Collaborative work in pairs or groups is a common practice in the workplace, in content courses, and in classrooms across languages, settings, and geopolitical boundaries. However, research on collaborative writing—working with a partner to jointly produce a text, including both planning and writing phases—is limited. In addition, it has resulted in contradictory findings, especially in terms of whether learners deliberate about language and how the composition process affects the written texts produced learners produce. The present study, carried out in a fifth-semester university Spanish Writing course, examines the process (i.e., interaction) and product (i.e., written document) of a collaborative writing module that focused on the creation of narratives. The analysis of learners’ collaborative dialogue produced during the planning and writing phases of the interaction focuses on: (1) at a macro level, how learners apportion their time while collaboratively planning and producing a written narrative (e.g., planning, formulating, revising); and (2) at a micro level, the types (e.g., discourse, grammatical, lexical, mechanical), frequency, and resolution (e.g., resolved, unresolved, resolved incorrectly) of their language-related episodes (i.e., the instances where they talk about the language they are producing and question their language use). Learners’ jointly produced texts were examined analytically in terms of complexity, fluency, and accuracy measures, as well as holistically using a rubric. Additionally, a microdiscourse analytic approach was used to examine the means by which members of a collaborative pair position themselves as partners in a collaborative writing activity. Results indicate that a fully collaborative writing event is a productive site for co- constructed learning as students pool their knowledge to solve language-use problems, particularly those related to word choice and grammatical structures. Additionally, the texts composed collaboratively are of higher quality, based on several of the measures utilized, than texts composed individually by members of the collaborative pair. Finally, implications for implementing collaborative writing tasks in L2 classrooms are discussed.

Technology that analyzes written human language displays compelling possibilities for computer assisted language learning (CALL). Applications may be designed to examine second language students’ free text production in order to suggest improvements, draw attention to selected linguistic elements, provide examples from native language use, etc. However, language technology is not free from issues. Output from the tools is occasionally inaccurate, and the tools’ emphasis on language structure stands in possible contrast with pedagogies that foreground the social nature of language. These difficulties cannot be resolved by improving technology alone. It is equally important to find out in empirical detail how students handle possibly problematic directions from particular tools, and how tasks and teacher guidance may affect students’ tool usage. This thesis provides detailed analyses of applied CALL activities with a language tool, in order to discern how usage of that particular tool occurs, and how complex interrelationships of tool and context of use direct students. The thesis makes six interrelated contributions, ranging from particular empirical results to implications for general theory and methodology in CALL. On the level of theory, the thesis 1) provides an argument to reintroduce language technology in CALL, and 2) suggests grounding in sociocultural theory for investigating second language classroom CALL as it unfolds. From these standpoints, it 3) develops methodology and empirical studies on the use of a particular tool in the hands of students in class. The studies result in 4) illuminations of problems in use and means to avoid these problems by attending to classroom setting. Returning to general theory, the results provide 5) evidence that the introduction of novel tools demands more than merely providing technology for students and teachers, suggesting 6) a need for more detailed considerations of how CALL tools are introduced to students.

In this two-years masters thesis the information practices of former interns are examined in relation to a possible lack of certain kinds of information in the prison environment. The essay is positioned in the research field of information practices which means its looking at all kinds of information, formal and informal. Since the essay is in the field of information practices it means the focus lies in how information is taught whithin contexts and groups. Information is not looked at solely as an individual process but is seen as a collective experience. The method of the essay is that of the qualitative research interview. Besides taking an interest in information practices i investigate whether access of information in prisons could be improved and whether the library organisations could be a part of those improvements. The result of my research shows that information in the prison coming from the correctional institution is not perceived as well functioning. Some exceptions where found but these where described by the informants as instances where staff had been extra helpful, as opposed to there being a functioning system of information practices in place in the organisation of the prison. Several of the informants thought information within groups of inmates could be motivating. A reason for this could be that groups of inmates are in the same situation, the power differences of the situated identities inmate and prison guard does not exist among inmates. In order of accessing relevant information from prison staff the inmates had to be driven and determined. The result of this essay further shows that it is too late to plan the release after the release has taken place. Several of the informants recounted increased difficulties in adjustment to the new social situation, having gone through psychological breakdown subsequent to their release. Many practical problems like for example homelessness also occurred. The research points to the prison libraries as a place where steps in coping with the release could successfully have been taken. This being so because the libraries are a place where the situated prisoner identity can be dissolved. Where one can remember ones interests and which books one used to read. in which sense there is already in the library room, an opening to the outside world. During the prison stay many find it difficult thinking about the world outside. It can be explained in terms of an adjustment to the social practices in the institution having taken place and in that the contrasts between the correctional institution and the world outside being to wide.

The post-observation conference offers a potentially fecund context for promoting language teacher learning, but very little research has been conducted into how this actually happens. Taking Vygotskian sociocultural theory as its theoretical framework, this study examined the mediational discourse of a series of post-observation conferences between a mentor and two practicing English language teachers to investigate the nature of the discourse and the relationship between the mediational discourse and the language teachers` learning. Features of mediational discourse identified a priori (such as intersubjectivity, graduated and contingent help, and externalization of reasoning) were present in the data, but were found to be inadequate to lead to insights into the relationship between the language of the mediation and the development of the teachers` ability to think conceptually about language teaching. What emerged from closer analysis of the language was how the mentor`s discourse prompted the teachers to think conceptually about language teaching and modeled conceptual thinking by encapsulating the lived experience of the classroom through different types of verbal, and therefore conceptual, abstraction. Constructed dialogue was also found to be a salient feature of the discourse, and to have a cognitive function within the mediation. In terms of the relationship of the dialogue to the language teachers` learning, a micro-level analysis of single post-observation conferences revealed the dynamic flow of the mediation and instances of uptake of conceptual thinking by the teachers. A more macro-level analysis which followed mediation on a single topic for each teacher found evidence for the development of conceptual thinking in one teacher`s data but less so in the second teacher`s, and reasons for this are suggested. The results of the study also constitute a revealing account of the nature of the mediational discourse, suggesting a possible cognitive function for the different types of conceptualizations in the discourse, which has the potential to increase understanding of how verbal mediation interacts with learning, and to inform how post-observation conferences are conducted with a view to maximizing the development of conceptual thinking. The taxonomy of conceptualization identified within the mediation discourse points towards an understanding of how the idealization of lived experience and subsequent re-concretization reflect the role that language plays in the development of conceptual thinking.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe the culturally responsive teaching practices of adult education ESOL and EAP teachers in the state of Florida. Using Ginsberg and Wlodkowski's Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching, an online survey of 17 teaching practices was developed and validated. In the survey, participants assessed how frequently they used each practice and how important they believed each practice was to their teaching on 5-point frequency scales. The sampling frame consisted of teachers from 15 colleges, 2 universities, 8 school districts, and Bay Area Regional TESOL (BART) and resulted in 134 responses. Results indicated that the most frequently used practice was "provide rubrics and progress reports to students" (M = 4.26), followed closely by "elicit students' experiences in pre-reading and pre-listening activities" (M = 4.24). The least frequently used practice was "include lessons about anti-immigrant discrimination or bias" (M = 2.51), followed by "students work independently, selecting their own learning activities" (M = 2.76). Also, results indicated that the two most important practices were "provide rubrics and progress reports to students" (M = 4.13) and "elicit students' experiences in pre-reading and pre-listening activities" (M = 4.13). Five culturally responsive teaching practices were perceived to be the least important. They were "include lessons about anti-immigrant discrimination or bias" (M = 2.58), "learn words in students' native languages" (M = 2.89), "ask for student input when planning lessons and activities" (M = 2.90), "students work independently, selecting their own learning activities" (M = 2.91), and "encourage students to speak their native language with their children" (M = 2.96). This study revealed a trend of adult education ESOL and EAP teachers' regular use of culturally responsive teaching practices. These findings add to the limited knowledge of how teachers in ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous classrooms create and support a learning environment for all learners.

Although research on children's play is abundant and considerable advances have been made in young children's play, the majority of these studies have been based in western developed countries and written from adults' perspectives rather than with children. Additionally, very little research has been done on children's play with active participants from smaller developing countries. The voices of society's youngest members have been lost or are only marginally represented. The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore, understand, and describe young Jamaican children's lived play experiences as related through their eyes. The theoretical frameworks used to guide this study are sociocultural theory and narrative case study. Narrative case study focuses on a particular phenomenon and, through rich description, each participant's story relates the complexities of this phenomenon. Sociocultural theory is related to the social, cultural, and historical theory of a people and is constructed as they participate in culturally pertinent activities. The examined literature, which draws on diverse theoretical frameworks, including Vygotsky and Rogoff's sociocultural theory and Bronfenbrenner's work on socioecological theory, discusses types of play, the relationship between play and children's development, indoor and outdoor play at school, and play as perceived by children. A key theme in this literature is children's beliefs and values observed through a cultural filter. The three 5-year-old children, their teacher, and parents were purposefully selected for this single-bounded case study. The methods of data collection include video-cued interviews (VCI), a researcher's journal, and observation and field-notes. An understanding of the history of Jamaican education and its people is essential to the successful implementation of the play-based curriculum. The importance of knowing how children view their play and its manifestations and meanings is compelling to the Jamaican people and will help inform teachers, teacher education programs, parents, national and international funders, and other stakeholders as they try to fuse Jamaican culture with global elements of young children education.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on August 28, 2009). School of Nursing, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Pamela Ironside, Anna McDaniel. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-197).

Focusing on a Vygotskian theory of cultural historical psychology, this dissertation features a narrative analysis to examine the role of subjectivity and the generative potential and agency manifested in Non Native English Speaking Teachers' (NNESTs) successful development of L2 (English) fluency. My research creates another view of a Vygotskian theory by means of the imagination. Building on a cultural-historical approach, I conducted a qualitative analysis of how these teachers' pathway to fluency evolved from their Imagined Destinations. This term is defined as a goal or objective in the mind of the learner that mediates, and is mediated by, his or her lived experiences. The concept I coin as Imagined Destinations surfaced in my three initial pilot cases and took shape while working with NNES Panamánian teachers, from the analysis of online survey data with 27 of these experienced teachers, and detailed case study analyses of the language learning of eight of these teachers. These data revealed how participants dynamically create and recreate their environments through agentive roles that support the transformation of their environments to advance their goals. These transformations have implications for how subjectivity, agency, and acquisition of the target language intertwine throughout the participants' lived experiences or pathways to learning, thus providing an additional way to look at subjects and subjectivities within a Vygotskian theoretical frame. The findings also indicate that teachers' language trajectories are continuous, emergent, and the result of taking on very deliberate ecological roles in their bilingual success despite recurring salient and limiting circumstances. These findings about the centrality of Imagined Destinations in learning "smudges" the perception that societal power outweighs the dynamic and agentive roles of individuals as active molders of their lives. Finally, this dissertation also seeks to enrich scholarship by demonstrating how NNESTs use their bilingual identities built from their trajectories to bilingualism as ways to influence and inspire their own students' second language learning.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last 25 years socially-based SLA research has increasingly focused on contextual factors that constitute the local learning environments of learners of English as a second language in attempting to better comprehend the socially embedded nature of learning outcomes. These scholars have largely postulated language learning not only as the acquisition of linguistic knowledge in the abstract but rather as fundamentally constituted by participation in social praxis as situated within local sociocultural and institutional contexts. The emergence of „the social‟ in SLA research is especially significant to academic contexts in which learners belonging to diverse cultural and literacy traditions typically struggle to identify with target literacy practices of their academic communities. Drawing on a sociocultural approach and the community of practice construct, this thesis takes a qualitative approach. Through the analysis of teacher and student focus group data, this thesis sets out to illustrate learner and teacher articulations surrounding what constitutes learner engagement in an academic English program at an international university in Vietnam. The data collected in this study suggests that the focal learners perceived higher levels of learner engagement in learning contexts in which collaborative, dialogic activity was extensively integrated in the acquisition of target academic literacy practices. While the focal teacher articulations surrounding student engagement also took into account the importance of such collaborative class activity, the teachers did not attribute the same level of importance to it that the focal students did. This study concludes that teachers should extensively use activity frameworks within class that encourage group work in the learning of target academic literacy practices, especially academic reading and writing practices. Even where target practices will ultimately be elaborated and assessed on an individual basis, this study illustrates that collaborative dialogic frameworks seemed to provide students with opportunities to pool linguistic, content, and skills-related resources, thus allowing students to overcome learning difficulties associated with academic literacy practices. Ultimately, such activity frameworks appeared to mediate higher levels of student engagement within class activities, which students linked to more effective and enjoyable learning of academic English. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar

My study explores the characteristics of remote performance feedback that professional examiners working in the Oxford, Cambridge & RSA (OCR) awarding body communicate to each other. Drawing on sociocultural theories, I argue that this interaction possesses learning potential because between-professional communication supports the development of participants’ reasoning through the alignment of culturally appropriate collective thinking. My data consists of 991 feedback messages that were captured during two examination sessions (between May and July 2014, and between May and July 2015). These remote interactions (either email or telephone) involved three senior examiners and 27 examiners. These feedback interactions have an important quality assurance function as they help to ensure that the examiners carry out marking practices to an agreed standard. My research explores two interlinked research questions: ‘What are the characteristics of examiner feedback?’ and ‘What are the characteristics of effective examiner feedback?’ For the first research question I develop a methodology that extends the Sociocultural Discourse Analysis (SCDA) approach developed by Neil Mercer; I call this approach Augmented Sociocultural Discourse Analysis (ASCDA). My methodology allows me to investigate the features of interaction at both a particular and a general level, and clusters my analysis into four specific feedback discourse themes: feedback content, the development of discourse over time, evidence of joint intellectual action within feedback, and the impact of feedback. In order to address the second question I hypothesise that effectiveness relates to how feedback features support or undermine examiners’ common ground building. I synthesise the findings from these analyses to consider the lessons for examiner practice in particular, and for other professional feedback practices more generally. Taken together, these analyses suggest that feedback-giving is an intellectually challenging process. My analyses also suggest that this complexity involves the participants establishing and maintaining an Intermental Development Zone through their feedback communication, and that this entails them manipulating discourse features whilst simultaneously attending to a variety of contextual features of the professional environment.