Article In:
Language and Dialogue: Online-First ArticlesExamining teachers’ rhetorical choices
Disagreement styles in teacher-student interactions
This study examines the role of disaffiliative reactions, specifically disagreement, in teacher-student
interactions. Disagreement is often seen as confrontational and disruptive, but this research investigates whether it is a
dispreferred act in these interactions. By analyzing teacher-student interactions and considering students’ final achievement
scores, the study explores how teachers respond to students’ arguments. The paper specifically examines the context in which
teachers contradict students’ arguments when requesting a reconsideration of their scores. While destructive responses are
typically considered face-threatening, the findings suggest that they are the preferred linguistic behavior for teachers in these
situations. This is because a constructive or affiliative reaction may potentially undermine the teachers’ fair assessment policy
and authoritative power. The study also reveals that the severity of disagreements varies based on the tone of the students’
justifications. When students include compliments in their justifications, teachers tend to respond with mitigated disagreement,
whereas openly critical justifications are more likely to elicit aggravated disagreement from teachers. The study illustrates that
different cultures may have varying norms and expectations regarding disagreement and confrontational behavior.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 3.Data and method
- 4.Findings
- 4.1Disagreements on complimentary justifications
- 4.2Disagreements on neutral justifications
- 4.3Disagreements on critical justifications
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Concluding remarks
- Notes
- Author queries
-
References
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