English Language Teaching in its Social Context

LEARNING A NEW REGISTER 2632 when I put/ when you put . . . when youput a magnet . . . on top of a magnet andthe north pole poles are. . .(7 second pause, Hannah is clearly havingd@culty In expressing what she wants to say)3yes yes you’re doing fine . . . you put onemagnet on top of another . . .4 and and the north poles are together erem the magnet . . . repels the magneter . . . the magnet and the other magnet. . . sort of floats in the air?5(The teacher invites other contributions, andthen asks Hannah to explain it again.)I think that was very well told . . . verywell told . . . do you have anything to addto that Charlene?6now listen . . . now Hannah explain oncemore. . . alright Hannah . . . excuse mceverybody (regaining classes attention) . . .listen again to her explanation7 the two north poles are leaning togcthcrand the magnet on the bottom is repellingthe magnet on top so that the magnet onthe top is sort of. . . floating in the air8so that these two magnets are repelling(said with emphasis) each other and . . .(demonstrating) look at the force of it.Stage 3After the students had taken part in the reporting session, they wrote a response in theirjournals to the question ‘what have you learned?’ These were later used as a source ofinformation in the writing of more formal reports about magnets. The interest of thejournals here, however, is that they provide some evidence of ‘uptake’, in that they reflectwordings which occurred in the process of jointly-produced student-teacher discourse. Thetexts below include Hannah’s own entry, and an entry from another student who had listenedto Hannah’s talk with her teacher.Text 3.1 (Hannah’s journal entry)I found it very interesting that when you stuck at least 8 paddle pop sticks in a piece ofpolystyrene, and then put a magnet with the North and South pole in the oval and put