 Classroom Discourse, Second Editionreviewed by James L. Collins - 2003  Title: Classroom Discourse, Second EditionAuthor(s): Courtney B. Cazden Publisher: Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH ISBN: 0325003785, Pages: 216, Year: 2001 Search for book at Amazon.com This second edition of Classroom Discourse is an important update of an important book. Cazden has done an excellent job of bringing her book into the age of sociocultural theories of schooling and constructivist theories of teaching and learning. What's more, she has brought her book up to date without mentioning those theories much at all. By avoiding excessive description of theory and research, Cazden has improved on a criticism I had of the original edition, its inaccessibility to practicing teachers. In Cazden's own words: "This book, even more than the first edition, is written not just for university researchers and teacher educators, but for teachers and teacher researchers as well" (p. 7). For some reason, books on discourse analysis tend to be dense and difficult. Maybe it's because discourse study had its origin in linguistics, where everything tends eventually to become dense and difficult. As I write these words about books on discourse, I'm thinking of many of my favorites-van Dijk's Discourse as Structure and Process... (preview truncated at 150 words.) To view the full-text for this article you must be signed-in with the appropriate membership. Please review your options below:
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