Negotiating Meaning in Higher Education Classrooms: Dialogic Communication and the Construction of Critical Literacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17509/ijac.v1i1.19Keywords:
dialogic communication, classroom interaction, negotiation of meaning, critical literacy, readingAbstract
This study investigates how dialogic communication operates in higher education reading classrooms and how it facilitates the negotiation of meaning and the development of students’ critical literacy. Grounded in an applied communication perspective, the research employs a qualitative-dominant design integrating classroom observation and questionnaire data collected from undergraduate students in a reading course. Interactional data were analyzed using coding categories of dialogic moves, meaning negotiation strategies, and critical literacy indicators, while questionnaire responses were examined descriptively to identify participation patterns and perceptions of classroom communication. The findings reveal that dialogic interaction—characterized by open questioning, uptake, and elaboration prompts—creates a communicative environment that enables collaborative meaning construction and supports students’ evaluative engagement with texts. These results highlight the role of classroom communication as a pedagogical mechanism that bridges textual understanding and critical interpretation. The study is limited to a single instructional context, suggesting the need for broader and longitudinal investigations to examine the sustainability of dialogic practices across disciplines. Practically, the findings offer insights for educators to design interaction-rich learning environments that foster reflective and participatory learning. The study contributes to the field by empirically demonstrating the interconnected relationship between dialogic communication, meaning negotiation, and critical literacy within an applied communication framework, providing a nuanced understanding of classroom discourse as a site of knowledge construction.
Downloads
References
Alexander, R. (2020). A Dialogic Teaching Companion. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351040143
Ali, Z., Palpanadan, S. T., Asad, M. M., Churi, P., & Namaziandost, E. (2022). Reading approaches practiced in EFL classrooms: a narrative review and research agenda. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 7(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00155-4
Boyd, M. P., & Markarian, W. C. (2015). Dialogic Teaching and Dialogic Stance: Moving beyond Interactional Form. Research in the Teaching of English, 49(3), 272–296. https://doi.org/10.58680/rte201526870
Brunner, M.-L. (2021). The Negotiation of Meaning: Communication Strategies and Identities. In Understanding Intercultural Communication (pp. 67–98). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64556-7_3
Canals, L. (2021). Multimodality and translanguaging in negotiation of meaning. Foreign Language Annals, 54(3), 647–670. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12547
Cui, R., & Teo, P. (2021). Dialogic education for classroom teaching: a critical review. Language and Education, 35(3), 187–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2020.1837859
Cui, R., & Teo, P. (2023). Thinking through talk: Using dialogue to develop students’ critical thinking. Teaching and Teacher Education, 125, 104068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104068
Dominguez, S., & Svihla, V. (2023). A review of teacher implemented scaffolding in K-12. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1), 100613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100613
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Seabury Press.
Gillies, R. M. (2019). Promoting academically productive student dialogue during collaborative learning. International Journal of Educational Research, 97, 200–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2017.07.014
Giroux, H. (2020). Critical Pedagogy in Dark Times. In On Critical Pedagogy. Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350145016.ch-009
Gönen, S. I. K., & Kizilay, Y. (2022). Reading beyond the Lines: Teaching Critical Reading in Higher Education. Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 22(1), 73–92.
Howe, C., Hennessy, S., Mercer, N., Vrikki, M., & Wheatley, L. (2019). Teacher–Student Dialogue During Classroom Teaching: Does It Really Impact on Student Outcomes? Journal of the Learning Sciences, 28(4–5), 462–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2019.1573730
Janks, H. (2019). Critical Literacy and the Importance of Reading With and Against a Text. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 62(5), 561–564. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.941
Lantolf, J. P., Poehner, M. E., & Thorne, S. L. (2020). Sociocultural Theory and L2 Development. In Theories in Second Language Acquisition (3rd ed., pp. 223–247). Routledge.
Luke, A. (2012). Critical Literacy: Foundational Notes. Theory Into Practice, 51(1), 4–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2012.636324
M. M. Bakhtin. (1982). The Dialogic Imagination. University of Texas Press.
Masrizal, M. (2014). The Role of Negotiation of Meaning in L2 Interactions:An Analysis from the Perspective of Long’s Interaction Hypothesis. Studies in English Language and Education, 1(2), 96–105. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v1i2.1829
Mercer, N., Hennessy, S., & Warwick, P. (2019). Dialogue, thinking together and digital technology in the classroom: Some educational implications of a continuing line of inquiry. International Journal of Educational Research, 97, 187–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2017.08.007
Misson, R. (2022). Critical literacy in uncertain times. Literacy Learning : The Middle Years, 30(2), 7–13.
Poehner, M. E., & Infante, P. (2017). Mediated Development: A Vygotskian Approach to Transforming Second Language Learner Abilities. TESOL Quarterly, 51(2), 332–357. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.308
Resnick, L. B., Asterhan, C. S. C., & Clarke, S. N. (2015). Socializing Intelligence Through Academic Talk and Dialogue. American Educational Research Association Press.
Sato, M., & Ballinger, S. (2016). Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning (M. Sato & S. Ballinger, Eds.; Vol. 45). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.45
Tao, Y., Wang, D., & Chen, G. (2025). How does dialogic teaching facilitate students’ creative thinking? Evidence from a sequential analysis of teacher–student dialogue in primary language classrooms. British Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.70031
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.
Walsh, S., & Mann, S. (2015a). Doing reflective practice: a data-led way forward: ELT Journal, 69(4), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccv018
Walsh, S., & Mann, S. (2015b). Doing reflective practice: a data-led way forward: ELT Journal, 69(4), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccv018
Wang, J., Wang, Y., Moore, Y., Sneed, S., Thacker, B., & Hart, S. (2024). Analyzing the Patterns of Questioning Chains and Their Intervention on Student Learning in Science Teacher Preparation. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 22(4), 809–836. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-023-10408-4
Wilkinson, I. A. G., Murphy, P. K., & Binici, S. (2015). Dialogue-Intensive Pedagogies for Promoting Reading Comprehension: What We Know, What We Need to Know. In Socializing Intelligence Through Academic Talk and Dialogue (pp. 37–50). American Educational Research Association. https://doi.org/10.3102/978-0-935302-43-1_3
Williams, O. A. (2022). Critical Literacy in Practice: How Educators Leverage Supports and Overcome Challenges to Enact Critical Literacy Pedagogy in Their Classrooms. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 71(1), 323–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/23813377221115190
