control talk and procedure talk

Control talk is about preventing or correcting misbehaviors when they occur, particularly when the misbehaviors are not because of ignorance of procedures. It happens, for example, when a teacher says,

"Jill, you were talking when you should have been listening",

or

"Jason, you need to work on your math instead Of doodling."

Most control talk originates with the teacher, but students sometimes engage in it with each other, if not with the teacher.

One student may look at a nearby classmate who is whispering out of turn and quietly say, "Shhh!" in an attempt to silence the behavior. Or a student may respond to being teased by a classmate by saying simply, "Stop it!"

Whether originating from the teacher or a student, control talk may not always be fully effective. But its purpose is, by definition, to influence or control inappropriate behavior.


Procedural talk, as its name implies, is about administrative rules or routines needed to accomplish tasks in a classroom. It happens, for example, when the teacher says, "When you are done with your spelling books, put them in the bins at the side Of the room", or when a student asks, "Do you want us to print our names at the top of page?


Procedural talk provides information that students need to coordinate their activities in what can be a relatively crowded space • the classroom • and under conditions in which time may be relatively short or tightly scheduled. It generally keeps activities organized and flowing smoothly.

Double functions like those mentioned can sometimes confuse students because of their ambiguity, and lead to misunderstandings between certain students and teachers.

A student may hear only the content or procedural function of a teacher's comment, and miss an implied request or command to change inappropriate behavior (Collins & Michaels, 2006).

Double functions can also help lessons to flow smoothly by minimizing the disruption Of attending to a minor behavior problem and by allowing more continuous attention to content or procedures.