The complex dynamics of adaptive teaching: observing teacher-student interaction in the language classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nienke Smit ◽  
Marijn van Dijk ◽  
Kees de Bot ◽  
Wander Lowie
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Teacher Questions ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Adaptive Teaching

Abstract Real-time verbal interactions between foreign language teachers and their students are of vital importance for language development, but classroom interactions are also multi-faceted and complex. The way a teacher understands and responds to learner utterances can be a powerful pedagogical strategy to scaffold learner language development. In this paper we present the Questions and Answers in English Language Teaching coding scheme which can be used to observe and describe the dynamics of teacher questions and student responses in language classrooms. We piloted the instrument in English as a foreign language lessons of four experienced teachers teaching 16 lessons in total. State Space Grids were used to visualize classroom dynamics and quantify intra-individual variability of each lesson. The results show that interactions between teachers and students have the tendency to self-organize and stabilize in one specific area of the grid. Lessons taught by three of the teachers revealed a dominant pattern formed by closed questions and short student responses. One teacher taught lessons in which more complex question and answer sequences were prevalent. These patterns of variability and stability show that teacher-student interactions have the properties of a shallow attractor state. The analysis of moment-to-moment turns in classroom interaction indicate that students in this study generally adapt their response to the level of teacher questions, but that teachers do not seem to adapt their questions to the level of the previous student answer. This suggests that, even for experienced teachers, scaffolding and adaptive teaching might be easier said than done.

Kommunikation und "Kommunikation" im Schulischen Fremdsprachen -Unterricht

1983 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-149
Author(s):  
Henning Bolte
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Conversational Analysis ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Response Formats ◽  
Teaching Learning

The article deals with the relationship between verbal communication as a teaching objective and as a medium of teaching/learning. This relationship is of special interest for foreign language teaching/ learning aiming at ccmnunicative competence in spoken language. The article enters into the question in which ways teaching/learning ob-jects are constituted in the course of ongoing interaction, how acti-vities with regard to such objects are stimulated and steered, and what kinds of activities are defined by the participants themselves as LEARNING or count for them as such. Psycholinguistic input-(in-take) output models are being argued against, because classroom learning is not simply characterized by ready-made prestructured in-put and predetermined output, but both have first to be constituted through some strategic form of social interaction. Two examples of foreign language learning in the classroom are pre-sented: first of an EFL lesson, where the distortion of target langu-age function potential is demonstrated and the "staged" production of language prof iciency within a pedagogic interaction pattern is shown; and second of a German FL lesson, where a grammatical item is focussed and exercised. The sequence is an example of rigorous reali-zation of the I(nitiation)-R(esponse)-E(valuation) pattern as the ba-sic pattern of sequential organization in the classroom. It clearly shows how LEARNING is defined/executed as standardized response for-mats and "conditioned" chains of I-R-pairs. Many of the performed linguistic deviations(of the target language)seem due to interaction mechanisms rather than to general principles of language development. Conversational analysis of teaching-learning discourse shows that learning is not merely to be considered as a direct conventionalized consequence of ( initiating ) teaching ( acts ). On the one hand the inter-action pattern is merely a framework wherein "inner" mental processes are evoked and organized, which can manifest themselves in various forms. On the other hand there is a strong tendency for the teacher to control the entire learning process and to make expected outcomes collectively significant and thus for the learner a tendency mainly to adjust to prefabricated response formats, which at the same time serve as evidence for didactically intended cognitions. Hence, the stronger the predetermination and imposing of LEARNING by the teach-er, the more learning tends to become a mere guessing game and pure-ly mechanical. The restrictions of traditional classrooms are obvious from these examples: restrictions with regard to the experience of functional potential of the target language and with regard to the embedding of focussed learning-items into a functional perspective. These re-strictions have to be changed in order to enable learners to parti-cipate in problem-constitution, to bring in own perceptions of con-cepts/problems and to bring in own problem-solving strategies as systematic parts of language development and as systematic parts of official classroom discourse, i.e. as objects of active mutual indication and interpretation. Conversational analysis can be an important tool for the study of such "alternative" structuring of classroom interaction and its con-tribution to a more learner-centered and functionally oriented (foreign)language LEARNING.

Student Participation and Engagement

2021 ◽  
pp. 51-73
Author(s):  
Christine M. Jacknick
Keyword(s):  
Student Participation ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Verbal Participation ◽  
Teacher Student Interaction ◽  
A Performance

This first data-based chapter shows how the sequentiality and temporality of student actions can be used to characterize their participation and engagement in classroom interaction. Traditionally, researchers and teachers have focused on students’ verbal participation, and this chapter likewise focuses on students’ verbal contributions to demonstrate how participation and engagement might be disambiguated. A new term, studenting, is introduced here as well. This concept refers to student actions which may be characterized as a category-bound action of the role “student” undertaken at the “wrong” time or as a performance of participation. The analysis also shows how individual student actions may be visualized as a wave of student responses. Examples include choral responses, teacher-student interaction, and student-student interaction.

Questions in English Medium Instruction Undergraduate Lectures in a Sri Lankan University: Why are they important?

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 208-229
Author(s):  
Abdul Majeed Mohamed Navaz
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Teacher Questions ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
Dialogic Interaction ◽  
Rhetorical Questions ◽  
Patterns Of Interaction

Introduction of English Medium Instruction (EMI) is linked to language development, mainly in countries where English is not the mother tongue of the majority of the population. It is believed that teacher questions that trigger teacher-student interaction, especially dialogic interaction in an EMI classroom, can help students’ content and language development. Hence, this study investigates the types of questions lecturers ask, and the patterns of interaction developed in the lecture deliveries in English Medium Instruction (EMI) undergraduate lectures of a Sri Lankan university. It also looks into the underlying reasons for such practices. Six lectures delivered by two lecturers were recorded for this purpose and they were transcribed verbatim. The lecture transcripts were analysed to find the questions lecturers asked and the subsequent pattern of interactions developed. Interview with lecturers informed the underlying reasons for the existing questioning patterns. The majority of the questions asked by the lecturers were rhetorical in nature, and only a limited number of non-rhetorical questions, which could create meaningful interactional episodes of dialogic nature, were found. This study enlightens that lecturers should be trained to ask non-rhetorical questions in order to develop interaction if the objectives of EMI are to be achieved.

scholarly journals Code-switching in Iranian Elementary EFL Classrooms: An Exploratory Investigation

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Rezvani ◽  
Abbass Rasekh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Exploratory Investigation ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Efl Classrooms

This paper presents the results of a small-scale exploratory investigation of code-switching (CS) between English and Farsi by 4 Iranian English foreign language (EFL) teachers in elementary level EFL classrooms in a language school in Isfahan, Iran. Specifically, the present study aimed at exploring the syntactical identification of switches and the functions that the switches served. The data consist of field notes and scripts of audio-recordings of the teachers’ talk collected during classroom observations. The findings suggest that CS is a frequently applied strategy and a valuable resource for bilingual teachers in foreign language classrooms, and its judicious and skillful use can boost the quality of teaching. Moreover, it was found that EFL teachers in this study tended to use the learners’ L1 (i.e., Farsi) to serve a number of pedagogic and social functions, which contributed to better teacher-student classroom interaction. Implications may be drawn for language teacher education programs and for further research on systematic investigation into actual classroom practices.

scholarly journals Teacher-Student Interaction in EFL Classroom in China: Communication Accommodation Theory Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Zheng Weizheng
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Student Interaction ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Communication Accommodation ◽  
Communication Accommodation Theory ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Teacher Student Interaction ◽  
Accommodation Theory

Foreign language teaching highlights the cultivation of the learners’ communicative competence, because the main purpose of learning a foreign language is to use the target language to communicate. However, many students in higher institutions in China cannot speak English fluently after having learned English for more than ten years, although they have mastered abundant knowledge of grammars and enough vocabulary, which mainly results from lack of interaction in classroom teaching besides the natural language environment. Classroom interaction is the key to effective teaching in EFL classroom. So, using strategies to promote the interaction in class is necessary. This paper explores the interaction between teacher and student in EFL classroom from the perspective of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). Data was collected from 540 minute video samples of three English teachers’ classroom teaching. This study aimed: 1) To identify whether the teachers use communication accommodation strategies to develop the interaction，when they are faced with the difficulties in EFL class; 2)To answer which strategies are often used in EFL classroom? Findings showed: 1) Communication accommodation strategies happened in Teacher-student interaction; 2) Communication accommodation strategies such as approximation, interpret ability, emotional expression and interpersonal control are the basic strategies which were employed by the three participants in each session of EFL class; 3) Interpret ability and strategy of discourse management such as face-maintenance, turn-taking, topic control, asking referential questions, conversational repair and feedback occurred frequently according to the discourse. 4) The more accommodation strategies the teacher used, the better the interaction in the classroom was.

The Effects of Bilingualism and Motivation on Foreign Language Development

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah R. Sellevaag ◽  
Erica Kleinknecht ◽  
Heide Island
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Foreign Language

scholarly journals Online Foreign Language Learning in Higher Education and Its Correlates during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 781
Author(s):  
Maria-Anca Maican ◽  
Elena Cocoradă
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Student Relationship

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online learning of foreign languages at higher education level has represented a way to adapt to the restrictions imposed worldwide. The aim of the present article is to analyse university students’ behaviours, emotions and perceptions associated to online foreign language learning during the pandemic and their correlates by using a mixed approach. The research used the Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) scale and tools developed by the authors, focusing on task value, self-perceived foreign language proficiency, stressors and responses in online foreign language learning during the pandemic. Some of the results, such as the negative association between anxiety and FLE, are consistent with those revealed in studies conducted in normal times. Other results are novel, such as the protective role of retrospective enjoyment in trying times or the higher level of enjoyment with lower-achieving students. Reference is made to students’ preferences for certain online resources during the pandemic (e.g., preference for PowerPoint presentations) and to their opinions regarding the use of entirely or partially online foreign language teaching in the post-COVID period. The quantitative results are fostered by the respondents’ voices in the qualitative research. The consequences of these results are discussed with respect to the teacher-student relationship in the online environment and to the implications for sustainable online foreign language learning.

scholarly journals Intensive ESL Programmes in Quebec Primary Schools

1989 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Spada ◽  
Patsy M. Lightbown
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Oral Fluency ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Comparison Groups ◽  
Attitudes Toward English

This paper is a report on a study designed to investigate the second language development of francophone children in experimental intensive ESL programmes in Quebec primary schools. Classroom interaction patterns and learners' contact with and attitudes toward English were also investigated. Learners in the intensive programmes were compared with learners in regular ESL programmes at the same grade level, as well as with learners who had received a comparable number of hours of instruction spread over a longer period of time. The results indicated that the intensive programme learners outperformed both comparison groups on tests of listening and reading comprehension and in oral fluency. In addition, although both regular and intensive programme learners were found to have very little contact with English prior to instruction, the intensive programme learners indicated somewhat greater contact after instruction. They also held more positive attitudes toward English than did the regular programme learners.

Teaching Grammar

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg-U. Keßler ◽  
Anja Plesser
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
University Courses ◽  
Teacher Trainees ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
The Many ◽  
Self Instruction ◽  
Teaching Grammar

The book offers a concise introduction to the psychological and pedagogical foundations of teaching grammar in the foreign language classroom. The authors focus on topics of importance for students who have no extensive experience in teaching grammar themselves. This textbook makes rewarding reading not only for participants in university courses but also for those students who want to use it for self-instruction at home. Also teacher trainees and experienced teachers can benefit from the many insights provided in this volume. Welches sind die lernpsychologischen und didaktischen Grundlagen zeitgemäßen Grammatikunterrichts? Das Buch kann in Lehrveranstaltungen an der Hochschule, in Fortbildungszentren und für das Selbststudium eingesetzt werden. 

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