Understanding classroom interactions is a complex process. This article explores what conversation analysis (CA) and sociocultural theory of learning (SCT) can contribute to that process. The exploration is carried out through analyses of interactions between Brian, a five-year-old boy, and Ms Nikora, his teacher, during a nine-hour social studies curriculum unit in a New Zealand classroom. CA and SCT may appear to be strange bedfellows, in that the former concerns itself with language use (how participants organize and manage conversations), while the latter concerns itself with language as mediation (how learning occurs), but they turn out to be useful partners. The analyses reveal at least three perspectives from which participants need to be understanding what is going on in classroom interactions in order to participate in them appropriately and learn through them: how people organize conversations, institutional talk, and how teachers and learners jointly construct learning opportunities.
Alton-Lee, A. (1999) `Rethinking the Relationship between Classroom Research and Educational Practice: The Erudite Research Case Studies in Teaching , Learning and Inclusion', Teachers and Curriculum3: 81-6.
2.
Alton-Lee, A. (2001) `Research Ethics, Classroom Research and Educational Practice', in M. Tolich (ed.) Research Ethics in Aotearoa New Zealand: Concepts, Practice, Critique, pp. 87-98. Auckland: Longman.
3.
Alton-Lee, A. and Nuthall, G. (1992) `A Generative Methodology for Classroom Research' , Educational Philosophy and Theory2(2): 29-55.
4.
Alton-Lee, A., Diggins, C., Klenner, L., Vine, E. and Dalton, N. (2001) `Teacher Management of the Learning Environment during a Social Studies Discussion in a New-Entrant Classroom in New Zealand' , Elementary School Journal101(5): 549-66.
5.
Alton-Lee, A., Nuthall, G. and Patrick, J. (1993) `Reframing Classroom Research: A Lesson from the Private World of Children', Harvard Educational Review63(1): 50-84. Reprinted in B. Brizuela, J. Pearson Stewart, R. Carrillo and J. Garvey Berger (eds) (2000) Acts of Inquiry in Qualitative Research, pp. 231-63. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review.
6.
Drew, P. (2005) `Conversation Analysis', in K.L. Fitch and R.E. Sanders (eds) Handbook of Language and Social Interaction, pp. 71-102. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
7.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (eds) (1992a) Talk at Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (1992b) `Analyzing Talk at Work: An Introduction', in P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds) Talk at Work, pp. 3-65. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
9.
Duranti, A. and Goodwin, C. (1992) Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10.
Erickson, F. (1996) `Going for the Zone: The Social and Cognitive Ecology of Teacher- Student Interaction in Classroom Conversations', in D. Hicks (ed.) Discourse, Learning, and Schooling, pp. 29-62. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11.
Goodwin, C. and Duranti, A. (1992) `Rethinking Context: An Introduction', in A. Duranti and C. Goodwin (eds) Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon, pp. 1-42. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
12.
Heritage, J.C. (1984) `A Change-of-State Token and Aspects of its Sequential Placement', in J.M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action , pp. 299-345. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
13.
Heritage, J. (2005) `Conversation Analysis', in K.L. Fitch and R.E. Sanders (eds) Handbook of Language and Social Interaction, pp. 103-47. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
14.
Heritage, J. and Sorjonen, M-L. (1994) `Constituting and Maintaining Activities across Sequences: And-prefacing as a Feature of Question Design', Language in Society23: 1-29.
15.
Hester, S. and Francis, D. (2001) `Is Institutional Talk a Phenomenon? Reflections on Ethnomethodology and Applied Conversation Analysis', in A. McHoul and M. Rapley (eds) How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings: A Casebook of Methods, pp. 206-17. London: Continuum.
16.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17.
Mehan, H. (1979) Learning Lessons: Social Organization in the Classroom . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
Rogoff, B. (1990) Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
19.
Rogoff, B. (1995) `Observing Sociocultural Activity on Three Planes: Participatory Appropriation, Guided Participation, and Apprenticeship', in J.V. Wertsch, P. del Rio and A. Alvarez (eds) Sociocultural Studies of Mind, pp. 139-64. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Rowe, M.B. (1986) `Wait Time: Slowing Down may be a Way of Speeding Up!', Journal of Teacher Education37(1): 43-50.
21.
Sacks, H. (1992) Lectures on Conversation. Oxford : Blackwell.
22.
Schegloff, E.A. (1988) `Goffman and the Analysis of Conversation', in P. Drew and A. Wootton (eds) Erving Goffman: Exploring the Interaction Order, pp. 89-135. Cambridge: Polity Press .
23.
Schegloff, E.A. (1996) `Confirming Allusions: Toward an Empirical Account of Action', American Journal of Sociology102(1): 161-216.
Schegloff, E.A. (2001) `Discourse as an Interactional Achievement III: The Omnirelevance of Action', in D. Schiffrin , D. Tannen and H.E. Hamilton (eds) The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, pp. 229-49. Malden, MA/Oxford: Blackwell .
26.
Schegloff, E.A. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27.
Sinclair, J.M. and Coulthard, R.M. (1975) Towards an Analysis of Discourse: The English used by Teachers and Pupils. London: Oxford University Press.
28.
Tracy, K. (1998) `Analyzing Context: Framing the Discussion', Research on Language and Social Interaction31(1): 1-28.
29.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
30.
Wells, G. (1996) `Using the Tool-Kit of Discourse in the Activity of Teaching and Learning', Mind, Culture, and Activity3(2): 74-101. Reprinted in G. Wells (1999) Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education , pp. 231-66. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
31.
Wells, G. (1999) Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
32.
Wertsch, J.V. (1991) Voices of the Mind: A Sociocultural Approach to Mediated Action. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
33.
Wood, D., Bruner, J.S. and Ross, G. (1976) `The Role of Tutoring in Problem Solving', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry17: 89-100.
