Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 27:2 (2004) ► pp.75–91
Classroom discourse of an experienced teacher of Indigenous children
Published online: 1 January 2004
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.27.2.06thw
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.27.2.06thw
Abstract
This paper1 will examine the discourse of one experienced teacher of Indigenous children in lessons observed as part of the Conductive Hearing Loss (CHL) project conducted by Edith Cowan University in Perth2. In the classroom observed, all the children were Indigenous and the teacher was aware that some children were suffering from CHL. This analysis will identify some features of the discourse of this teacher, who was very experienced in this context and who was identified as successful by her peers and the school community, with the aim of describing some of the strategies which contribute to her success. These strategies include constructing an inclusive classroom environment, empowering the students, avoiding authoritarianism and being responsive to the students. How these techniques are expressed in the discourse will be discussed here.
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