Using linguistic ethnography to uncover the mechanisms through which underprivileged students are denied access to classroom dialogue

Abstract

This article opens up the ‘black box’ of classroom interaction to investigate why opportunities to participate in academically productive (or ‘dialogic’) classroom discussion may be more readily available to some groups of students than others, creating educational inequities. Prior research has attributed disparities in classroom participation to perceived deficits in underprivileged students’ communicative abilities. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic research in two socioeconomically differentiated primary schools, the article challenges this idea and shifts the focus to relational and contextual factors, situating classroom dynamics within the broader sociopolitical landscape. Quantitative analysis reveals significant disparities in student talk time between the two participating schools, with students in the Higher Socioeconomic Status school contributing substantially more to whole-class discussions. Qualitative analysis identifies three mechanisms driving these disparities: differing assumptions about the purpose of classroom talk; competing approaches to managing classroom roles, routines and relationships; and the influence of neoliberal accountability logics. These mechanisms have relevance beyond the focal schools since they are underpinned by widespread beliefs about underprivileged students and systemic pressures that affect schools internationally. The article underscores the importance of linguistic ethnographic research in challenging deficit thinking and providing an evidence base to better inform educational policy and decision making.