This qualitative case study drew on Positioning Theory (e.g., Davies & Harré, 1990) to explore the ways in which the negotiation of power and positioning affected language learning. Participants were nine students and their female teacher in a university-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Oral Skills (Listening and Speaking) class. Methods of data collection included the video- and audio-taping of classroom activities for 3.5 months, interviews with students and their teacher, field notes of classroom observations, diaries, and relevant teacher and learning artifacts. As a participant observer, I explored positioning, which refers to locating oneself and others with certain rights and obligations to allow or limit certain actions, in classroom talk and investigated its interaction with second language learning and use. After spending a certain amount of time in the field, I chose two male students as my focal participants, as their positioning and participation differed in terms of quantity and quality of their talk. Through a recursive micro-analysis of classroom interaction and qualitative analysis of other data sources, the findings indicated that the two focal participants constantly dominated classroom conversations and positioned themselves in ways beneficial to them, while other students in the same classroom experienced difficulties in negotiating symbolic power and gaining access to learning opportunities. Additionally the findings showed how interactive and reflexive positioning of learners, which were impacted by a large number of factors, including age, socio-cultural backgrounds, and beliefs, assigned students certain identities and social status over the course of the semester. If second language acquisition is fostered in the classroom by communicative interactions, teachers should attempt to minimize students’ differential access to second language learning opportunities as much as possible. / text

Teachers work in complex and demanding times with an increasing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLD) in classrooms. These students are over represented in statistics of under achievement. All teachers are teachers of academic language, and while no child is born with school language as a first language, for some students the match between home and school is more closely aligned than for other students. Teachers are expected to be culturally responsive, ensuring the languages and culture of students is visible in the classroom environment and the classroom curriculum. Despite the increasing knowledge about the specific strategies and approaches that will most effectively support CLD students in classrooms, the teaching of CLD students within mainstream contexts remains far from ideal. Teachers need support to access the principles of effective teaching of CLD learners that are available, and importantly to transfer the knowledge into classroom practice. Professional development and learning is linked to improved teacher practice and student learning outcomes. When teachers have opportunities to be engaged in successful elements of in-depth professional learning such as in-class modelling, observation and feedback, and co-construction of teaching and planning they are able to demonstrate improved pedagogical content knowledge. Their beliefs may also need to be challenged. The study was conducted in two schools in a large city in New Zealand where I am employed as an ESOL and literacy adviser. Using an action research method I was able to examine how a professional development and learning process shaped my own knowledge and practice as well as teacher knowledge and practice. The study fills a research space to gain insights into the effective professional learning processes that impact on teacher strategies and approaches with their CLD learners A central tenet of this research is that teachers can improve their practice of teaching CLD students and they can specifically learn strategies and approaches that are considered effective for them.

Oral communication is a central aspect of language learning in EFL-classrooms all over the world. Therefore, problems arise when students are passive, or unwilling to communicate and participate. The aim of this study is to investigate what factors impact Swedish upper secondary students’ willingness to communicate using self-reported data. The data in the study is gathered from a questionnaire with 203 participants currently studying in Swedish upper secondary school. The data analysis comprised inferential statistics to investigate causal relationships between the concepts of foreign language anxiety (FLA), self-perceived communicative competence (SPCC), extramural English (EE), and willingness to communicate (WTC). The results of the study suggest a causal relationship between the concepts, thus contributing to previous studies on factors that impact and describe willingness to communicate. Also, the results indicate that students’ extramural English habits impact their behavior in oral communication. In conclusion, motivating the utility of the English language for real-world purposes, in combination with a positive classroom environment, and the improvement of students’ oral communication confidence are imperative tools for the stimulation of willingness to communicate in the EFL classroom.

This paper explores the impact of incorporating songs in the English classroom and will focus on young student’s development of vocabulary and language acquisition. The aim is more driven towards singing, and how that can be a beneficial communicative tool for young language learners in a Swedish context. By it being from the Swedish context, the Swedish curriculum will be reviewed on how songs are incorporated for the ages seven to twelve. The result of the aim has been produced through the analysis of various collected research sources and lays on the role that singing can have in the early stage of learning EFL(English as a foreign language). When searching for the sources different collecting databases, such as “ERIC”, and specific keywords were used to find the most reliable and relevant sources. The results of the collected sources were then compared to each other. Overall, all results showed a beneficial impact when using singing as a communicative tool in students’ vocabulary development. The different sources also point out the perspectives on teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards songs and singing in the lessons. Where results showcased a positive attitude toward the use of singing songs in the EFL classroom. The essential findings of this paper show that singing can be used as a valuable communicative tool for the EFL classroom. Likewise, can it have some problematic factors. For example, if the teacher and students do not like the song or are not interested in singing in the first place. We summarize and discuss the sources in separate parts of this paper. This is so you can get a deeper understanding of the objective results that have been found

The purpose of this paper was to explore how grammar learning in the English as a second or foreign language classroom can be improved. Our aim was twofold: (1) to investigate the possible effect of implementing Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) on students’ grammar learning in the Swedish upper secondary level education, and (2) to find out what students’ attitudes are towards such an implementation and how it can impact student motivation. We analyzed and provided an overview of ten articles relating to the subject. The results showed that the use of MALL contributed to improved grammar learning when it was used as a tool to help students analyze and reflect upon specific exercises collaboratively and to help individuals do grammar exercises and tests with a formative purpose. However, the results also showed that MALL was not beneficial if only used as an educational or communicative tool. Lastly, the results showed that students overall had a positive attitude towards the use of MALL in education, despite experiencing some technical difficulties, and that the approach further motivated students’ will to learn. Based on the results, we argued that the use of MALL in the English language classroom coincided well with the guidelines of the curriculum and syllabus for English 5, and that, if used as recommended, MALL could help improve Swedish students’ English grammar learning and their motivation.

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To learn a language successfully, one needs to incorporate terms which are used commonly by native speakers but cannot be found in dictionaries. Words like uh-huh, oops, ouch, and brrr, are some examples of these terms. These expressions, commonly categorized under such linguistic labels as interjections (Ameka, 1992), alternants (Poyatos, 2002), and response cries (Goffman,1981), are what Dr. Lynn Henrichsen (1993) and Rebecca Oyer (1999) termed Unorthodox Oral Expressions (UOEs). These utterances are considered unorthodox because many of them are not formal or standard English words. Because of that, “we do not consider them part of the productive system of English,” so English dictionaries and textbooks rarely include these words (Luthy, 1983, p.19). Also, they are used mostly in informal speech rather than in formal written English. Hence, non-native English learners usually don’t have the opportunity to learn these informal utterances in English classes (Chittaladakorn, 2011; Oyer, 1999).Though unorthodox, these expressions are important for English language learners (ELL) to learn so that they will be able to carry out more natural and native-like conversations and understand what these utterances mean when native speakers use them. Because UOEs are so under-taught and there are so few teaching UOEs, there is a great need for a UOE dictionary that includes not only pronunciation and meaning, but also the syntactic features and semantic and pragmatic functions of these expressions. This project includes the creation of an online UOE dictionary to fill that need in English language acquisition.