Describing the spoken discourse practices of second and third grade classroom teachers in Appalachia.

摘要

In order to meet the academic demands of the school system, school-aged children must be able to understand the language (discourse) of their teachers and the curricular expectations for verbal expression. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), working within the schools, need to identify and include in their therapy planning the learning supports that will contribute to students' classroom success. One useful data-set for this planning is knowledge of the types and levels of discourse used and expected by the classroom teacher. The purpose of this study was to examine the spoken discourse practices of second and third grade teachers in Appalachia. By understanding the specific discourse expectations of the classroom, SLPs working within the schools of Appalachia can appropriately adapt goals to better prepare children for academic success. Using phenomenological inquiry methods, this study explored the spoken discourse practices of two second grade and two third grade Appalachian teachers in order to better inform SLPs and educators of the possible effects of teacher discourse on students with language disorders.