Dialogic Discourse Analysis - A methodology for dealing with the classroom as a text

Oct 15, 2026

Bakhtin is treated as a theoretical resource for educational research, and the article extends his analytical practice through a methodology called dialogic discourse analysis (DDA). It develops Bakhtin’s typology of discursive relations from Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics, emphasizing the utterance as a meaningful unity, authorship, and the relation between author and hero. DDA is then applied to classroom discourse to frame education through the idea of the classroom as a text.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

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Introduction

Dialogic pedagogy and Bakhtinian concepts

Dialogic discourse analysis (DDA)

Applying DDA to classroom settings

ISSN: 2325-3290 (online) Dialogic Discourse Analysis: A methodology for dealing with the classroom as a text | | | Atle Skaftun
University of Stavanger, Norway | | --- | --- | --- | | Abstract
Bakhtin is a source of theoretical inspiration for educational research. This article will be an attempt to activate also Bakhtin’s analytical practice and his methodology. I will explore and elaborate the typology of discursive relations which are suggested in Bakhtin’s book on Problems of Dostoevsky’ Poetics (Bakhtin ,1984), and the potential application of it in the study of discourse in the classroom. In order to do so properly it will be necessary to activate Bakhtin’s understanding of the utterance as a meaningful unity, and thus also the problem of authorship and the relationship between author and hero.
Bakhtin’s analytical practice can be considered a consistent methodology for the study of literature in schools as well as in the scholarly study of literature (cf. Skaftun, 2009; 2010), and I have called it dialogic discourse analysis (DDA). The first main part of the article elaborates key features of DDA in dialogue with Bakhtin’s work. In the other main part, DDA is applied to educational settings in order to enter the educational dialogue on how to make sense of authorship and the adhering conception of the classroom as a text. My ambition here is primarily to elaborate DDA as a powerful and dynamic toolkit also for educational research. In doing so I also hope to contribute to the ongoing work of transferring Bakhtin’s dialogism as a whole from the study of literature to the study of education. Examples will in part be drawn from literature, but for the most part from educational settings. | | | Atle Skaftun is a professor in literacy studies at the University of Stavanger. His disciplinary background in Scandinavian Studies with a dissertation on Knut Hamsun’s Dialogic Realism (2002) . After this his research interests have shifted towards educational contexts. He has written articles and books about literacy and literature education, and lately he has also worked more explicitly with digital and oral conditions for dialogic participation and thinking in Norwegian classrooms. 􀀡􀀡􀀢 Introduction The Russian philosopher of language and literature, Mikhail Bakhtin, is an important source of inspiration for sociocultural educational research, and particularly for those working within programs or frameworks that are associated with dialogic pedagogy (Alexander, 2008; Mercer, 2000; Matusov, 2009; Mortimer & Scott, 2003; Nystrand, 1997; Reznitskaya, 2012; Reznitskaya & Wilkinson, 2017; Wells, 1999) .1 A lot of Bakhtinian concepts and ideas are established as useful in education without any lengthy explanation transferring the concepts from the world of literature to that of teachers and students, which in 1 Cf. Wegerif 2017 for a broader overview. I will not discuss differences between approaches to dialogic pedagogy, education or teaching, but rather refer to them as a field of research sharing a more or less deep association with Bakhtin and his dialogism. Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Online Journal | [https://dpj.pitt.edu](https://dpj.pitt.edu) DOI: 10.5195/dpj.2019.277 | Vol. 7 (2019) A143 Dialogic Discourse Analysis: A methodology for dealing with the classroom as a text Atle Skaftun itself is an indication of the inspirational powers across domains in Bakhtin’s philosophy. Increasingly, however, educational research has displayed an interest in exploring the connection and transferability between the domain of literature and that of education (cf. Matusov, 2007) . A paradigmatic example of this turn might be the not yet finalized debate on the concept of authorship (cf. Lensmire, 1997; Matusov & Myiazaki, 2011; Sullivan, 2014) and the relationship between author and hero transferred from the study of novels to the study of classrooms (Brandist, 2011) . Also, in the study of classroom

FAQs

What is dialogic discourse analysis (DDA) in this article?

DDA is presented as a consistent methodology for studying discourse, drawing on Bakhtin’s analytical practice and concepts.

Which Bakhtin ideas does the article use to develop its approach?

It focuses on typologies of discursive relations, the utterance as a meaningful unity, and issues of authorship and the relationship between author and hero.

How does the article apply DDA to educational contexts?

It uses DDA to analyze classroom discourse, engaging questions of authorship and treating the classroom as a text shaped by dialogic relations.

Oct 15, 2026

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