Talking promotes learning. The question though becomes, who is doing the talking? In a study reported by John Hattie, researchers found that teachers talk an average of between 70-80% of class time. The study also found a direct link between the amount of teacher talk in a classroom and the level of engagement, with teacher talk producing the lowest levels of engagement.

Unfortunately, in classrooms where there are large numbers of high poverty students, teacher talk predominates (Lingard, Hayes, & Mills, 2003).