An Exploratory Investigation into Classroom Discourse in a Bruneian University

The paper inquired into the discourse practices in classroom teaching in a State university in Brunei Darussalam. Respondents comprised four (4), local Bruneian lecturers, from two (2) academic streams: STEM-driven and entrepreneurship programmes. Subjected to data saturation, teaching observations of each respondent were shadowed over several weeks. Data were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using the Classroom Discourse Observation Protocol (CDOP) to determine the types and frequencies of teacher-student utterances. Findings showed that the students were provided insufficient opportunities to interact meaningfully and that the lecturers who were leaning toward conventional teaching did minimal attempts to engage the students, failing to utilise appropriate prompts and basic questioning techniques believed to facilitate critical thinking and deep learning. Classroom discourse was propelled by a corresponding approach in teaching; hence continuous readiness in classroom teaching needs to be sustained, should students’ quality of learning be improved.