Digital Artifact

Jean L., & Etienne W. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

Chapter 1

Summary:

This article mainly delves into the shift of the notion from learning as receiving knowledge passively to actively participating the process of learning. There is an strong assumption that there is no meaningful learning activity can be realized if they happen in decontextualized situation. Firstly, the study intentions of this article stems from the necessary of figuring out the obscure concept of apprenticeship, which serves as discussion on the nature of learning. For a period of time, apprenticeship used to be deemed as a synonym for situated learning in that people are uncertain about the exact meaning of it. Secondly, there is an urgent sense that researchers need to distinct between theoretical framework for analyzing educational forms and specific historical examples of apprenticeship. What the notion implies is that focus is on comprehensive understanding involving the entire person instead of receiving a fraction of knowledge pertaining to the world; on activity in and within the world; and on the belief that practitioners, activity, and the world mutually constitute each other (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Thirdly, the term legitimate peripheral participation arose from situated learning, which emphasizes the process toward the full participation of community practice.

Lastly, the article illustrates that legitimate peripheral participation is neither a sort of educational form nor a teaching technique. It is nothing but a way of understanding learning. Meanwhile, the author wants to establish a preoccupation that reserves the analysis of schooling and other certain pedagogical forms in the future.

Reflections:

What the authors imply is that learning is a product that stems from certain social situations. Also, rather than a learning of things, they assume that learning is more in coincide with the concept of a learning to do.

For instance, for those students who are actively engaged in the preparations for IELTS exam, the authentic IELTS exam papers of past years have been the first choice for them to practice, which is mainly due to the fact that the authentic exam papers provide students with a way of thinking rather than merely mock practice. The reason why apprenticeships work better than classroom learning is that expertise is more than just learning a bunch of facts, it is learning a way of thinking. Learning a new way of thinking makes you a new person. You learn a new way of thinking by being placed in a situation where everybody thinks that way, and gradually learn to speak their language.

Meanwhile, problem solving and learning from experience are central processes (Tennant, 1997). It is vital for educators to reflect on what the constitutions of knowledge and practice. Perhaps one of the most significant issues to address is the extent to which education involves informed and committed action.

Finally, educators need to explore with people in communities how all may participate to the full. One of the implications for schools, as Barbara Rogoff and her colleagues suggest is that they must prioritize instruction that builds on children’s interests in a collaborative way (Rogoff, 1984). Such schools need also to be places where learning activities are planned by children as well as adults, and where parents and teachers not only foster children’s learning but also learn from their own involvement with children.

References:

Jean L., & Etienne W. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

McCormick, R. & Paetcher, C. (1999) Learning and Knowledge. London: Paul Chapman.

Murphy, P. (1999) Learners, Learning and Assessment, London: Paul Chapman.

Rogoff, B., & Lave, J. (1984). Everyday Cognition: Its Development in Social Context. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press.

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997). Psychology and Adult Learning. London: Routledge.

Entry 2

Language learning in mindbodyworld: A sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition

Dwight Atkinson Purdue University

Summary:

This article mainly explores a sociocognitive approach to SLA. The perspective this approach employs is a non-cognitivist view of cognition. The approach ascertain that mind, body, and the world aren’t radically separated but rather functionally integrated, and that this functional integration provides a core element to understanding SLA. To begin with, the author briefly depicts three views of human interaction, which entails robot interaction, mainstream SLA interaction and sociocognitive approach interaction. Since the robot version appears to underestimate the depth and complexity of human interaction and mainstream SLA interaction might undersell interaction in L2 development by giving it too limited a role, the third version seems more convincing. In respect of the third version, it contains but not limited to linguistic interaction-is a topic of concerns among academics recently, particularly those studying the foundation of human sociality (Goodwin, 2000). Further, the picture of interaction the author has adopted here is that interaction is like a cooperative ping pong game, which entails the coordination or alignment among participants. And the specific ways includes: align cognitively, align affectively and align physically. Next, the author delves into the preoccupation that a sociocognitive approach to SLA is one that views social interaction/alignment as the main power source of SLA. In order to make the argument that SLA with speakers of the language to be learned in the way of bringing our behavior into attunement with that of social others convincing, the author furtherly answered following questions pertaining to this argument, which is closely related to the meaning of cognition, acquisition, language and the reason and ways of learning additional language. Finally, the author concludes the paper with a specific example of alignment and interaction in SLA.

Reflections:

From my perspective, the main gist of this paper is to support that fact that a sociocognitive perspective has prominent pedagogical implications in SLA. In such stance, SLA is deemed to be a natural, adaptive process of ecological alignment. Based on this ground, the best way to promote SLA is to put learners in situations where the L2 is necessary for social actions-where they cannot live and prosper without L2. The notion could be put into practice by the means of situated activity systems. Also, Hutchins (1995) has proposed a detailed account of navigation practices on military ships as products of a complex situated activity system (Goffman, 1961) composed of multiple human beings, the natural environment, and a

wide range of physical, social, and conceptual resources. In Hutchins’ description, the navigational computations produced by this system are highly distributed-across the members of navigation team, but also the tools, environmental features, and operating procedures that co-constitute the system. The conclusion could be drawn from above is that learning can be viewed as growing alignment with a complex sociocognitive environment (Atkinson, Churchill, Nishino,& Okada, 2007).

In respect to the alignment and coordination in this paper, I would like to illustrate it by exploiting the term “Joint attention”, which refers to the shared focus of two individuals on an object. It is achieved when one individual alerts another to an object by means of eye-gazing, pointing to other verbal or non-verbal indications. There are also researchers supporting the argument that following eye gaze and identity intention are of great importance. The ability to share gaze with another individual is a crucial skill in establishing the reference. Thus, such kind of ability has been a preponderance in improving a child’s ability to learn a language and direct the attention of others. Furthermore, such alignment or joint attention can be a facilitator in many aspects of language learning including comprehension, production and word learning, which entails that it provides learners with information pertaining to their environment, allowing individuals to establish the reference from spoken language and learn words. Next, I would like to in-depth explain the tools of achieving such alignment in SLA. The one I am inclined to portray here is the symbiotic gestures (Goodwin, 2003)- gestures used together with talk, gaze, bodily orientation, and the material structure of the environment to reorganize the “ domain of scrutiny” (Godwin, 2003). For example, a tutor using a single symbiotic gesture is in order to highlight the diagnostic potential of time adverbials for choosing appropriate verb tenses in a grammar-translation task. Additionally, as investigated by Mori and Hayashi, the organization of behavior before, during, and after embodied completions, arguing that they are finely gauged attempts to produce intersubjective understanding, and may thereby facilitate SLA.

References:

Atkinson, D., E. Churchill, T. Nishino & H. Okada (2007). Alignment and interaction in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 169–188.

Dwight, A.(2013).Language learning in mind body world: A sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition.UK: Cambridge Press.

Goodwin, C. (2000). Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 1489–1522.

Goffman, E. (1961). Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction. Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill.

Entry 3

Jacqueline N.H. (2001). Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition, The Internet TESL Journal, 1-6.

Summary:

This paper delves into Gardner’s socio-educational model and the significance of motivation as a determinant factor in second language learning. There are mainly two types of motivation, which entails integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. The striking feature of integrative motivation is learner’s strong tendency to become a member of target language community. Whereas, instrumental motivations emphasise the social or economic rewards through L2 achievement. Further, Gardner’s model explores specifically into second language acquisition in a structured classroom setting, which aims to build an interrelation among four characteristics of SLA. They are social milieu, individual differences, the setting and linguistic outcomes (Benson, 1991). Moreover, this paper also presents a comparativeness of integrative and instrumental motivation. Typically, the result is that it is integrative motivation which has been found to sustain long-term success when learning a second language (Taylor, Meynard and Rheault 1997; Ellis 1997; Crookes et al 1991). In the end, the author concludes the paper with discussions on motivation in the Japanese EFL context and some pedagogical suggestions on how to maintain student interest and techniques of altering students’ perception in order to enhance their motivation.

Reflections:

Regarding my own experience, during the period of working in the Genpact ( a subsidiary of the General company), I have been assigned to a group in charge of Japanese business, in that circumstance, I was strongly inspired to learn Japanese it that it provides me with more opportunities for exposure to core business in that group. For the reason behind my impetus is not only to the desire to become more competent in the future career (instrumental motivation), but also to improve myself and enrich my knowledge (integrative motivation). Also, the atmosphere where co-workers around me who are all expertized in Japanese offers me with a facilitator in learning Japanese by the means of mimicking and negotiating the expressions and meanings in Japanese when routinely talking about businesses. Just as John Schumann claimed that success in L2 acquisition depends on the extent and quality of contact between the learner and target language and culture, which in turn rely on the degree of social and psychological distance between the learner and this language.

Furthermore, as Zehra Gabillon points out, beliefs about a foreign language and its culture appear to influence both the actions and experiences of language learners and to have a significant impact on their attitudes towards language in questions and play a role in their L2 motivation. I would like to cite an example of my Japanese colleagues, who are inclined to maintain the Japanese accents of their spoken English. The reason behind doing so might be that they would like to hold a preoccupation that the Japanese accent is a kind of symbol demonstrating their own identity of their cultural community. It obviously appears to me that this phenomenon is a good explanation of the effect of one variable mentioned in socio-educational approach. That is integrativeness, which means the level of identification with the target language community and the nature of intentionality with respect to getting closer to this community and its language and culture. Also, Garner views integratively motivated learners are the most successful learners, including in areas such as the acquisition of native-like pronunciation.

To conclude, in respect of some pedagogical implications, what teacher could do in class include help learners to identify short-term goals and to reflect on their progress and achievement by the means of offering self-assessment checklist or self-reflection tools (e.g learning diaries) to assist learners in building autonomy.

References:

Benson, M.J. (1991). Attitudes and motivation towards English : A survey of Japanese freshmen. RELC Journal,

22(1), 34-48.

Jacqueline N.H. (2001). Motivation as a Contributing Factor in Second Language Acquisition, The Internet TESL Journa, 1-6.

Taylor, D.M., Meynard, R., & Rheault, E. (1977). Threat to ethnic identity and second-language learning. Academic Press.

Entry 4

SHELLEY, K. T. & KRISTIN, S. (2013). Plurilingualism in TESOL: Promising Controversies, Tesol Quartely, (127) 1-7.

Summary:

The article has deeply explored the notion of plurilingualism and multilingualism at the level of the individual, and in-depth ascertained the function of learners’ and teacher’s L1 as well as policies pertaining to support their plurilingual repertoires related to TESOL’s ultimate goal.

Typically, what the notion facing up are strong controversies from diversified stances. The controversies entail the role of L1 in L2 teaching, marginalized place of bilingual education, as well as the powerfulness of plurilingualism. Further, although some kinds of existing models of bilingualism education have been accepted, the fact that there is still insufficient evidence accounting for linguistic complexity cannot be denied. Some possible explanations for the super-diversity phenomenon have been listed by author, which includes unpredictable variations in individual linguistic repertoires, the digital transformation of multilingual communication practices (Ito, 2010). One paradigm shift due to the occurrence of plurilingualism in TESOL is its understanding learners’ repertoires as dynamic. However, plurilingualism remains controversial in both concepts and practice for several reasons. First, there are some voices pertaining to the differences between plurilingualism and multilingualism. Additionally, there remains the danger that plurilingualism as language policy can be appropriated in service of a neoliberalism, corporate agenda. Finally, the standard of traditional academic English might be endangered by plurilingualism.

Further, the author has cited the argument that all languages are the ensemble of different elements in a dynamic and constantly changing the relationship. Lastly, the author concludes the article with some practical examples of plurilingualism in practice.

Reflections:

As for me, in the early stage of my language learning, the teaching way teachers adopted is mainly bilingualism. Admittedly, being a novice or language learning beginner, it appears to me that it is an effective way. From my perspective, the main reason behind the argument would be that the use of L1 can be a facilitator in offering the classroom management instructions. Another evident reason is that Bilingualism can also support the language learning as a scaffold. Further, the application of L1 in class leads to my higher motivation in the engagement of learning process in that L2 use is not enforced. However, in the more advanced stage where I have become more proficient in the listening and speaking, the instructors I am exposed to is those who tend to use L2 only in class. Typically, what goal these instructors would like to achieve is providing as much as opportunities for L2 input and output without L1 inferences. At present, almost all of my professors are the proponents of bilingualism even multilingualism. In respect to the preponderances of multilingualism entails that it will encourage students to pay much attention to social equity and social practice. The language policies I have experienced have shifted from time to time. Meanwhile, the features of language policy might be super-diversity, socially situated as well as serving for different aims. For those students who come from countries that are not in dominant place in the world, the minority cultural background they own will lead to the probability of being unconfident or demotivated. In such cases, the advocate of multilingualism could provide equity for the students and build on their linguistic and cultural strengths.

Regarding the pedagogical implications I have acquired from the article might be some particular ways teachers could adopt in class. The question such as when and how to use students’ mother tongue should be considered. Also, how and when empower students to use L1 to draw on resources in their mind is problematic for language teachers as well.

References:

Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittanti, M., Boyd, D., Cody, R., Herr, B., & Tripp, L. (2010). Hanging out, messing around, geeking out: Living and learning with new media. MA: MIT Press.

SHELLEY, K. T. & KRISTIN, S. (2013). Plurilingualism in TESOL: Promising Controversies, Tesol Quartely, 127, 1-7.