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The study of talk between teachers and students

Explore how decades of research on classroom talk have shaped teaching practices and student outcomes.

Last updated 8 September 2026

Mercer, N., & Dawes, L. (2014). The study of talk between teachers and students, from the 1970s until the 2010s. Oxford Review of Education, 40(4), 430-445. doi: 10.1080/03054985.2014.934087

Background

Classroom talk research from the 1970s looked for associations between particular features of talk such as teacher questions and other educational variables, such as learning outcomes. The authors give the failure to consider context and its impact on conversation as one reason why these earlier research approaches were not suitable.

Aims

Focusing on research into teacher-student interactions, the authors review the development from the 1970s until the present, what has been learned and the implications of the results, and the impact of the findings on teacher education, educational policy and classroom practice.

Sample

The authors draw on literature covering classroom talk from the 1970s to 2013.

Method

The authors analysed the research of that period to see how it had impacted education and the classroom under five broad themes: the influence of research on educational policy; the development of analytic frameworks; the importance of context; dialogic teaching; and the current state of research.

Findings

The review is organised under five broad themes:

  • The influence of research on educational policy Research has promoted a growing awareness of the educational importance of the study of classroom talk amongst policy makers to develop new ways for teachers to interact with students.

  • The development of analytic frameworks The ideas from the 1970s have been developed into more systematic approaches and frameworks by later researchers. One example is how the use of the IRF framework to analyse interactions has been re-appraised over the last 30 years.

  • The importance of context Qualitative approaches to talk are more popular than quantitative due to the understanding that context can affect meaning for the participants being studied.

  • Dialogic teaching Dialogic teaching aims to identify, and promote, forms of teacher-student interaction which have the most beneficial educational outcomes.

  • The current state of research The results of the research suggest that, when teachers make regular use of certain dialogue strategies, students’ participation in class and their educational outcomes are likely to benefit.

Implications

There are some ways that teachers can most productively interact with students such as providing opportunities for students to articulate ideas and reveal problems they have. There are also some ways in which the value of any such interactions is commonly squandered such as teachers controlling interactions through authoritative talk.

Original article retrieved from Taylor & Francis.