English Language Teaching in its Social Context

More documents

Recommendations

Info

LANGUAGE FOR TEACHING A LANGUAGE 2554I have described the process of tcaching-and-learning as ‘the guided construction ofknowledge’ (Mercer, 1995).This is a process which is carried on over time, so that,as the language researcher Janet Maybin (1 994) has put it, the talk on any occasionbetween a teachcr and their regular class of students can be considered part of the‘long conversation’ of their relationship. Language is a tool for building the future outof the past: the meaningfulness of current and future joint activitics of teachers andlearners depends on the foundations of their common knowledge (Merccr, 2000).Classroom interuction follows implicit ‘ground rules’. The socio-cultural perspectiveemphasises that evcryday human activity depends heavily on participants being ableto draw on a considerable body of shared knowledge and understanding, based ontheir past shared experience or similar histories of experience. The conventions or‘ground rules’ which ensure that speakers and listeners, writers and readers areoperating within the same genres of language are rarely made explicit, but so long asparticipants can safely assume shared knowledge, the language of everyday interactionfollows its conventional patterns. If the contextual foundations of shared knowledgeare lacking - such as when students’ home backgrounds have not prepared them wellfor making sense of the language and culture of the classroom - misunderstandingsmay easily arise and persist unresolved (Heath, 1983; LoCastro, 1997). Making the‘ground rules’ of classroom activity explicit can help overcome misunderstandingsand misinterpretations, and there is growing evidence that students’ progress issignificantly enhanced if teachers do so (Christie, 1990; Mercer, Wegerif and Dawcs1999).ConclusionRecordings and transcriptions of classroom talk, analysed from a socio-cultural perspective,offer us glimpses of the social, cultural, communicative process of education being pursuedand, with varying degrees of success, accomplished. They may capture illustrations of thebest practice, in which teachers enable students to achieve levels of understanding whichmight never, or at least not nearly so quickly, have been achieved without a ‘scaffolding’guidance; they as often reveal misunderstandings being generated, and opportunities forguided development being squandered. As teachers, as well as researchers, we can learnmuch from what they reveal. It is of course unrealistic to expect any busy teacher to monitorand evaluate every interaction in their classroom; but recent research (in arcas of thecurriculum other than language teaching) has shown that through a better understandingof the use of language as a pedagogic tool, teachers can help students improve theircurriculum-related learning and their use of language as a tool for constructing knowledge.(Brown and Palincsar, 1989; Wcgerif, Rojas-Drummond and Mercer, 1999; Mercer, Wegerifand Dawes, 1999.) A socio-cultural perspcctive has only quitc recently been brought tobear on teaching and learning in the modern language classroom (sec Chapters 5, 16 and19 of this book, by Van Lier, Gibbons and Breen), but I am convinced that its applicationwill have significant practical implications for this field of educational endeavour.ReferencesArthur, J. (1992) ‘English in Botswana classrooms: functions and constraints’. Centre f.rLanguage in Social Lfe Working %pus No.46. University of Lancaster, U.K.
~ (2000)256 NEIL MERCERBrown, A. and Palincsar A.S. (1989) ‘Guided, cooperative lcarning and individual knowledgeacquisition’, in L. Resnick (ed.) Knowing, Learning and Instruction. Ncw York: LawrenceErlbaum.Bruner, J.S. (1985) ‘Vygotsky: a historical and conccptual perspective’, in J.V. Wertsch (ed.)Culture, Communication and Cognition: Qgotskian perspectives. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.Bruner, J.S. (1986) Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. London: Harvard university Press.Camilleri, A. (1994) ‘Talking bilingually, writing monolingually’ . Paper prcscntcd at theSociolinguistics Symposium, Lancaster University, March 1994.Christie, F. (1990) Literayfr a Changing World. Mclbourne: Australian Council for EducationalResearch.Edwards, A.D. and Westgate, D. (1994) Investigating Classroom Talk (Second Edition). London: TheFalmer Press.Edwards, D. (1988) ‘The Meno’, in Billig, M., Condor, S., Edwards, D., Cane, M., Middleton,D. and Radley, A. (eds) Ideological Dilemmas: a social psychology .f everyday thinking.London: Sage.Edwards, D. and Mercer, N. (1987) Common Knowledge: the development .f understanding in theclassroom. London: Methuen / Routledge.Elliot, J. (1991) Action Researchfor Educational Change. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Gee, J.P. (1996) ‘Vygotsky and current debates in education: some dilemmas as afterthoughtsto Discourse, Learning and Schooling’, in D. Hicks (cd.) Discourse, Learning and Schooling.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Heath, S.B. (1983) Ways with Words: language, lfe and work in communities and classrooms.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Hicks, D. (1996) ‘Contextual enquiries: a discourse-oriented study of classroom learning’, inD. Hicks (ed.) Discourse, Learning and Schooling. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.Jacobson, R. (1990) ‘Allocating two languagcs as a key feature of a bilingual methodology’, inR. Jacobson and C. Faltis (eds) Language Distribution Issues in Bilingual Schooling.Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Johnson, R.K. and Lee, P.L.M. (1987) ‘Modes of instruction: tcaching strategies and studentsresponses’, in R. Lord and H. Cheng (eds) Language Education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong:The Chinese University Press.LoCastro, V. (1997) ‘Politeness and pragmatic competence in foreign language education’.Language Teaching Research,Vol. 1, No.3, 239-268.Martyn-Jones, M. (1995) ‘Code-switching in thc classroom’, in L. Milroy and P. Muysken (cds)One Speaker, two languages: cross disciplinary perspectives on code-switching. Carnbridgc:Cambridge University Press.Maybin, J. (1994) ‘Children’s voices: talk, knowledge and idcntity’, in Graddol, D, Maybin, J.and Stiercr, B. (eds) Researching Language and Literacy in Social Context. Clevedon:Multilingual Matters.Maybin, J., Merccr, N. and Stierer, B. (1992) ‘“Scaffolding learning in the classroom’, inNorman, K. (ed.) Thinking Voices. London: Hodder and Stoughton.Mehan, H. (1979) Learning Lessons:social organization in the classroom. Carnbridgc, Mass: HarvardUniversity Press.Mercer, N. (1995) The Guided Construction .f Knowledge: talk amongst teachers and learners.Clevcdon: Multilingual Mattcrs.Words and Minds: how we use language to think together. London: Routledge.Mercer, N., Wegerif, R. and Dawes, L. (1999) ‘Children’s talk and the development ofreasoning in the classroom’. British Educational Research Journal, 25, 1, 95-1 13.Moll, L. and Dworin, J. (1996) ‘Biliteracy developrncnt in classrooms: social dynamics and
Page 2 and 3:
English Language Teaching in its So
Page 4:
English Language Teaching in its So
Page 7 and 8:
First published 2001by Routledge11
Page 11 and 12:
IllustrationsFigures1.12.13.13.25.1
Page 13 and 14:
Ac kn ow I e d g e me n t sThe edit
Page 15 and 16:
xivAC I
Page 17 and 18:
2 INTRODUCTIONprocess evoke and cre
Page 21 and 22:
6 INTRODUCTIONcould be used by adul
Page 23 and 24:
8 INTRODUCTIONkey theme in the pape
Page 26 and 27:
Chapter 1Rosamond Mitchell and Flor
Page 28 and 29:
SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING: CONCEPTS
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40:
Page 44 and 45:
FACTORS AFFECTING SECOND LANGUAGE L
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
orofFACTORS AFFECTING SECOND LANGUA
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 45Many
Page 62 and 63:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 47neces
Page 64 and 65:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 49The c
Page 66 and 67:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 51as an
Page 68 and 69:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 53A num
Page 70 and 71:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 55for l
Page 72 and 73:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 57What
Page 74 and 75:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 59The t
Page 76 and 77:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 61Innov
Page 78 and 79:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 63seen
Page 80 and 81:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 65expla
Page 82 and 83:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 67proce
Page 84 and 85:
SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 6945678
Page 86 and 87:
~ (1977)~ (1980)~ (1SECOND LANGUAGE
Page 88 and 89:
~ (1~ (1~ (1SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISI
Page 90 and 91:
Chaptev 4Pet e r S It e ha nCOMPREH
Page 92 and 93:
COMPREHENSION AND PRODUCTION STRATE
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
CONSTRAINTS AND RESOURCES IN CLASSR
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
CONSTRAINTS AND RESOURCES I N CLASS
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
~ (1CONSTRAINTS AND RESOURCES IN CL
Page 122 and 123:
~ (1~ (1996b)CONSTRAINTS AND RESOUR
Page 124 and 125:
aintoLANGUAGE ACQUISITION OR LANGUA
Page 126 and 127:
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OR LANGUAGE SO
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
~ (1LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OR LANGUAG
Page 138 and 139:
THE SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR LANGUAGE LEA
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
~ uponTHE SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR LANGUA
Page 144 and 145:
~ isTHE SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR LANGUAGE
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
~ (1~ (1984a)~ (1984b)~ (1984)THE S
Page 158 and 159:
~ (1~ (1THE SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR LANG
Page 160:
PART TWOStrategies and goals in the
Page 163 and 164:
148 PAUL I
Page 165 and 166:
150 PAUL I
Page 167 and 168:
152 PAUL I
Page 169 and 170:
154 PAUL I
Page 171 and 172:
~ do~ iswouldwhat156 PAUL KNIGHTLIS
Page 173 and 174:
158 PAUL I
Page 175 and 176:
160 PAUL I
Page 177 and 178:
162 PAUL KNIGHT6 Raman goes to see
Page 179 and 180:
~ (1~ (1~ (1~ (1933)164 PAUL KNIGHT
Page 181 and 182:
~ (1~ (1~~~ (1166 PAUL KNIGHTForeig
Page 183 and 184:
168 JACI< C. RICHARDSa basis for es
Page 185 and 186:
170 JACK C. RICHARDSClassroom manag
Page 187 and 188:
172 JACK C. RICHARDSinformation, an
Page 189 and 190:
174 JACK C. RICHARDSMore recent wor
Page 191 and 192:
176 JACI< C. RICHARDSsuccessful rea
Page 193 and 194:
~ (1985b)178 JACI< C. RICHARDSCohen
Page 195 and 196:
Chapter 10Michael H. LongFOCUS ON F
Page 197 and 198:
182 MICHAEL H. LONG“interfering
Page 199 and 200:
184 MICHAEL H. LONGdcvelopmcnt now
Page 201 and 202:
186 MICHAEL H. LONGPavcsi’s study
Page 203 and 204:
~ (1989)~ (1~ (1984)~ (1~ (1~ (1188
Page 205 and 206:
~ (1~ (1190 MICHAEL H. LONGSpada, N
Page 207 and 208:
eingmore192 DAVID NUNANsense. This
Page 209 and 210:
194 DAVID NUNANenable them to make
Page 211 and 212:
196 DAVID NUNANExample 3Look at the
Page 213 and 214:
198 DAVID NUNANConclusionIn this ch
Page 215 and 216:
Chapter 12Anne BurnsGENRE-BASED APP
Page 217 and 218:
202 ANNE BURNSteacher to structure
Page 219 and 220: 204ANNE BURNST:L:T:L:T:L:T:LL:T:L:L
Page 221 and 222: 206 ANNE BURNSSu: Oh (laughs) . . .
Page 223 and 224: Chapter 13A. Suresh CanagarajahCRIT
Page 225 and 226: ofTESOL-related macrostructures, an
Page 227 and 228: 212 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHI enjoyed
Page 229 and 230: 214 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHconducted
Page 231 and 232: 216 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHtranscende
Page 233 and 234: 218 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAH(c)(d)(e)(
Page 235 and 236: 220 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHdownTamil
Page 237 and 238: 222 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHearly OS),
Page 239 and 240: 224 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHthe intere
Page 241 and 242: ~ (1226 A. SURESH CANAGARAJAHO’Ne
Page 243 and 244: 228 J. KEITH CHICI
Page 249 and 250: 234 J. I
Page 251 and 252: 236 J. KEITH CHICKare responsible f
Page 255 and 256: ~ (1240 J. I
Page 258 and 259: Chapter 15Neil MercerLANGUAGE FOR T
Page 260 and 261: LANGUAGE FOR TEACHING A LANGUAGE 24
Page 262 and 263: thecanLANGUAGE FOR TEACHING A LANGU
Page 268 and 269: ~ orwhatassignments,LANGUAGE FOR TE
Page 274 and 275: ~ note,LEARNING A NEW REGISTER 259T
Page 276 and 277: LEARNING A NEW REGISTER 261there is
Page 278 and 279: LEARNING A NEW REGISTER 2632 when I
Page 280 and 281: LEARNING A NEW REGISTER 265session,
Page 282 and 283: awhichLEARNING A NEW REGISTER 267ha
Page 284 and 285: ~ (1~ (1LEARNING A NEW REGISTER 269
Page 286 and 287: Chapter 17Angel M. Y. LinDOING-ENGL
Page 288 and 289: DO1 N G-E NG LIS H - LESS0 N S 273l
Page 290 and 291: DO1 NG-E N G L IS H-L E S SO N S 27
Page 292 and 293: DO1 NG-E NG LIS H- L E SSON S 277Cl
Page 294 and 295: DO1 NG-E NG LIS H - LESS0 N S 279he
Page 296 and 297: DOING-ENGLISH-LESSONS 281to where?>
Page 298 and 299: DO IN G - E N G L IS H - L E S SO N
Page 300 and 301: DO1 N G - E N G L IS H - L E SSO N
Page 302 and 303: Chapter 18Assia SlimaniEVALUATION O
Page 304 and 305: EVALUATION OF CLASSROOM INTERACTION
Page 316 and 317: ~ (1983)~ (1EVALUATION OF CLASSROOM
Page 320 and 321:
APPENDIX 2: UPTAKE IDENTIFICATION P
Page 322 and 323:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 307psychol
Page 324 and 325:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 309individ
Page 326 and 327:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 311are not
Page 328 and 329:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 313types o
Page 330 and 331:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 315as appr
Page 332 and 333:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 317learner
Page 334 and 335:
NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 319the oth
Page 336 and 337:
~ (1976b)NAVIGATING THE DISCOURSE 3
Page 338 and 339:
Chapter 20Joan SwannRECORDING AND T
Page 340 and 341:
RECORDING AND TRANSCRIBING TALI< 32
Page 342 and 343:
RECORDING AND TRANSCRIBING TALK 327
Page 344 and 345:
Page 346 and 347:
Page 348 and 349:
Page 350 and 351:
~andRECORDING AND TRANSCRIBING TALK
Page 352 and 353:
Page 354 and 355:
Page 356 and 357:
Page 358 and 359:
Page 360 and 361:
Indexabsolute innovation 6 1academi
Page 362 and 363:
INDEX 347discursive practices 3 10,
Page 364 and 365:
INDEX 349teachers 6, 22740; constru
Page 366 and 367:
3INDEX 351sampling 323 4Sapir, E. 1
show all

English Language Teaching in its Social Context

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?