Classroom learning of English L2 requests: Input and interactional opportunities in French secondary schools

With today’s strong focus on communicative competence in second language (L2) classrooms, speech acts like suggestions, requests, refusals, and apologies are often investigated in interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) as well as instructional pragmatics. Even though there is strong evidence in ILP research that purports that L2 learners respond well to pragmatic instruction (Taguchi, 2015), the teaching of L2 pragmatics is not always prioritized in textbooks, teaching programmes or teacher education (Barron, 2016; Savvidou & Economidou-Kogetsidis, 2019) with the consequence that pragmatic learning can only occur incidentally. The present study examines opportunities to acquire L2 requests for 308 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners across 7 years of instruction in French secondary schools, investigating textbooks preferred by teachers, classroom interaction (39 hours), and teacher perspectives (semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers). After a pragmatic analysis of 15 EFL textbooks with a focus on requests, the study examines the incidence of metapragmatic input in 39 hours of teaching in 13 classes at 3 levels, and relates interactional patterns with interview data from the 10 teachers concerned. Findings suggest limited pragmatic input in both textbooks and classroom interaction. By comparing the profiles of teachers who encouraged L2 requests with those who did not, the study offers new explanations for L2 learners’ limited pragmatic development which also broadly corroborate previous findings of somewhat limited potential for L2 pragmatic development in obligatory school contexts.

Participation, inclusion, and success in emergency remote online teaching and learning

Covid-19 affected educational institutions worldwide, and many moved online engaging in Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL). It had a particular impact in Japan due to the low levels of computer usage in Japanese educational institutions and a reliance on traditional methods. This study uses semi-structured interviews with five participants to explore their perceptions of the move to online learning in a Japanese university context. Four factors emerged as significant: participants’ experiences prior to entering university; the importance of Social Networking Systems (SNS) in the process of becoming part of the university academic community; changes in spoken interactional patterns; and changes in learning patterns. It was found that the disruption due to ERTL led to fresh ways to learn and promoted an inclusive environment.

Interactional Patterns in English as a Second Language Classrooms at Higher Learning

This study investigates the interactional patterns that were used in ESL classrooms at higher learning at the University of Botswana and the reasons for the said patterns. A qualitative approach was employed and the classroom observations were used to investigate the topic. To further shed some light on the patterns used in the CSS classrooms, reference will be made to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Sinclair & Coulthard’s Initiation, Response, Feedback (IRF) analytical tool. The results indicated that there were ‘new’ interactional patterns at the University of Botswana classrooms. Some of these were Initiation Response (IR) and Initiation Response Response (IRR) which led to the conclusions that the patterns of interaction which emanated from the study were, “better”, “good”, and “not so good” (BGN interactional patterns). This study concludes that there is an attempt to produce quality classroom interaction as the interactional patterns of “better”, “good”, and “not so good” (BGN interactional patterns) were demonstrated with the first two categories carrying higher percentages.

Significant Moments in Improvisational Music Therapy

Four composite case examples are presented and discussed as they relate to emotional expression, significant moments in the therapeutic process, and communication using a variety of modalities in music therapy with adults diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Building on therapeutic awareness through discussing musical elements, body movement and posture, countertransference, and interactional patterns, the implications of deep emotional connection and processing are approached using primarily nonverbal methods. Composite vignettes from the author’s clinical work demonstrate awareness of these factors in the moment as they impacted the session, therapeutic relationship, and other professionals’ understanding of music therapy in this population. Implications for emotional processing in clinical practice are presented as they relate to the concepts presented in this paper.

ПІДХОДИ ДО ВИВЧЕННЯ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ РЕСТАВРАЦІЇ

This study applied cognitive-pragmatic, literary criticism and theory of theatre approaches to summarize findings on the dramatic discourse of English Restoration. In this article, I set out the main points of Stuart Restoration ideology, sum-marize findings on the predominant concepts of that time, substantiate that the institution of theatre became a leading ide-ological instrument during the English Restoration, and single out its two main functions: entertainment and dissemination of absolutist ideology. In this paper, the subject matter and dramatis personae of Restoration drama have been character-ized. The paper focuses on generalizing the research results of comparative studies of Restoration and Elizabethan drama which concern their scope, genres, and morality. The conclusions reached in the studies that reported on borrowings in repertoire from native, French and Spanish sources at the beginning of Restoration and the influence of English and con-tinental writers have been synthesized. Further investigation of English Restoration drama revealed an unprecedented genre variety and combination which demonstrated signs of development in different directions during the 1660s. In this article, I state that the existing studies have reported on active behaviour of Restoration audiences during the perfor-mances, describe usual patterns of their behavior, and make conclusions as to the direct influence of such behavior on the processes of drama production and perception. The existing research has demonstrated weak points in some key areas, such as Restoration audiences’ composition. Despite the fact that scholars point to various sources of information as to the theatre-goers’ personalities in the seventeenth century, there is still no consensus of opinions on this issue. Although Restoration drama research demonstrably improved over the 20th and 21st centuries, further research on Elizabethan and Restoration drama cognitive construals of the world, comparative analysis of original plays and adaptations, literary genres origin and development, interactional patterns of viewers and characters of Restoration drama is recommended.Key words: English Restoration theatre, dramatic discourse, play, ideology. У статті наведено узагальнення результатів наукових досліджень, присвячених дискурсу часів англійської Реставрації, з позицій когнітивно-прагматичного, літературного й театрального підходів. У дослідженні окреслено основні положення ідеології Реставрації Стюартів, узагальнено знахідки наукових досліджень, присвячених вивченню основних концептів того часу, обґрунтовано, що інститут театру став провідним ідеологічним інструментом за часів англійської Реставрації, та виділено дві основні його функції: розваги й розповсюдження ідеології абсолютизму. У роботі описано тематику й схарактеризовано персонажів драматичних творів часів англійської Реставрації. Наукова розвідка фокусується на узагальненні результатів наукових досліджень, присвячених порівнянню масштабів охоплення тематики, жанрів і моралі драматичних творів часів англійської Реставрації та драматургії часів королеви Єлизавети Тюдор. У дослідженні також синтезуються знахідки наукових розвідок, присвячених запозиченням у репертуарі з англійських, французьких та іспанських джерел на початку епохи англійської Реставрації, а також впливу власне англійських та європейських авторів. Подальше вивчення драматургії часів англійської Реставрації демонструє безпрецедентне розмаїття та поєднання жанрів, що демонструють ознаки розвитку в різних напрямах у 1660 роки. У статті стверджується, що наукові дослідження повідомляють про активну поведінку глядачів на виставах часів англійської Реставрації та робиться висновок про те, що така поведінка безпосередньо вплинула на процеси створення та сприйняття драматичних творів. Наявні дослідження демонструють прогалини в основних сферах, таких як контингент глядацької аудиторії вистав часів англійської Реставрації. Не зважаючи на той факт, що вчені вказують на різні джерела інформації щодо складу театральної глядацької аудиторії в сімнадцятому столітті, досі не існує єдності поглядів на це питання. Хоча дослідження драматургії часів англійської Реставрації значно покращилися у XX і XXI століттях, рекомендовано вивчення концептуальної картини світу в драматичних творах часів англійської Реставрації та королеви Єлизавети, порівняльний аналіз оригінальних п’єс та адаптацій, виникнення та розвитку літературних жанрів, моделі взаємодії глядачів і персонажів у п’єсах часів англійської Реставрації.Ключові слова: театр часів англійської Реставрації, драматичний дискурс, п’єса, ідеологія.

Pragmatic information in constructions

Despite recent advances in Construction Pragmatics, a systematic way for delimiting coded pragmatic information has yet to be offered. This squib provides a step in establishing such an account by assessing what kind of pragmatic information speakers generalize from various usage-events. Drawing on findings from Conversation Analysis, I propose a distinction between pragmatic functions as speakers’ actions, and interactional patterns as discourse-information sequences. A synchronic examination of the Hebrew multifunctional discourse marker ′at/a yode′a/′at (′you know.prs.sg.m/f′) demonstrates the consistent use of the construction in an interactional pattern across numerous usage-events. A qualitative diachronic analysis of ′at/a yode′a/′at suggests that speakers may associate forms with interactional patterns rather than with functions. This preliminary evidence provides support for the generalization of interactional patterns.

The Patterns of Sequential Organization of a Person with Asperger Syndrome: A Conversation Analysis

This study documents the patterns of conversational sequential organization, i.e., turn construction unit (TCU), of a person (pseudonym Samy, age 27) with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). The language data was audio recorded from two naturally occurring conversations (30 and 40 minutes long two different encounters) between the participant and the first author of this paper. Later, the data was transcribed and analyzed by using the tools of conversation analysis (CA). The results revealed the occurrences of unusual prosody, unusual pauses, invalid turns and word-finding difficulties, in the participant’s TCUs. The findings of this research contribute to our knowledge on the interactional patterns of people with AS. It also draws attention to the efficacy of the CA method in investigating conversational structures of atypical people. The findings eventually prepare a dialogue for incorporating conversation analytical methods into clinical approaches to study the persons with AS.

The Analysis of the Features of Interaction in Instructed SLA

This study investigates the interaction in university instructed setting in China. It reveals the interactional patterns, the strategies used in the negotiation of meaning and language forms being negotiated in classroom. The results show that the most frequently used interactional pattern and strategy of negotiation of meaning is IRF and comprehension check. But data shows that more complicated interactional patterns such as IRF(I)RF, IR [I1 R1 (I2 R2)] F and IR1F1 / R2F2 are being used. They are beneficial in promoting students’ language production. And we also found that there is focus on form in the negotiation of meaning, which can help to raise learner’s awareness of language forms in meaningful communication.

Let’s talk about discourse analysis for health professional education: What, why and how

Much of healthcare is facilitated through interactive talk and writing: diagnosing, collaboratively making treatment decisions, conducting treatment, coordinating care, handing over care. For junior health professionals, learning the valued patterns of talk and writing—the discursive practices of healthcare—is part of becoming a health professional. Discourse analysis of texts, written and spoken, can make visible to health professional educators what the valued interactional patterns are and how junior members learn the discursive practices through interaction with more senior colleagues. It can also illuminate “troubles” in communication, such as barriers, power imbalances and misalignment. Doing discourse analysis requires an understanding of how texts work and a meaningful, systematic approach to representing and analysing data. This paper introduces genre theory, a form of discourse analysis that distinguishes between text types according to their social purpose and contextual variables, including what the text is about, who is involved and how the text is organised. This paper outlines some principles of genre analysis and practical “how to” guidelines. It also provides suggestions about how findings of genre analysis can inform teaching in health professional education.

Complaint management on Twitter – evolution of interactional patterns on Polish corporate profiles

The study concerns complaint management on Polish brand profiles on Twitter. The aim was to investigate selected language properties of corporate tweets and trace potential changes in the interactional patterns on the profiles occurring between 2015 and 2017. The study focuses on the structure and frequency of the respective strategies, as well as formality, the use of non-standard structures and emoticons. The study indicates the following directions of change: an increase in the use of address terms and explanations, a greater degree of language formality and indirectness, among others. The changes point to increased formulaicity and conventionalisation of expression, as well as an increased use of fixed patterns and templates. The changes constitute evidence of standardisation of the means of expression in customer encounters and a transfer of the conventions typical of other channels of interaction with consumers to the online context.