Learner initiatives and learning opportunities in primary school social studies course: A conversation analytic study

Using conversation analysis as research methodology, this study examines social studies courses in a primary school and describes learner initiatives and learning opportunities that occur in and through classroom interaction. Social Studies courses help students become effective citizens within a democratic system by improving abilities to make logical decisions, act as responsible individuals, contribute to social developments, and better recognize the past and the future. This is only possible with the teachers' use of diverse interactional resources oriented to increasing student participation and to providing learning opportunities by effectively managing learner initiatives. With this in mind, this study investigates 17 hours of social studies classroom interaction in the fourth grade primary school classrooms during the fall semester of 2015-2016 academic year. In the data collection process, three video cameras were used and the entire dataset was transcribed in minute detail following transcription conventions. The findings of the study show that learner initiatives mostly emerge in the form of sequence initiation and participation to the ongoing sequences. The teacher's orientations to these initiatives create significant learning opportunities for the learners. In addition, the teacher deploys various interactional resources such as designedly incomplete utterance, explicit positive assessment, teacher-learner echo and teacher-teacher echo, reference to past action, reference to a past learning event, reference to a shared past event, wait time, and non-verbal conduct. She also draws on a set of classroom management skills to better promote learner initiatives and to create opportunities for student participation. The study contributes to the field of primary education by employing a robust research methodology and providing rich implications for in-service and pre-service teachers in terms of the development of research informed pedagogy and syllabi and a great number of practical interactional resources that can be used to create opportunities for increasing student participation.