Pedagogical link-making moves implemented by a pre-service teacher to promote classroom talk in a multilingual physics classroom

Productive talking of science in classrooms, by students, touches on various pertinent issues such as the language of learning and teaching and the teaching strategies teachers choose to use. This is particularly the case in developing countries, such as Lesotho, where teaching and learning resources are scarce. This study employed the concept of pedagogical link-making moves to analyse how a pre-service teacher promoted classroom talk in a physics classroom during a ten-week teaching practice session. The study responds to the research question: Which pedagogical link-making moves did the pre-service teacher opt for when promoting classroom talk in a multilingual physics classroom setting? A pre-service teacher’s Grade 10 physics lesson on conduction was video and audio-recorded and analysed following Discourse analysis strategy. The results show that the pre-service teacher engaged different pedagogical link-making moves at both the stages of availing the concept and extending its meaning. It is recommended that teacher training institutions provide pre-service teachers with more opportunities to practise how to promote classroom talk.