that this inclusion is more student directed than teacher directed.

Dialogue is a sign of constructiveness in mediation

Dialogue (discourse) is the main indication leading us to the conclusion that mediation is constructive. Discourse, the main form of dialogue, allows to achieve a positive result of mediation – an agreement between the participants of the conflict, as well as to learn dialogue communication skills. The aim of this study is to determine the types of dialogue used in mediation, the usage of recognized dialogue, and to find methods for assessing the dialogue (discourse) skills that need to be taught to the participants of the conflict, as well as future mediators and to evaluate the effectiveness of mediation. The research was conducted based on the theoretical methods of analysis of modern concept of dialogue and empirical testing methods (using questionnaires) of the participants of the conflicts and future mediators. Methods of mathematical statistics were used, when processing and analyzing the results of the questionnaires. As a result of this work, the types of dialogue used in mediation are identified, recommendations on the choice of components and barriers of dialogue to be considered by the mediator when training participants in the conflict and future mediators are made, as well as recommendations on assessment the effectiveness of mediation are offered.

Poor oral discourse skills are the key cognitive-linguistic weakness of Chinese poor comprehenders: A three-year longitudinal study

Prior research on reading difficulties has mainly focused on word decoding problems. However, there exists another group of children – poor comprehenders (PCs) – who have normal word decoding abilities but difficulties in reading comprehension. Less is known about PCs especially in non-alphabetic languages such as Chinese. This study identified three groups – poor decoders, PCs, and average readers – among 103 Chinese children at the end of first grade. Children’s performances in reading and cognitive-linguistic measures, both concurrently at first grade and retrospectively at kindergarten levels two and three, were then compared among the three groups. This study is the first to demonstrate the distinct cognitive profiles of poor decoders and PCs in Chinese. The key cognitive-linguistic weaknesses of Chinese PCs were found to be in oral discourse skills and working memory. The retrospective data further revealed their oral discourse weakness as early as in preschool years at age 5. Practically, the necessity of developing assessment and intervention tools that focus on oral discourse skills for Chinese PCs is highlighted.

Making “academic talk” explicit: Research directions for fostering classroom discourse skills in children from nonmainstream cultures

This article focuses on making “school talk,” or classroom discourse, more explicit on two levels. One level involves making explicit for teachers both the nature of school talk, and the reasons why many children may come to school unfamiliar with the school talk register. Providing teachers with this awareness enables them, in turn, to make school talk explicit for their students by directly explaining the rules for engaging in this type of discourse to them. As tools for enhancing teacher awareness, this article clearly distinguishes the school talk and everyday social talk registers and provides information regarding the cultural variation in children learning to use school talk at home. The shortcomings of previous implicit approaches to teaching school talk are examined, and ways to make the rules for engaging in this register explicit for children are suggested.

Talking Science- It’s Not Elementary! Improving Elementary Pre-service Teacher Discourse Skills through a Scaffolded “Science Talks” Assignment

Learning science requires communication between participants, however creating effective discourse for elementary classrooms has shown to be a difficult task. In this article, we highlight an assignment given to undergraduate elementary pre-service teachers concentrating in elementary science. Transcripts of elementary pre-service teachers’ (EPST) “Science Talks” have been reviewed and, over the course of three semesters of implementation, scaffolds have been put in place to provide EPSTs with strategies and tools necessary to better plan, implement, and evaluate science discourse. Initial findings, which point to the effectiveness of this assignment and the additional scaffolding, will be discussed. These findings have potential applications for teacher education programs as well as for in-service teacher professional development.