In this article, we investigate the integration of concept‐based pragmatics instruction, grounded in Vygotskian sociocultural psychology, in an intact second‐semester French class (n = 13) over the course of an academic term. Our focus is on learners’ appropriation of the concepts of self‐presentation, social distance, and power with respect to the French second‐person pronoun system (i.e., tu versus vous) as revealed through language awareness questionnaires, appropriateness judgment tasks, and computer‐mediated strategic interaction scenario performances. Following this three‐tiered approach to analysis, our findings show that learners developed a deeper and more systematic understanding of tu and vous, that they were able to apply the concepts in planning language use, and that their use of tu and vous became more sensitive to maintaining symmetrical social relationships.

This article explores the development of pedagogical content knowledge in relation to one teacher's experience in learning to engage in a Vygotskian approach to teaching second language (L2) pragmatics known as 'concept-based pragmatics instruction' (CBPI). The teacher, Mrs. Hanks, was a PhD candidate in second language acquisition at the time of the study, and she was a coinvestigator for a larger project that investigated the integration of CBPI into an intact L2 French class that she was teaching. We focus on three aspects of Mrs. Hanks' development: (1) mediation she received during 'mentoring meetings' with a more expert collaborator (her co-investigator), (2) changes in her classroom practices during the study, and (3) metacognitive reflections on her progress at the end of the study. Drawing on Vygotskian theory, we examine Mrs. Hanks' development in terms of her internalization and transformation of relevant pedagogical content knowledge. In this way, we are contributing to the very small amount of empirical work examining teacher education/development in the context of 'learning to do' concept-based instruction (e.g. Williams, Abraham, & Negueruela, 2013), with specific focus on CBPI.

Inverted (“flipped”) pedagogical models are rapidly increasing in prevalence within language education. These models are particularly relevant for language learning given that they promote learner agency and encourage the use of artifacts to mediate cognition. However, the specific methods used in these models are often not anticipated by learners who expect a more instructor‐ or grammar‐focused approach in class. Such expectancy violations can be detrimental because learner expectations may impact motivation and learning (Chang, Wall, Tare, Golonka, & Vatz, 2014). The current study explored the use of a video to (re)mediate students’ expectations and understanding of the inverted classroom. Research questions explored the extent to which the use of an instructional video that explained this pedagogical model impacted learners’ expectations and affective orientation to the course structure and whether individual differences moderated this impact. Results showed that the video adjusted students’ expectations, particularly in the area of second language prevalence in the classroom. In addition, there was a significant pre‐post increase in students’ comfort with the inverted model. Finally, significant differences among learner subgroups at the beginning of the semester were no longer present at the course's end. These results support the use of an introductory video for mediating learners’ conceptualization of language pedagogy.

No abstract

No abstract