A METHODOLOGY WAS DEVELOPED TO DESCRIBE THE LANGUAGE OF THE CLASSROOM BY CONSIDERING--(1) PEDAGOGICAL MOVES OF STRUCTURING, SOLICITING, RESPONDING, AND REACTING, (2) SUBSTANTIVE MEANINGS, (3) SUBSTANTIVE-LOGICAL MEANINGS, (4) INSTRUCTIONAL MEANINGS, AND (5) INSTRUCTIONAL-LOGICAL MEANINGS. A PROCEDURE WAS ALSO DEVELOPED FOR CHARACTERIZING THE OVERALL EMOTIONAL STYLE OF DISCOURSE UTILIZING THE CONCEPTS OF VALENCE, POTENCY OR STRENGTH, AND ACTIVITY. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM A UNIT OF INSTRUCTION ON INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC PROBLEMS PRESENTED BY 15 HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TO 345 STUDENTS IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES. MEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES WERE UTILIZED, AND THE FOUR CLASS SESSIONS COMPRISING THE UNIT WERE TAPE RECORDED IN EACH OF THE 15 CLASSES. CONTENT ANALYSIS OF TRANSCRIPTIONS REVEALED THE VARIOUS KINDS OF MEANINGS CONVEYED BY THE LINGUISTIC BEHAVIORS OF BOTH TEACHERS AND PUPILS. STATISTICAL ANALYSES WERE MADE OF THESE RESULTS. THE DATA REVEALED A CONSISTENT AND REMARKABLY STABLE PATTERN OF PEDAGOGICAL DISCOURSE. NO APPARENT RELATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE VALENCE, I.E., PLEASANTNESS OR UNPLEASANTNESS, OR THE MEANINGS EXPRESSED BY THE TEACHER AND SUBSEQUENT LEARNING OF THE PUPILS. IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH SHOULD CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE VARIABLES IN CLASSROOM LANGUAGE WHICH WERE DEFINED IN THIS STUDY. (JM)