1. 'Bridging Discourses' in the ESL classroom: an introduction
Part I: Language, learning and learners: perspectives across disciplines
2. A sociocultural view of language and learning
3. Second language learning and teaching
Part II: Inside two classrooms
4. Researching the classroom
5. Teaching and learning in two classrooms
Part III: Discourse contexts for second language development
6. Teachers and learners: constructing new meanings
7. The teachers: teaching as mediation
8. The learners: affordances for learning
Glossary of systemic functional linguistic terms
Appendix: Episode summaries
References
Index

Bridging Discourses in the ESL Classroom is concerned with the nature of talk in multilingual classrooms. Examining the interactions between students learning in and through English as a second language and their teachers, this book identifies the patterns of discourse which support and enable both second language development and the learning of curriculum knowledge. These patterns are 'bridging discourses', combining the everyday language used by the student with the specialised language of the academic register.
Drawing on second language acquisition research and systemic functional linguistic theory, in particular the work of Halliday and Vygotsky, Pauline Gibbons develops tools to view classroom talk through a powerful interdisciplinary lens. Putting forward an innovative new theory of classroom discourse analysis, this book focuses on applying theory to practice. This is an invaluable resource for all teachers, researchers and students of linguistics and education.