To what extent do gestures, facial expressions and intonation affect classroom interaction?

Classroom communication is important for dialogue between teachers and students. It is vital for classroom interaction that teachers become aware of how they communicate with students while teaching. To support student participation and talk in the classroom, teachers need to be aware of verbal and non-verbal communication. My research involves professional development workshops to develop Saudi mathematics teachers’ perceptions about dialogic teaching. The participants were three male primary mathematics teachers in third, fifth and sixth-grade classrooms. Classroom observations and video recordings used to collect data about the teachers, focused especially on the communicative strategies they use in the classroom. This session presents data on teachers’ awareness concerning non-verbal communication such as gestures, facial expressions and intonation which might affect teacher-pupil classroom dialogue.