This dissertation investigates language policy in a Dutch-medium secondary school in Brussels. The school in question endeavours to implement a language policy in which languages other than Dutch are formally included, which is in stark contrast to their peers, who often implement a strict, Dutch-only policy in order to respond to the increasing linguistic diversity and “Frenchification” in Brussels Dutch-medium education. This thesis addresses the question of how the teachers negotiated such a pro-multilingual language policy in this setting. The research is designed as a (socio)linguistic ethnographic case study based on a conceptualisation of language policy as (1) operating on different levels; (2) consisting of three components; and inseparable from the social world in which it is effectuated. The study combines ethnographic field work and participant observation with interview data, linguistic analyses of interactional data, document analysis and analyses of elements of the linguistic landscape to gain insights into the nature and extent of the school’s unique pro-multilingual project. Although the school profiles itself as an institution which aims to prepare its pupils for future educational and professional success by increasing their language skills, the school’s policy declarations harbour an ambivalent stance vis à vis multilingualism. In terms of individual teachers’ perceptions and practices, then, we demonstrate that they, too, voiced contradictory sentiments and displayed behaviour in the classroom which was at once welcoming of pupils’ use of linguistic resources other than monolingual Dutch, and restrictive of it. / Doctorat en Langues, lettres et traductologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This dissertation explores how oral communication is perceived and used by five teachers at a secondary school in Malmö. Through qualitative interviews with the teachers, this paper aims to find a deeper understanding of their view on teaching. By looking at oral communication theories, sociocultural theories, a theory on discursive space and a recent study regarding English as a subject in Swedish secondary schools, it examines how the interviewees approach teaching. Based on the results, this paper will discuss how the teachers in this study initiate meaningful oral communication and how they view their own role as promoters of an oral communicative and inclusive learning environment.The results show that the teachers’ thoughts concerning oral communication to a large extent seem to agree with the theoretical basis presented in this study. However, the teachers claim to be restricted by external factors. The results show that the teachers in this study find working with oral communication very time consuming. According to them, their lessons are too short and the classes are too big. Therefore they find it difficult to create an ideal learning environment. The teachers try to motivate and encourage their students through creating tasks that are interesting from the students’ point of view. In order to give every student the opportunity to speak, dividing them into groups during speaking activities is preferred. Furthermore, the teachers point out that the students’ personalities also are important factors to take into account, since some students are more reserved then others. Finally, the teachers aim to be supportive during oral activities, although the lack of time seems to be a restraint. They find it hard to manage their big classes and to be supportive to the individual student at the same time.

Taking an analytical perspective founded on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, the four studies presented in this thesis provide detailed analyses of video recorded lab work in mechanics at secondary and university level. The investigated activities all build on educational design afforded by a technology called probeware. The aim of the thesis is to investigate how teachers, task formulations, and technology make mechanics visible and learnable, and how students and teachers witnessably orient towards the practical achievement of understanding in the setting. The first study investigates how students use the technology in the interpretation and production of graphs: how they produce increasingly precise interpretations, how they fluently switch between different modes of meaning, and how the interpretations are both prospectively and retrospectively oriented. With a starting point in the analysis, the relevance of technology and task structure for the students’ interaction and learning are discussed. In the second study, the use of probeware is contrasted with the use of a simulation software. The study shows that some important differences between the local enactment of the two technologies are to be found in the practical work of the students; more specifically, in the ways that students orient to the subject matter content. The third study demonstrates an intimate interplay between how students display their problems and understandings and how instructors try to make the subject matter content visible and learnable. The analyzed episodes are illuminating with regard to the analytical notion of disciplined perception as applied to graph interpretation, the cognitive and practical competencies involved in producing, recognizing, and understanding graphs in mechanics, and the interactive work by which these competencies are made into objects of learning and instruction. The fourth study investigates episodes where explicit references to students’ understanding are made through formulations such as, “I don’t understand” or “do you get it?” The analysis focuses on the use, reference, interactional significance, and positioning of these formulations, and is followed by a discussion on the relation between the many and varied ways references to understanding are used and the concrete conditions of lab work. In sum, all four studies contribute to a detailed understanding of lab work as an educational practice and how learning and instruction are practically achieved. / Avhandlingen baseras på fyra empiriska studier av laborationsarbete i mekanik. Den analytiska utgångspunkten hämtas från etnometodologi och angränsande ansatser. Materialet består av videoinspelad interaktion från en tematisk lärarutbildning, en teknisk gymnasieutbildning samt en högskoleingenjörsutbildning. I laborationerna använder studenterna en specifik teknologi kallad probeware, som består av kraft- och rörelsedetektorer kopplade till en dator. Gemensamt för laborationerna är också att uppgifterna bygger på ett likartat pedagogiskt upplägg, vilket i korthet innebär att studenterna först ska ställa upp en hypotes, sedan genomföra ett experiment och slutligen diskutera relationen mellan hypotes och resultat. Avhandlingens övergripande syfte är att undersöka lärandets konkreta villkor i laborationsarbetet: hur studenternas arbete, tillsammans med teknologi, uppgiftsformuleringar och lärarstöd, skapar vissa möjligheter för lärande och förståelse. Detta syfte specificeras i de fyra delstudierna. I den första studien undersöks hur två studenter, genom verbala tolkningar, gester och rörelser, gradvis får en större förståelse av en graf som representerar tid och hastighet. I artikeln diskuteras teknologins och uppgiftsformuleringens roll för sättet som studenterna interagerar och lär. Den andra studien jämför studenters användning av probeware med användningen av en simulering. Ett syfte med studien är att visa hur två aktiviteter som vid första anblick kan verka vara lika, samtidigt kan vara väldigt olika om man i detalj studerar vad studenterna gör och hur de angriper ämnesinnehållet. I den tredje studien analyseras interaktionen mellan två studenter och en lärare. Artikeln fokuserar på det täta samspelet mellan de sätt studenterna visar sina problem, i detta fall oförmågan att se något relevant i en graf, och de sätt som läraren försöker lösa dessa problem genom att visa vad och hur man kan se något i grafen. I den avslutande artikeln analyseras ett större antal sekvenser som innehåller explicita referenser till studenternas förståelse, såsom ”vi fattar inte”, ”förstår du?” och ”jag förstår den men inte den”. Analysen används sedan som utgångspunkt för en diskussion av relationen mellan de många och varierade sätt som förståelse refereras och laborationens praktiska villkor.

[pt] O presente trabalho busca investigar o papel do humor conversacional nas interações em uma sala de aula de língua inglesa, na qual a pesquisadora exerceu o papel de professora. A orientação da pesquisa é qualitativa e interpretativa, com o suporte teórico da Sociolingüística Interacional, da Análise da Conversa e de Teorias sobre o Humor, buscando analisar dados compostos por gravações de aulas em fitas de áudio e notas de campo. Foi realizada uma análise sociointeracional do discurso, baseada na noção de enquadres de brincadeira conversacional, visando perceber como estes são estabelecidos e finalizados, de que forma eles influenciam na socioconstrução de conhecimento e nas relações estabelecidas entre os participantes do contexto pesquisado. Os enquadres de brincadeira conversacional podem ser iniciados e finalizados tanto pela professora quanto pelos alunos, demonstrando a influência do estilo flexível da professora na utilização do humor em sala de aula. Os resultados apontam que o humor conversacional exerce papel fundamental para o envolvimento e a diminuição da assimetria entre os participantes, podendo atuar auxiliando na construção de conhecimento na língua alvo. A principal contribuição do trabalho é um maior entendimento do papel do humor nas interações em sala de aula, trazendo uma maior compreensão das interações no contexto educacional. / [en] This study investigates the role conversational humor plays in na English language classroom, in which the researcher was also the teacher. The research orientation is qualitative and interpretative, and the theoretical basis lies on Interactional Sociolinguistics, Conversation Analysis and theories of humor, in order to analyze data constituted by audio-taped classes and field notes. A sociointeractional discourse analysis was done, based on the construct of conversational play frame and intends to notice how these frames are initiated and ended and how they influence social construction of knowledge and the relation established between the participants of the investigated context. The conversational play frames may be initiated and ended not only by the teacher, but also by the students, which demonstrates the influence of the flexible style of the teacher in the humor use in the classroom. The results show that conversational humor is essential to promote involvement and to reduce asymmetry between the participants, and is also an auxiliary in the social construction of knowledge in the target language. The main contribution of this study is the understanding of the role conversational humor plays in classroom interactions, resulting in a better comprehension of the interactions that occur in the educational context.

本研究旨在探討一位國中英語教師對於課室互動及提問策略的信念與教學實務。資料搜集與分析採質性之資料收集及分析法，以期對於該英語教師之信念及教學能有整體的瞭解。參與本研究教師及學生為台中市一所中型公立國中的一位英文教師及一個七年級班級，期間自九十八年八月至十二月初。資料蒐集方式以訪談、課室觀察及回憶式訪談的逐字稿為主。 以課室互動的七個面向來探討及呈現此位國中英語教師對於課室互動及提問策略的信念與教學實務。研究結果指出該受訪英語教師的教學信念與實務在課室互動的重要性、語言的使用、提問的目的、提問的類型與提問策略等五個面向呈紫現一致性，唯活動類型、溝通式語言的使用面向不一致。研究結果發現該受訪英語教師教學實務深受其教學信念影響，而造成老師信念及實際上課些微差異的因素包括教科書、時間緊迫、大班級的呈現方式、學生的語言能力不足及班級裡頭學生語言能力個別差異大。研究者根據這些發現，提出了對英語教學的看法及未來研究方向的建議，以期對於課室互動及提問策略有整體的瞭解。 / The study attempts to better understand what beliefs a junior high school English teacher had with regard to classroom interaction and questioning, and how these beliefs were reflected in her actual practices. To achieve the purpose, qualitative methods were adopted to capture a holistic understanding of the teacher’s beliefs and practices. The participants included one junior high school English teacher and one seventh grade class in a medium-sized school in Taichung city. Data were collected from August of 2008 to December of 2008. Data from semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, stimulated recall interview, and field notes were analyzed to see the teacher’s beliefs and teaching practices about classroom interaction and questioning. Seven elements derived from classroom interaction and questioning were used to display the teacher’s beliefs and practices. The results of this study revealed the consistency of the participating teacher’s beliefs and practices in five areas: the significance of classroom interaction, choice of language, the purpose of questioning, teachers’ questioning types and teachers’ questioning strategies. The inconsistency between the teacher’s beliefs and practices was found on the elements of activity types and communicative language use. The results of the consistency between the teacher’s beliefs and practices showed that the teacher’s beliefs greatly influenced the way how she carried out instructional classroom practices. The results of inconsistency, on the other hand, suggesting a mismatch between the teacher’s beliefs and practices, were associated with the following factors, i.e., textbooks, time constraints, large class, students’ limited and diverse proficiency in English. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research were recommended. It is hoped to provide insights into the dynamics of classroom interaction and questioning.

The aim of this study is to investigate the interaction in sign language in a classroom in the special school for deaf and hard of hearing pupils. Three questions are of particular interest: What characterizes interaction in educational situations where the whole class is present compared to half the class and when the pupils in small groups are solving problems given by the teacher? How are a hearing and a deaf teacher interacting in the classroom? And How are boys and girls interacting in different educational situations? Theoretically the study is based on an educational interaction model. Of particular interest in this model are restrictive and permissive aspects of teaching and factors stimulating pupil participation. Symbolic interactionism has been used in the interpretation of face-to-face interaction in sign language. Video recordings of classroom interaction in natural sciences were documented in a class in the special school comprising 17 pupils and three teachers. A total of seven lessons were recorded consisting of whole class teaching, half class teaching and problem solving in small groups. Of the pupils ten were girls and seven were boys and of the teachers one was hearing and one was deaf. The third teacher was only temporarily in the class and was not included in the analysis. The recorded material was transcribed and analyzed in six steps. The results show that the teachers are most restrictive in whole class teaching while there is more participation from the pupils in half class teaching. In the small group problem solving the teachers seem to be more interested in the group process than in getting an answer to the problem. This gives a lot of room for individual actions and interaction of a relational kind rather than educational. There tend to be some visible differences between the hearing and the deaf teacher. The former uses a more individual approach towards the pupils, I-Gaze, which leaves room for the pupils to be engaged in other activities. The deaf teacher on the other hand keeps all the pupils engaged by using a group approach, G-Gaze. Other differences are the use of literacy tools where the deaf teacher situates the material and keeps the attention of the pupils by telling a narrative. Concerning differences between boys and girls it is evident that the boys are more dominant in whole class and half class interactions while the girls tend to take over the teacher role in small group interaction. These results are discussed in relation to theoretical background and research on classroom interaction in the compulsory school and in schools for deaf pupils.

I takt med att flerspråkiga elever förekommer alltmer i dagens skolverksamheter är det väsentligt för lärare att ha kännedom kring elevernas erfarenheter och kunskaper. Studiens syfte är att öka kunskapen om hur grundskollärare med inriktning årskurs 4–6, anpassar sin undervisning för att främja flerspråkiga elevers språkutveckling i svenskämnet. De frågeställningar som har uppfyllt studiens syfte är följande: Hur identifierar lärare de olika språkliga nivåerna i det flerspråkiga klassrummet? På vilka sätt säger lärare att de utformar sin undervisning för de flerspråkiga elevernas språkutveckling? Vilket resultat menar lärare att de åstadkommer med utformningen av undervisning för flerspråkiga elevers språkutveckling i klassrummet? Studiens utgångspunkt har varit det sociokulturella perspektivet. Studien genomfördes av en kvalitativ forskningsmetod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem lärare som undervisar i ämnet svenska. Resultatet visade att samtliga lärare anpassar sin undervisning på liknande sätt men det finns även olikheter kring det. I resultatet synliggörs det att lärarna använder digitala verktyg olika mycket för att främja de flerspråkiga elevernas språkutveckling. Samtliga lärare använder sig även en hel del av par- och grupparbeten. De anser att interaktionen mellan individer har en avgörande roll för språkutvecklingen, vilket även tidigare forskning synliggör. / As multilingual pupils become more and more common in today's school activities, it is essential for teachers to have knowledge of the pupils’ experiences and knowledge. The purpose of the study is to increase knowledge about how primary school teachers with a focus on grades 4–6, adapt their teaching to promote multilingual pupils’ language development in the Swedish subject. The questions that have fulfilled the purpose of the study are the following: How do teachers identify the different language levels in the multilingual classroom? In what ways do teachers say that they design their teaching for the language development of multilingual pupils? What result do teachers think they achieve with the design of teaching for multilingual pupils’ language development in the classroom? The starting point of the study has been the sociocultural perspective. The study was carried out by a qualitative research method in the form of semi-structured interviews with five teachers who teach the Swedish subject. The results showed that all teachers adapt their teaching in a similar way, but there are also differences around it. The results show that teachers use digital tools to varying degrees to promote the language development of multilingual pupils. All teachers also use a lot of pair and group work. They believe that the interaction between individuals has a crucial role for language development, which also previous research makes visible.

No description available.

This study is a qualitative and descriptive investigation of teacher gestures in EFL education. The specific aim is to describe the types, roles, and functions of gestures that are produced by native English speaking teachers in English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms in Japan by examining naturally occurring interactions. In addition to teacher gesture, I included some nonverbal behaviors such as suprasegmental features, nodding, and gaze direction so as to understand classroom interaction and communication in EFL classrooms. In order to accomplish these aims I employed a qualitative case study approach in five EFL classrooms at a university in an urban area in Japan. The primary data come from classroom interactions of a native English speaking teacher and his 26 students of one classroom over one semester that were analyzed through a microanalysis of videotapes of the naturalistic classroom interactions. In addition to videotapes, to better understand the interactions that occurred in the classroom, I gathered and analyzed observation notes from my perspective as a peripheral observer. I also collected retrospective stimulated video recall interview data from the teacher and some volunteer students for further analysis. Furthermore, in order to have wider understanding of multimodal foreign language (FL) classroom interactions, I observed four more EFL classes that were taught by two other native English speaking teachers at a university that was situated in a municipal capital in Japan as additional observations and a post-lesson survey with the teachers and students for additional analyses. My aim is not to seek causal explanation but to present plausible descriptions and interpretations of naturally occurring interactions in EFL classrooms. Analysis revealed that various types of teacher gesture were used by the teachers from five EFL classrooms. They were categorized into representational, referential, emphatic gestures, and emblems. The findings were further analyzed for the following functions: In EFL instruction, the teacher’s speech and gestures influence the transmission of knowledge and information as comprehension aids, classroom management, and students' affective states. All three teachers heavily relied on multimodal behaviors, primarily gestures. However, they not only used gestures, but also various nonverbal behaviors. The teachers selected a mode or a combination of modes according to their instructional purposes and personal styles such as giving knowledge and information, and giving directions. It was confirmed that the teachers presented visual input even when learners were not looking at them. The teachers' awareness of their gesture use differed individually. Whereas teacher 1 was not aware of his gesture production, Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 were conscious about their gesture uses and intentionally used certain types of gestures for pedagogy. Student interviews and survey suggested that the students perceived teachers’ gestures positively. Close analysis of the transcribed data suggests that multi-modes of communication including gesture serve to potentially enhance meaning-making in classroom interaction and communication. I assume that integration of these gestural functions of teacher gesture scaffold learning to some extent although the degree of its influence cannot be determined from this study. The teachers’ gestural and speech instruction might contribute to learning, in particular to multimodal semiotic meaning construction for the case of teacher gestures that function as comprehension aids, and that this kind of instruction definitely contributes to classroom management and atmosphere. Students reacted nonverbally to the teachers’ rich input in speech and gestural explanations, and followed the teachers’ speech and gestural directions. In addition, the classroom cohesion was promoted through the use of humor presented by bodily motions such as mimes and the use of students. This finding was confirmed by interview and survey results. This study contributes to the research on gesture in second and foreign language (L2 / FL) education, to the pedagogy of language education and subject matter education in the first language, and possibly to the larger body of research on gesture. / Language Arts

[pt] Esta pesquisa em sala de aula, orientada pelos princípios da Prática Exploratória (Allwright, 2003), se caracteriza como trabalho-para-entendimento. Constitui-se em um trabalho conjunto da professora-pesquisadora e seus alunos de uma turma de inglês como língua estrangeira, na busca de entendimentos quanto à interação em sala de aula. A investigação se realizou através de atividades pedagógicas com potencial exploratório e discussões. O material discursivo gerado foi analisado à luz de teorias que tratam das características de cada tópico. Para a análise, foram utilizados os seguintes conceitos: a) discurso e dialogismo (Bakhtin, 2003); b) crença e pensamento reflexivo (Dewey, 1959; 1979); e c) sistema de crenças (Richards, 1998; Richards & Lockhart, 1994; Barcelos, 2004). O trabalho-para-entendimento buscou alcançar maiores entendimentos de todos os participantes quanto às suas crenças, discursos e ações relacionados ao processo de ensino-aprendizagem, visando a qualidade de vida do grupo. Os entendimentos alcançados pela professora-pesquisadora mostram que o discurso dos alunos reflete os princípios do ensino como transmissão de conhecimento, apesar de suas ações estarem em conformidade com a abordagem construtivista. Foi também notado que o discurso dos estudantes se tornava mais compatível com suas ações quando era baseado nas suas próprias experiências como alunos. A reflexão gerada neste trabalho, orientado pelos princípios da Prática Exploratória, levou a professora-pesquisadora e seus alunos a ficarem mais conscientes da complexidade da interação em sala de aula e de suas responsabilidades no processo de ensino-aprendizagem. / [en] This classroom research, following the principles of Exploratory Practice (Allwright, 2003), is conceptualized as work for understanding. It is a collective work of a teacher-researcher and her students in an English as a foreign language class, looking for understandings about classroom interaction. The investigation was developed through the use of potentially exploitable pedagogic activities and discussions. The discursive material generated was analysed with the help of theories that deal with the characteristics presented in each topic. For the analysis, the following concepts were used: a) discourse and dialogism (Bakhtin, 2003); b)beliefs and reflexive thinking (Dewey, 1959; 1979); and c) belief systems (Richards, 1998; Richards & Lockhart, 1994; Barcelos, 2004). The work for understanding intended to reach participants` deeper understandings about their beliefs, discourses and actions related to the teaching-learning process, aiming at the group`s quality of life. The understandings reached by the teacher-researcher show that the students` discourse reflects the principles of knowledgetransmission instruction, whereas their actions are related to the constructivist approach. It was also noted that the students` discourse was more compatible with their actions when it was based on their own experiences as students. The reflection generated in this research, oriented by the principles of Exploratory Practice, enhanced the teacher and her learners` awareness of the complexity of classroom interaction and of their responsibilities in the teaching-learning process.