Analysing Student-Student Interaction from Cooperative Learning and Systemic Functional Perspectives

Abstract

This article uses two sources to derive insights into student-student interaction in science classrooms. From the pedagogic sciences, cooperative learning offers a means of understanding what helps groups of students interact successfully. From the science of language, Systemic Functional linguistics provides a tool for analyzing how people use language to achieve various aims. Cooperative learning and Systemic Functional linguistics are described and then used to analyze a transcript of student-student interaction from an elementary school science classroom. Implications are suggested for improving teaching practice, with particular emphasis on teaching collaborative skills.