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DIALOGIC INQUIRY: TOWARDS A SOCIOCULTURAL PRACTICE AND THEORY OF EDUCATION
by Gordon Wells.
Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 370 pp. $64.95, $21.95 (paper).
Much has been made of the gap between research and practice in the field of education. Gordon Wells's recent book, Dialogic Inquiry: Towards a Sociocultural Practice and Theory of Education, represents the fruits of one researcher's efforts to span this gap. In this work, Wells documents his extended collaboration with a team of teacher researchers in an exploration of the interdependence of language and learning. Divided into three sections, Wells's book moves from theory to illustrations of theory in action and ends with reflection on how the findings from his collaborative work with teachers contributes to our understanding of students' learning processes.
In the first section Wells constructs a theoretical framework for his research from a synthesis of Vygotsky's developmental theory and M. A. K. Halliday's theory of how language functions to make meaning. In this section he argues for the central role of language in meaning-making: "What is at issue here is not simply the `subject' referred to variously as `Language Arts,' `Mother Tongue,' or `English' but the role of linguistic discourse in making meaning - in mediating communicating and knowing right across the curriculum" (p. 119). Wells argues that the perspectives of these two theorists complement each other neatly in that, while "Vygotsky's ultimate target is an explanation of individual mental functioning, Halliday's might be said to be the nature and organization 6f language as a resource for human living" (p. 6). Also in this section, Wells provides a historical overview of the conception of knowledge, arguing that a review of this concept is crucial to our understanding of how to improve teaching and learning. He writes,
If, as teachers and teacher educators, we hope to bring about significant improvements in the way in which the practice of...