A Conversation Analysis Approach To Interaction Within an English as a Foreign Language EFL Class Information Gap Task
Title
A CONVERSATION ANALYSIS APPROACH TO INTERACTION WITHIN AN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) CLASS INFORMATION GAP TASK
A CONVERSATION ANALYSIS APPROACH TO INTERACTION WITHIN AN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) CLASS INFORMATION GAP TASK
Keywords: No Keyword.
Author
GEORGE EDWIN SKUSE
GEORGE EDWIN SKUSE
A dissertation submitted to the College of Arts and Law
of the University of Birmingham in part fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts
Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language (TEFL/TESL)
This dissertation consists of approximately 11900 words
Supervisor: Guozhi Cai
Abstract
This research applies conversation analysis (CA) to interaction within an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class information gap task. The research aims to investigate, firstly, how repair sequences and other side sequences and their subsequent discourse within the task do or do not present opportunity for learning; secondly, how members of the classroom orient to specific roles and identities within the talk-in-interaction to facilitate learning and promote the classroom as a place for learning. Finally, the research investigates the dynamic and complex nature of language classroom discourse. The results show that repair and other side sequences and their subsequent discourse within the task generally provide opportunity for negotiation for meaning and modified input, which by extension, provides opportunity for language learning; that expert/novice, teacher/student identity dichotomies are oriented to throughout the task to aid in the learning process; that the collaborative nature of classroom discourse provides much opportunity for learning, and that turns within the discourse may function simultaneously on a number of levels and facilitate both the forming and renewing of the language classroom context. The research also shows that CA can add to our understanding of the social nature of second language acquisition (SLA)..
This research applies conversation analysis (CA) to interaction within an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class information gap task. The research aims to investigate, firstly, how repair sequences and other side sequences and their subsequent discourse within the task do or do not present opportunity for learning; secondly, how members of the classroom orient to specific roles and identities within the talk-in-interaction to facilitate learning and promote the classroom as a place for learning. Finally, the research investigates the dynamic and complex nature of language classroom discourse. The results show that repair and other side sequences and their subsequent discourse within the task generally provide opportunity for negotiation for meaning and modified input, which by extension, provides opportunity for language learning; that expert/novice, teacher/student identity dichotomies are oriented to throughout the task to aid in the learning process; that the collaborative nature of classroom discourse provides much opportunity for learning, and that turns within the discourse may function simultaneously on a number of levels and facilitate both the forming and renewing of the language classroom context. The research also shows that CA can add to our understanding of the social nature of second language acquisition (SLA)..
Category: Thesis
