Dialogic instruction in a Chinese EFL classroom: A practitioner perspective

Abstract

Dialogic instruction, a form of instruction that engages students in meaningful and substantive classroom dialogue, has been shown to benefit students in many ways. However, few studies on dialogic instruction have focused on the role and agency of classroom teachers as they navigate and negotiate the vagaries of classroom talk, especially in contexts such as China where students are more accustomed to a more monologic mode of instruction. This practitioner research was conceived to address this gap in the literature by exploring the implementation of dialogic instruction in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom by the first author. A 15-week instructional programme based on the principles of dialogic instruction was implemented in an intact English reading class in a Chinese university. Video-recordings of all 15 lessons were transcribed and analysed using a coding system specifically designed to identify and examine the quality of dialogic moves made. The analysis shows the potential of dialogic instruction in the EFL classroom but also reveals some missed opportunities and challenges. The potential, challenges and other pedagogical implications are discussed with a view towards facilitating EFL teachers' implementation of dialogic instruction.