The effect of duration of teacher talk on the attitude, attentiveness, and performance achievement of high school choral students

This study investigated the effect of high and low amounts of teacher talk on the attitude, attentiveness, and performance of two high school women's choruses. One beginning and one advanced chorus were rehearsed for one week under two conditions: low teacher talk (in which the teacher spent approximately 20% of the rehearsal time talking) and high teacher talk (in which the teacher spent approximately 60% of the rehearsal time talking). Each chorus rehearsed two different pieces (one under each condition). Student surveys were administered daily to measure student attitudes. Video cameras scanned the room in order to record student attentiveness. Performance achievement was measured by having 30 experienced chorus teachers listen to and rate the initial performances of all pieces and the final performances of all pieces.; Results concerning attitude indicated that there were differences between beginning and advanced groups. Beginning students had no preference for either piece and liked both pieces the same. Advanced students preferred the piece that was rehearsed under the high teacher talk condition. Results concerning attentiveness indicated that both beginning and advanced students were highly attentive (never less than 95% on-task) but significantly less attentive during teacher talk intervals than during performance intervals. Compared to beginning students, advanced students were generally less attentive. Although rehearsals incorporating less teacher talk yielded higher overall attentiveness levels, students were less attentive during the briefer periods of teacher talk. This was the case for both groups. Performance of the selection the advanced chorus rehearsed under the high talk condition was rated the highest overall, and the selection the beginning chorus rehearsed under the high talk condition was rated the lowest overall.