Distinctive features of pupil‐pupil classroom talk and their relationship to learning: How discursive exploration might be encouraged

In this paper classroom discourse is evaluated for the contribution it can make to pupils’ learning in groups. The emphasis, therefore, is on the interactional nature of the discourse insofar as it contributes to the maintenance of a dialogue and supports the extension of group understanding. The data recorded was of primary age children working at computers, and the analysis is qualitative. Three major categories are described; exploratory, cumulative and disputational talk, and their potential contribution to the children's learning is discussed. It is concluded that teachers play an important role in making explicit the strategies which optimise exploratory talk.