The relationship between dialogue and written scaffolding: an investigation into the effects of written scaffolding and dialogic repertoires on a year 9 English Literature class

Thesis

This research explores how the responses to literature writing of a class of Year 9 students is affected by the use of written scaffolds typically employed in English secondary classrooms and how dialogic examination of the scaffolds affects writing performance. Particularly pertinent are the effects of taking time away from writing in the lesson and giving it to dialogic teaching.

Through a mixture of quantitative and ethnographic research methods, ideological underpinnings for classroom and school practices are explored. Tensions between progressive and neo-traditional approaches to ideas of talk in the classroom provide a backdrop for examination of students’ attitudes towards talk and its relationship to written outcomes.

The findings reveal that dialogic techniques combined with written scaffolding produce more and better-quality writing even if the amount of time given to do that writing is reduced. Students, however, do not necessarily appreciate the impact of the dialogic practices on their written outcomes.

Authors: Gregson, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-yqvre5jg2
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: questionnaire; dialogue; semi-structured interviews; LT2024; progressive; neo-traditional; qualitative research; teacher talking time; quantitative research; written scaffolding; scaffolding; LT; GCSE English Literature response; mixed methods; writing frames; literature
• Subjects: Mixed methods research; Education; Teachers; Progressive; Dialogue; Writing; Qualitative research; Quantitative research; Scaffolding; Literature; General Certificate of Secondary Education; Interviews; Questionnaires