Vygotskyan approaches to understanding foreign language learner discourse during communicative tasks
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose an analysis du discours d'etudiants en espagnol engaged dans une tâche verbale de resolution de probleme.
Abstract: L'A. propose une analyse du discours d'etudiants en espagnol engages dans une tâche verbale de resolution de probleme. Il applique une perspective vygotskyenne pour comprendre la nature de certains aspects de leur discours: parler de la tâche, parler du discours, utiliser l'anglais
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TL;DR: This article argued that the use of the first language should not be avoided in the classroom by teachers and students, arguing that the L1 has already been used in alternating language methods and in methods that actively create links between L1 and L2.
Abstract: This paper argues for the re-examination of the time-honoured view that the first language should be avoided in the classroom by teachers and students. The justifications for this rest on a doubtful analogy with first language acquisition, on a questionable compartmentalization of the two languages in the mind, and on the aim of maximizing students' exposure to the second language, laudable but not incompatible with use of the first language. The L1 has already been used in alternating language methods and in methods that actively create links between L1 and L2, such as the New Concurrent Method, Community Language Learning, and Dodson's Bilingual Method. Treating the L1 as a classroom resource opens up several ways to use it, such as for teachers to convey meaning, explain grammar, and organize the class, and for students to use as part of their collaborative learning and individual strategy use. The first language can be a useful element in creating authentic L2 users rather than something to be shunned...
1,212 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the uses of the first language (L1) made by 22 pairs of grade 8 French immersion students as they complete one of two different tasks: a dictogloss and a jigsaw.
Abstract: The present article focuses on the uses of the first language (L1) made by 22 pairs of grade 8 French immersion students as they complete one of two different tasks: a dictogloss and a jigsaw. The outcome of each task is a story written by each student pair. We propose a coding scheme for the uses made of the L1, exemplify them, and report on exploratory analyses intended to describe differences between and within the tasks in terms of the amount of English (L1) used. We also address the relationship between the amount of L1 use and the quality of students’ writing, and the variability in task performance across student pairs.
665 citations
Cites background from "Vygotskyan approaches to understand..."
...For example, Brooks and Donato (1994) analysed the discourse of eight pairs of third-year high school learners of Spanish as they participated in a two-way information gap activity....
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TL;DR: Two very different theoretical accounts of task-based language use and learning are critiqued and their relevance for language pedagogy discussed in this paper, where three different psycholinguistic models are discussed: Long's interaction hypothesis, Skehan's cognitive approach and Yule's framework of communicative efficiency.
Abstract: Two very different theoretical accounts of task-based language use and learning are critiqued and their relevance for language pedagogy discussed One account, which will be referred to as the psycholinguistic perspective, draws on a computational model of second language (L2) acquisition (Lantolf, 1996) According to this perspective, tasks are viewed as devices that provide learners with the data they need for learning; the design of a task is seen as potentially determining the kind of language use and opportunities for learning that ariseThree different psycholinguistic models are discussed: Long’s Interaction Hypothesis, Skehan’s ‘cognitive approach’ and Yule’s framework of communicative efficiency The second theoretical account of tasks is that provided by socio-cultural theory This is premised on the claim that participants co-construct the ‘activity’ they engage in when performing a task, in accordance with their own socio-history and locally determined goals, and that, therefore, it is difficu
562 citations
Cites background from "Vygotskyan approaches to understand..."
...Brooks and Donato (1994), for example, show that even though the teacher carefully explained the task goals to third-year high school learners of L2 Spanish, the participants engaged in extensive metatalk about the task (typically in the L1) to establish the goals and to orient themselves to how…...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the use of L1 in the collaborative interaction of adult learners of Spanish who are native speakers of English was studied, where L1 was viewed as a psychological tool that mediates human mental activity.
Abstract: This paper studies the use of L1 in the collaborative interaction of adult learners of Spanish who are native speakers of English. Viewed as a psychological tool that mediates human mental activity...
550 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a microgenetic approach was adopted to analyze the interaction produced by two intermediate ESL college students (a reader and a writer) as they worked collaboratively in revising a narrative text written by one of them.
Abstract: Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development and its related scaffolding metaphor serve as the theoretical basis for the study of peer collaboration in the English as a Second Language (ESL) writing classroom. The purpose of the study was to observe the mechanisms by which strategies of revision take shape and develop in the interpsychological space created when 2 learners are working in their respective ZPDs. A microgenetic approach was adopted to analyze the interaction produced by 2 intermediate ESL college students (a “reader” and a “writer”) as they worked collaboratively in revising a narrative text written by one of them. Although in the first half of the revision session the reader played a crucial role as mediator, both reader and writer became active partners in the revision task with guided support moving reciprocally between each other. In general, results showed that in second language (L2) peer revision scaffolding may be mutual rather than unidirectional.
485 citations
Cites background from "Vygotskyan approaches to understand..."
...Another sign of the students' operationalization of the task was their talk about the task-their "metatalk," as Brooks and Donato (1994) referred to it....
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