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Integrating dialogic teaching and online discussion forums in foreign language classrooms

 | Kwansei Gakuin University
Published online: 11 September 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00208.miy
Abstract
Dialogic teaching, a pedagogy that promotes student talk to extend and challenge critical thinking and facilitate the co-construction of knowledge (. 2020. A Dialogic Teaching Companion. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Lefstein, Adam and Julia Snell. 2014. Better than Best Practice: Developing Teaching and Learning through Dialogue. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), is becoming increasingly important in foreign language learning contexts. This paper introduces a study that explores the implementation of a dialogic teaching framework to support learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in a university course in Western Japan. Findings suggest that the dialogic style of learning was beneficial to participants’ linguistic development and motivation, and also helped foster deeper understanding of course content and a collaborative atmosphere during both in-person and online discussions, which positively impacted their learning and enjoyment of the course.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1English as a foreign language in a Japanese context
    • 2.2Dialogic education
    • 2.3Technology and the internet for language learning
  • 3.The current study
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Course overview
  • 4.Materials and methods
    • 4.1Inquiring, offering advice
    • 4.2Acknowledging a need to adjust their procedure
    • 4.3Encouraging, empathizing with peers
    • 4.4Reporting self-perceived changes in their ability
    • 4.5Indicating pride, excitement, motivation at seeing results
    • 4.6Participant perceptions of the treatment
    • 4.7Goal setting and repeated practice
    • 4.8Critical thinking and reflection about content
    • 4.9The dialogic nature of the learning process
    • 4.10Agency, deliberate learning, and metacognition
  • 5.Analysis and discussion
  • 6.Limitations
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
References (39)
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