Abstract
Although there is emerging evidence on subject-based differences in educational dialogue in the school context little is known about how such differences manifest in higher education. This study examines disciplinary variation in dialogic practices across Foundation Year programmes in Engineering, Psychology, and Biological Sciences. Drawing on 93.5 h of student pair work around multiple-choice questions, we identify significant disciplinary differences in the frequency and nature of dialogic moves. Engineering students most frequently used Building on each other's ideas and sustained these moves over longer stretches of talk. Psychology students showed higher use of Connect and Positioning moves. Informed by these findings, we argue that higher education must support students in mastering both disciplinary dialogue and the dialogic flexibility required for interdisciplinary collaboration. Students need structured tasks and sufficient time to engage in a full range of dialogic moves.