Volume 6, Issue 1 April 2013
The Effect of an Unequal Power Relationship on Interaction in a Children's EFL Classroom
Abigail Odakura, International Christian University High School, Tokyo
Abstract:
Although children are often thought to have an advantage when it comes to second language acquisition, in EFL contexts, adults tend to learn more quickly due to experience and socialization (Ortega, 2009). In order to facilitate communication in a children’s EFL classroom, it is important for teachers to recognize the strategies that children use to when they want to indicate difficulties in interaction. This paper uses Conversation Analysis to examine the strategy use of three children and the power relations between the children and the adult teacher in a children’s conversation class in Tokyo.
Information Technology in English Language Learning: Towards a Plan in Teacher Professional Development and Growth
Phillip A. Towndrow, Centre for Research and Practice, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
Abstract:
The use of Information Technology (IT) in English language learning has grown over the past 50 years in response to learners’ needs and developments in theories relating to the nature of language and language learning. But technological advancement is not neutral. Educational practitioners require ways of determining what IT has to offer and justifying their decisions to utilise it. Using an original lesson outline and instructional aids produced for a primary level (age 9 and above) class in Singapore, this paper illustrates how IT has the potential to create learning opportunities, increase the quality of learning experiences and provide a basis for input variation. The article concludes with four ideas for starting and maintaining a programme of language teacher professional development and growth with IT. Considered individually, each of these items can bring small rewards. But when combined they have the potential to generate more ambitious and transformative action plans.
Language Learner Identities: Utilizing Conversation Analysis in the Classroom
Reiko Takeda, International Christian University, Tokyo
Abstract:
Conversation Analysis (CA), a method which studies and analyzes interaction has been used to study organizational structures of utterances, such as turn-taking, sequencing and repair practices. However, an area which is attracting attention is CA studies in the English language classroom, in particular, identities of language learners. Through examples of CA studies of interactions involving English language learners, the article discusses how using CA to analyze interactions in English language classroom can help address pedagogical issues surrounding the emergence of asymmetrical learner identities. The article concludes with the need to make CA available for more English language teachers as a vehicle to understand their students and their potential.
Extending Learning Opportunities: Diverging from the IRF to Promote Collaborative Pedagogy
Mikiko Sudo, International Christian University, Tokyo
Abstract:
The IRF/RE (initiation-response-feedback/initiation-response-evaluation) is a well-known pedagogical device to control participation structures in instructional settings; however, teachers interested in promoting students’ autonomy distance themselves from overusing this device. One of the main reasons is that students in the IRF oriented interactions are, in principle, “invited to participate …, but they are not authorized to question what they are accomplishing or why” (Kinginger, 2002, p. 255). In spite of such a serious drawback, many teachers still stay unconscious about how they heavily rely on the IRF in their classrooms. This paper reviews studies that have explored teachers' efforts to break the IRF sequence. By so doing the author illustrates how teachers’ conscious shift from authoritative discourse successfully promoted collaborative pedagogy and increased students’ learning opportunities.
Vocabulary Acquisition through Extensive Reading
Fumiko Sato
Abstract:
Vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading is significant and should be treated with substantial concern. Learning the usage and meaning of words incidentally in their contexts and developing inferencing skill to understand unknown words during extensive reading is a powerful contributor to vocabulary growth. Research showing that incidental vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading and intentional vocabulary instruction are not mutually exclusive, but are complementary. Various strategies for intentional vocabulary acquisition may compensate for the weaknesses and enhance the advantages of incidental vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading in EFL situations.
East Asian Students' Autonomy in EFL Classrooms
Sachiko Maruoka
Abstract:
East Asian countries have shifted the pedagogical focus of English education from grammatical components to developing communicative skills in English and positive attitudes towards engaging in proactive communication as a responsible member of a community, both of which can be components in learner autonomy. However, such shifts can not necessarily be found in the reality of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. This paper explores the extent to which East Asian students can be autonomous in EFL classes, and if the gap between the education policies and the reality of EFL education in East Asia can be closed by promoting learner autonomy through certain types of activities, specifically cooperative learning (CL). The paper concludes that reactive autonomy, which is proposed by Littlewood (1999), is congruent with East Asian students, and that CL has potential to promote the students’ autonomy and to accomplish Japanese education policies focusing on communicative proficiency in EFL classrooms.