Date of Award

5-1-2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Dr. Frank Bramlett

Abstract

This thesis analyzes classroom discourse at the university departments of English, mathematics and education in order to investigate the effect of power relationships and frames on the practice of negotiation. I examine the power relations and frames in discourse through the analysis of classes that consist solely of lecture or both lecture and whole class discussion, and identify three levels of frames in classroom discourse. Academic speech reflects the asymmetric power relations between instructor and students. In the analysis, I examine passages of transcripts that reveal alteration to the IRE (initiation, response, evaluation) pattern of classroom discourse and claim that the fight for control over the form and content of talk create alternative patterns of interaction. The conclusion suggests interdependence between power, frames and negotiation in classroom discourse.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of English and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Maria Isabel Rangel Duncan Barros May, 2003

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