Enabling students’ knowledge building in English classrooms in China: The role of teacher monologue

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Xie
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
Cumulative Knowledge

AbstractTeacher monologue has received scant attention in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms which emphasise the teacher-and-student exchange. This study assumes that a key index of interaction would be the construction of knowledge, in which teacher monologue has a due role to play. The research is set in the context of EFL teaching at the tertiary level in China and examines teacher monologue with reference to the concept of making semantic waves in Legitimation Code Theory, which has been proved to be an important means of cumulative knowledge building in classroom practice. Systemic Functional Linguistics is used to analyse how semantic waves are generated on the ideational base of context dependency, i.e. the extent to which the reality construed in teacher monologue is dependent on its context. The transdisciplinary perspective attempts to provide one possible way to model linguistic choices in making semantic waves in EFL classrooms. The findings are the primary and secondary categories of semantic patterns representing a scale of context dependency. Semantic waves trace recurrent movements between relatively decontextualised and context-dependent meanings in the progression of semantic patterns. The shifts might scaffold students in the construction of knowledge essential for developing academic English proficiency.

scholarly journals Data-Texts in the Sciences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Duschl ◽  
Lucy Avraamidou ◽  
Nathália Helena Azevedo
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Data Transformation ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Current Reform ◽  
Design Of Learning Environments ◽  
Collective Construction

AbstractGrounded within current reform recommendations and built upon Giere’s views (1986, 1999) on model-based science, we propose an alternative approach to science education which we refer to as the Evidence-Explanation (EE) Continuum. The approach addresses conceptual, epistemological, and social domains of knowledge, and places emphasis on the epistemological conversations about data acquisitions and transformations in the sciences. The steps of data transformation, which we refer to as data-texts, we argue, unfold the processes of using evidence during knowledge building and reveal the dynamics of scientific practices. Data-texts involve (a) obtaining observations/measurements to become data; (b) selecting and interpreting data to become evidence; (c) using evidence to ascertain patterns and develop models; and (d) utilizing the patterns and models to propose and refine explanations. Throughout the transformations of the EE continuum, there are stages of transition that foster the engagement of learners in negotiations of meaning and collective construction of knowledge. A focus on the EE continuum facilitates the emergence of further insights, both by questioning the nature of the data and its multiple possibilities for change and representations and by reflecting on the nature of the explanations. The shift of emphasis to the epistemics of science holds implications for the design of learning environments that support learners in developing contemporary understandings of the nature and processes of scientific practices.

scholarly journals Disaffection and agentic engagement: ‘Redesigning’ activities to enable authentic self-expression

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 456-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alastair Henry ◽  
Cecilia Thorsen
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Authentic Self ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
Negative Face

Demotivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011) and non-participation (Norton, 2001) characterize negative responses to classroom practice of a generally chronic nature. In this article, focus is directed to negativity that emerges within the context of a particular language developing activity, and which can be understood as a situated response to the activity’s demands. In conceptualizing negative responses at the activity level, disaffection – the negative face of engagement – is a construct of central importance. Drawing on data from a large-scale ethnographic project in secondary English classrooms in Sweden, in this exploratory case study disaffection (Skinner, 2016) is examined in the context of two language developing activities. Analyses reveal that disaffection can transform into active engagement, and that when called upon to perform an inauthentic identity, students can ‘redesign’ activities in ways that enable them to act authentically.

Building the house of evaluation: Reconsidering the blueprints and bricks for knowledge accumulation in evaluation

Evaluation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Lemire ◽  
Christina A. Christie
Keyword(s):  
Evidence Based Practice ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
The Public ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
What Works ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Cumulative Knowledge

The push for evidence-based practice is persistent in the public sector—what counts is what works. One central premise for evidence-based practice is the existence of an evidence base; that is, an accumulated and generalizable body of knowledge. Informed by a recent systematic review, we examine the promises and pitfalls of meta-analysis (the statistical workhorse of systematic reviews) as the primary blueprint for cumulative knowledge building in evaluation. This analysis suggests that the statistical assumptions underlying the meta-analytic framework raise issues that, at least in regards to producing generalizable knowledge, may cut even deeper than is suggested by common criticisms. Advancing beyond meta-analysis, we consider alternative approaches for knowledge building and reflect on the implications of these for individual evaluations.

From national policy to classroom practice: Promoting reading for pleasure in post‐Primary English classrooms

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Laurenson ◽  
Kevin Mcdermott ◽  
Karol Sadleir ◽  
Della Meade
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Practice ◽  
National Policy ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
Reading For Pleasure

The Curious Construct of Active Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-43
Author(s):  
Doug Lombardi ◽  
Thomas F. Shipley ◽  
Janelle M. Bailey ◽  
Paulo S. Bretones ◽  
Edward E. Prather ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
Undergraduate Stem Education ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Definition Of

The construct of active learning permeates undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but despite its prevalence, the construct means different things to different people, groups, and STEM domains. To better understand active learning, we constructed this review through an innovative interdisciplinary collaboration involving research teams from psychology and discipline-based education research (DBER). Our collaboration examined active learning from two different perspectives (i.e., psychology and DBER) and surveyed the current landscape of undergraduate STEM instructional practices related to the modes of active learning and traditional lecture. On that basis, we concluded that active learning—which is commonly used to communicate an alternative to lecture and does serve a purpose in higher education classroom practice—is an umbrella term that is not particularly useful in advancing research on learning. To clarify, we synthesized a working definition of active learning that operates within an elaborative framework, which we call the construction-of-understanding ecosystem. A cornerstone of this framework is that undergraduate learners should be active agents during instruction and that the social construction of meaning plays an important role for many learners, above and beyond their individual cognitive construction of knowledge. Our proposed framework offers a coherent and actionable concept of active learning with the aim of advancing future research and practice in undergraduate STEM education.

scholarly journals Tradições epistemológicas nos estudos de organização dos saberes: uma leitura histórico-epistêmica a partir da filosofia da linguagem | Epistemological traditions in studies of knowledge organization: a historical-epistemic reading based on the philosophy

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Silva Saldanha
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Knowledge Organization ◽  
Linguistic Turn ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Epistemological Tradition ◽  
Science Philosophy ◽  
Collective Construction

Resumo Analisa o campo da organização dos saberes a partir da filosofia da linguagem. Problematiza a virada lingüística e sua importância no campo informacional. Critica a terminologia adotada para classificar o campo que atua com preservação, representação e transmissão de conceitos e artefatos que possibilitam a construção coletiva do conhecimento. Categoriza a tradição representacionista e a tradição pragmática. Descreve as tradições epistemológicas do campo informacional fundadas em uma filosofia da linguagem através das manifestações institucionais que atravessaram o século XX.Palavras-chave epistemologia da ciência da informação; filosofia da linguagem; tradição epistemológica; tradição pragmática; tradição representacionistaAbstract The article examines the field of organization of knowledge building on the philosophy of language. Questions the linguistic turn and its importance in the informational field. Criticizes the terminology used to classify the field that works with preservation, representation and transmission of concepts and artifacts that allow the collective construction of knowledge. Categorizes the representationalist tradition and the pragmatic tradition. Describes the epistemological traditions of the informational field based on a philosophy of language in institutional manifestations across throughout the twentieth century.Keywords epistemology of information science; philosophy of language; epistemological tradition; pragmatic tradition; representationalist tradition 

scholarly journals The construction of semantic waves of knowledge-building: High school students´ natural science writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-152
Author(s):  
Birgitta Svensson
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
Science Writing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Cumulative Knowledge

This paper investigates popular science articles written by Swedish high school students as part of a project aimed at building their knowledge of the content of their natural science curriculum by integrating it with their Swedish language studies. This work, an effort to promote content-area literacy and knowledge-building, was undertaken during their project time. By analyzing the students´ texts, the purpose of the study was to access their value as knowledge-building tools. The analysis of the texts was carried out utilizing Maton´s (2013) theoretical concepts of waves of semantic density and semantic gravity, which are seen as a prerequisite for cumulative knowledge-building. The investigation extends previous studies on semantic waves since it incorporates into the analyses both linguistic features and visual elements. The students were writing in pairs and a total of six texts were analyzed. The text analyses showed three different types of semantic profiles, with four of the texts including features that served as means of cumulative knowledge-building. In a concluding section, some pedagogical implications of the study are considered. 

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