1. The value of revoicing in processes of shared thinking in classroom dialogue
Chiel van der Veen & Bert van Oers, VU University Amsterdam, dept. of Research & Theory in Education
Sarah Michaels, Clark University, Worcester, MA, dept. of Education
Chiel van der Veen, PhD VU University Amsterdam. Today I would like to talk about the possible value of the revoicing for shared thinking in productive classroom dialogue.

2. PRODUCTIVE CLASSROOM DIALOGUE2
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3. OUTLINE Goal: promoting young children’s oral communicative competence↓
How?: productive classroom dialogue (learning to talk and think better)
Thinking together entails a process of developing topic-predicate structures (Vygotsky, 1987; Doblaev, 1984)
The teacher: talk moves/tools that create spaces of negotiation
These spaces of negotiation stimulate the construction and negotiation of meanings
This may lead to the interiorisation of interpersonal meanings and the progress of thinking 3
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4. What is productive classroom dialogue?↓
A mode of dialogue in which topics are addressed that are both culturally and personally meaningful
It’s always focused on a topic (object) that has the group’s temporary focus of attention. This topic is analyzed and further develop through predicating (cf. Doblaev, 1984; Vygotsky, 1987)
(3) It aims for children’s broad learning and development: academic content, reasoning, negotiating, social skills, oral ommunicative competence, etc.
(4) In contains elements of a polylogue (through information books, artifacts, meaningful others; van Oers & Dobber, 2013) 4
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5. DEVELOPING TOPIC-PREDICATE STRUCTURES
Following Vygotsky (1987) and Doblaev (1984), we concretized meaning construction/negotiation and thinking as the development of topic-predicate structures ↓
Topic = focus of attention for further analysis and reflection
“Through the analysis, new qualities are discovered that might become included into the topic” (van Oers, 2006, p.124)
What can legitimately be said about this topic within the context of this dialogue 5
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6. EXAMPLE 1 (oversimplified)
11. Teacher
Something with electricity? ? (topic1)
12. Pupil 2
Yes.
13. Teacher
And what is it?
14. Pupil 1
That it is connected with electrical power. (predicate1)
15. Teacher
Electrical power? Ok.
16. Pupil 3
That is dangerous, electrical power. (predicate2)
17. Teacher
Is it dangerous, electrical power?
18. Pupil 3
19. Pupil 4
If you touch it.
20. Pupil 2
But first you have to turn it on.
21. Teacher
So if you touch it, electrical power is dangerous?
22. Pupils 6
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7. REVOICING AS A TEACHER TALK TOOL (1)
The teacher as animator (Goffman, 1981) ↓
(S)he has several talk moves or tools at his/her disposal
 One specific talk tool that has proven to be productive: revoicing (O’Connor & Michaels 1993; 1996)
Evoking and marking initial utterances(diSessa et al, forthcoming)
How? (a) attributes ideas to children; (b) reformulates (parts) of initial utterances; (c) create a space for the pupil to validate the teacher’s revoicing
But there’s more: (i) adding academic language, (ii) clarifying or summarizing, (iii) connecting ideas to a larger, cultural context (cf. polylogue), (iv) positioning 7
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8. REVOICING AS A TEACHER TALK TOOL (2)
Revoicing enables teachers to value and position topic-related predicates ↓
Revoicing creates a space in which these predicates can be negotiated, clarified, expanded upon, etc. 8
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9. EXAMPLE 2 (again, oversimplified)
43. Pupil 2
I ones had electricity. Put it with the animals. And the electricity looked black. But it wasn’t switched on yet, but my daddy touched it and he pretended it crinkled.
44. Teacher
Do you understand it?
45. Pupil 7 No
46. Teacher
Were where you?
47. Pupil 2
I don’t remember anymore.
48. Teacher
But you said something with animals?
49. Pupil 2
Yes.
50. Teacher
And your daddy switched something on. What did he switch on?
51. Pupil 2
Nothing. He just touched something like a wire.
52. Teacher
O, a wire? So you are saying, that there was electricity on that wire?
53. Pupil 2
54. Pupil 8
I understand it.
55. Teacher
Can you explain it?
56. Pupil 8
Well, that the wire is connected with a socket. And electrical power comes from the socket and if you touch it, than it causes convulsions. 9
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10. REVOICING IN CLASSROOM DIALOGUE | ISCAR2014 SYM01
EXAMPLE 3
27. Pupil 5
I know what electrical power is. It is blue […] I’ve seen it in a movie.
28. Teacher
Something blue. Can you expand on that? Because I don’t understand you yet.
29. Pupil 5
It is blue, electricity.
30. Teacher
Electricity is blue. So you are saying that you’ve seen blue electricity on the television?
31. Pupil 5
Yes.
32. Teacher
Can you tell us what it looked like, other than blue?
33. Pupil 5
When I was watching television, there was electricity. It touches a button and then the electricity came on his fingers.
34. Teacher
So the electricity came on his fingers? Do you understand what he means? Who understand what he means?
35. Pupil 2
36. Teacher
Can you expand on it?
37. Pupil 2
He saw electricity on the television. Blue electricity. And that was it.
38. Pupil 5
39. Teacher
Is she right?
40. Pupil 6
Yes, I think so. Yes, she is right. 10
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11. CONCLUSION
Productive classroom dialogues can be powerful activities for shared thinking ↓
But, we need competent teachers that can orchestrate these dialogues
Using revoicing, teachers can encourage children to clarify, expand, negotiate, etc. children’s initial topic-related predicates
This might even lead to the progress of thinking on both an interpsychological and intrapsychological level and the development of children’s oral communicative competence (intertwined) 11
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12. Thank you for your attention!
Questions, comments or more information? | 12
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