The Impact of Dialogic Teaching on English Language Learners’ Speaking and Thinking Skills

Scientific argumentation
Perhaps the most radical statement of the social grounds of scientific knowledge appears in 
Alan G.Gross's The Rhetoric of Science, (Gross A. (1990) holds that science is rhetorical "without 
remainder," meaning that scientific knowledge itself cannot be seen as an idealized ground of 
knowledge. Scientific knowledge is produced rhetorically, meaning that it has special epistemic 
authority only insofar as its communal methods of verification are trustworthy.
Legal argumentation
Legal arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer, or 
parties when representing themselves of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral 
argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also advance the argument of 
each party in the legal dispute.
Dialogue 
The word dialogue comes from two Greek roots, dia and logos, suggesting “meaning following 
through”. In common sense, ‘Dialogue’ is defined as a process of conversation between two or 
more persons for exchanging. Many thinkers from the East and the West have given different kinds 
of meanings to the term dialogue. Some of these thinkers, like Socrates, Martin Buber, Paulo 
Freire, David Bohm, and J. Krishnamurti have used this term in different contexts. Socrates used 
the technique of dialogue for social awareness. Martin Buber used dialogue for spirituality and 
education. David Bohm, the eminent physicist suggested the use of dialogue for creating holism 
of mind. Further, the notion of dialogue has been used by Paulo Freire for creating ‘pedagogy of 
the oppressed. 
Alexander (2008a, p.27) distinguishes dialogue from main stream of oral or ‘interactive’ 
teaching as currently understood by many teachers. Alexander defined the term dialogue in terms 
of five types of teacher talk: 
1. Rote (teacher – class): The drilling of facts, ideas and routines through repetition. 
2. Recitation (teacher – class or teacher – group): The accumulation of knowledge and 
understanding through questions designed to test or stimulate recall of what has previously been 
encountered, or to cue learners to work out the answer from clues provided in the question. 

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