Classroom Interaction

1. Classroom Interaction A Sociocultural Perspective

2. Brief Background • The previous unit was concerned with the Interactionist perspective and psycholinguistic approaches to SLA. • Sociocultural Theory (SCT) is primarily concerned with the social context of SLA.

3. Brief Background • SCT is based on the work of Russian child psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s who published between 1925 – 1934. • Vygotsky’s work was translated into English in the 1960s. • His theories are concerned with learning in general, and not just second language acquisition.

4. Key Concepts • Some of the key concepts of SCT are now presented and discussed as they relate to L2 classrooms.

5. Scaffolding • The process of supportive dialogue which directs the attention of the learner to key features of the environment, and which prompts them through successive steps of a problem (Mitchell and Myles 1998: 145)

6. Scaffolding • Traditionally, the expert in the expert/novice pair has been thought of as an adult. • However, in SLA, peer/peer interaction has been proposed to be beneficial as well.

7. Example of Scaffolding (Donato, 1994) • In the following example, three L2 learners of French are working on a task. One of them has difficulty with a linguistic form. Together the three of them co-construct or scaffold the form, and in the end they produce the correct form that they might not have been able to produce on their own. The different coloured text represents each of the learners contribution to the correct form.

8. Example of Scaffolding (Donato, 1994) • S1 … and then I’ll say … tu as souvenu notre anniversaire du marriage .. or should I say mon anniversaire? • S2 Tu as… • S3 Tu as… • S1 Tu as souvenu … ‘you remembered?’ • S3 Yea, but isn’t that reflexive? Tu t’as … • S1 Ah, tu t’as souvenu • S2 Oh, it’s tu es • S1 Tu es • S3 Tu es, tu es, tu… • S1 T’es, tu t’es • S3 Tu t’es • S1 Tut’essouvenu.

9. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) • The domain of knowledge or skill where the learner is not yet capable of independent functioning, but can achieve the desired outcome given relevant scaffolded help (Mitchell and Miles, 1998)

10. Regulation • Individuals progress from being unskilled to skilled by moving from being other-regulated to self-regulated. That is to say, learners initially need considerable regulation/support from others, but as they become more competent, they are able to do more on their own.

11. Regulation • Aljaafreh and Lantolf’s (1994) study attempted to operationalise a regulatory scale in the context of an L2 English writing class. They proposed the following levels.

12. Other-regulated Self-regulated Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Levels of Internalization(Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994)

13. Levels of Internalization(Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994) • Level 1: The learner is unable to notice, or correct the error, even with intervention • Level 2: The learner is able to notice the error, but cannot correct it, even with intervention, requiring explicit help • Level 3: The learner is able to notice and correct an error, but only with assistance. The learner understands assistance, and is able to incorporate feedback offered.

14. Levels of Internalization(Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994) • Level 4: The learner notices and corrects an error with minimal, or no obvious feedback, and begins to assume full responsibility for error correction. However the structure is not yet fully internalized, since the learner often produces the target form incorrectly. The learner may even reject feedback when it is unsolicited

15. Levels of Internalization(Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994) • Level 5: The learner becomes more consistent in using the target structure correctly in all contexts. The learner is fully able to notice and correct his/her own errors without interventions

16. Thus, as the learners move through the stages, they are able to do more on their own (in this case producing correct linguistic structures) and need to rely less and less on the teacher’s assistance.

17. Private Speech • A verbal attempt to gain self-regulation during problem-solving tasks, distinguishable from the interpersonal communication in to which it is often interwoven, and the result of stress that can accompany the task of constructing meaning in L1 or L2 (Smith 1996, cited in Donato 2000).

18. In the following example, participants have been asked to narrate a series of pictures. The L2 learner uses a series of private speech moves (underlined in the text) to help them do the task. Notice that such private speech is largely missing from the L1 speaker’s production, as he/she did not need the ‘extra assistance’ in telling the story.

19. Low Int L2 speaker I see a man on…in the picture. He’s looking at some monkeys. What do I see? There is another basket of hats. Now the monkeys look at the man. Adult L1 speaker The man’s watching the monkeys playing… and the monkeys want to get all his hats – I guess. And when he falls asleep the monkeys com down, get his hats, and put them on back in the tree. Example of Private Speech

20. Conclusion • SCT provides a theoretical framework for examining the role of interaction in a much broader way than the Interaction Hypothesis. It encompasses many more aspects of classroom interaction; however, few studies to date have documented how what is accomplished inter-psychologically evolves into what can be used intra-psychologically.