‘To hear and learne’: Dialogue in the Schoolroom

Abstract Chapter 1 examines the central role of dialogue in the classroom. This includes the custom of pupils vocalizing dialogues, both for peer-to-peer learning and to display their proficiency to visitors and masters; the use of question and answer for pedagogic purposes (to test or acquire knowledge); the replication of those practices in purpose-written textbooks; and the transformation of monologic texts into dialogues. In particular, the chapter explores the use and place of colloquies: s