Students' Perceptions of Teachers' Verbal Classroom Communication in Slovak Vocational Secondary Schools

Abstract

Classroom discourse is central to how young people gain access to curriculum knowledge, yet teacher verbal communication in vocational secondary education remains under-researched. This descriptive comparative study examines how 143 second-year students at two Slovak vocational secondary schools perceived teachers' verbal classroom communication. A questionnaire was administered in a business academy and a technical/vocational school. The survey focused on clarity, space for student expression, checking of understanding, teacher/student talk balance, question type, prosodic resources, voice training, and distracting verbal habits. The findings show that students generally evaluated teacher clarity positively (83% positive responses) and reported that teachers provided adequate space to express opinions (79%). However, 94% reported that teachers spoke for most of the lesson, and 74% characterised teachers' questions as primarily closed-ended. Prosodic resources were used unevenly: volume variation and word stress were reported more often than tempo variation. In addition, 64% of respondents believed that teachers should practise their voice and speech, while 48% reported that teachers' verbal habits distracted their attention. The two schools showed broadly similar patterns. The results suggest a participation paradox: students felt invited to speak, yet lessons remained teacher-dominant, and question formats were mainly convergent. The article discusses implications for dialogic questioning, formative checks for understanding, and voice-related professional development in vocational subjects.