English Language Teaching in its Social Context

THE SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING 133our initial arrival challenged. In other words, we may uncover more precisely the “rulesof the game” which represent the self-maintaining culture of that particular workmg group.The culture of the classroom is jointk constructedWhilst we may accept the truism that all knowledge is socially constructed ~ most especiallyif we arc working with the knowledge of a language and how it is used between people ~we need to consider how classrooms re-construct knowledge. In a language class, theclassroom group together not only freshly evolves the new language (the content of lessons),but together also jointly constructs the lessons (the social procedures of teaching andlearning). Whether or not the teacher plans a lesson in advance, the actual working out ofthat lesson in the class demands joint endeavour.The lesson-in-process is most often differentfrom that which either the teacher or the learners anticipated before the lesson began.Thesocial dynamic of the group insists that lessons evolve, through explicit or implicitnegotiation. In whatever ways the lesson may be perceived by those who participate in it,the route it takes will be drawn by the joint contributions of most, if not all, of the membersof the class. Teachers and learners are well aware that lessons are rarely straightforwardjourneys but are punctuated by hesitant starts, diversions, momentary losses of momentum,interesting side tracks, and unexpected breakdowns. That it may be better to plan classroomlearning in advance has little to do with this entirely normal and creative evolution oflessons.”Several important implications for the researcher result from the fact that the contentand process of language classes are jointly constructed. First, any teacher-centred (orresearcher-centred) perspective on lessons is partial. Second, the researcher’s backgroundknowledge of the actual language being worked upon in a class can be a serious handicapbecause it potentially blinds us to the process of re-invention of that language which teacherand taught engage in together. (This implication warns us against relying on externallinguistic criteria alone in assessing the nature of comprehensible input, for example.) Theproblem reminds us of a similar gap between the teacher’s definition of the new languageand the different learners’ definitions. There are likely to be as many versions of the newlanguage, and changing versions of it, as there are people in the room.Third, the researcherhas to be continually wary of being dazzled by what seems salient in classroom life. Forexample, even the most passive or non-contributory learner in a class can be a poltergeiston the proceedings. Silence, encouraged or not, is a characteristic part of the culture of theclassroom and it has grcat significance. Silence or withdrawal can change a lesson just aspowerfully as their opposites, and not just for thc person who withdraws, but also for allthe others who sense it.The fourth implication of the joint construction of the content andprocess of a language class is particularly significant for researchers who wish to examinethe effects of classroom language learning. The fact that lessons-in-process are communalendeavours means that any learning outcome, for any member of the class, has been sociallyprocessed. The actual nature of individual achievements has been communally moulded.The culture of the classroom inevitably mediates between a new language and a learner inclass. The culture of a particular class will shape what is made available for learning, willwork upon what is made available in particular ways, will evolve its own criteria for progressand achievement, and will attain specific and various objectives. (It is worth emphasisinghere that linguistic input is only a part of the first of these classroom-based phenomena.)What someone learns in a language class will be a dynamic synthesis of individualand collective experience. Individual definitions of the new language, of what is to beattended to as worth learning, of how to learn, and personal definitions of progress will all