The Socratic method in developing spoken English discussion discourse markers: A case study

Seher Balbay and Cemile Dogan

African Educational Research Journal
Published: August 17 2023
Volume 11, Issue 3
Pages 360-370
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30918/AERJ.113.23.058

Abstract

Socratic pedagogy is a systematized method that encourages learners to question themselves and each other - without being judgmental. It aims at boosting empathy and developing an ability to reach informed conclusions. It supports the acquisition of social skills and fosters collaboration while helping them to think critically, deepen their understanding, and find reality in equilibrium. In reaching for insights, students acquire vital skills, knowledge, and practices. Socratic learning depends on how participants can use systematic dialogue. This study monitored the effects of students' use of specific discourse markers (DMs) over a series of speaking tasks undertaken in Socratic seminars. Each task was devised to support the learning objectives of a standardized English language course given to pre-service English teachers in Turkey. Recordings were used to provide feedback to ten participants and then analyzed for appropriate use of spoken DMs. The findings of the study revealed solid evidence of accurate and contextually appropriate DM usage as the number of appropriate DM use increased significantly in the seminars conducted at the end of the intervention period.

Keywords: Discourse markers, Socratic seminars, spontaneous speaking.

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