ABSTRACT
In Chapter 6 the analysis moves to the presentation phase of the recorded lessons wherein new curricular material is introduced. The opening section of the chapter summarises the overall teaching objectives and delineates the teaching approach typical in this class group. The pedagogical functions and discursive features of this stage are then explored and a detailed analysis of signposting and especially discourse markers as tools to help learners make sense of the new information is presented. Discursive realisations of checking understanding of the newly presented material are then examined. Following this, an analysis of how the use of the mathematical language is facilitated within the presentation stage, and more specifically, how the teacher “spoke mathematics” to her students is outlined. The ensuing section goes on to analyse the interactional structure of the presentation phase, noting its two distinct sub-phases, and interrogates the “managerial interlude” which directly follows introduction of new material. Building on this, corpus analysis tools are applied to trace the linguistics features of this phase of the lessons. Finally, the discursive themes which emerged during the presentation stage are explored, namely the dichotomy of difficult/easy and the prevailing discourse of an exam/test.
