The Multi-timescale, Multi-modal and Multi-perspectival Aspects of Classroom Discourse Analysis in Science Education

Abstract

EDITORIAL

Classroom discourse is an indispensable process through which the teaching and learning of any discipline, including science, takes place. In classroom discourse studies, many researchers use a variety of approaches under the umbrella term of “discourse analysis” to understand the dynamic of interaction and sometimes how learning happens in the classroom. Discourse analysis is recognised and frequently discussed as a methodology in applied linguistics (Rex et al. 2010). Researchers in science education typically borrow several analytical tools from discourse analysis and apply them to study the teaching and learning process in the science classroom (broadly defined as a space of learning in and out of school).