Within the framework of sociocultural theory, learning is conceptualized as participation rather than acquisition (Donato, 2000). Given the governing metaphor of changing participation as learning (Young & Miller, 2004), an important contribution conversation analysis can make to the study of second language acquisition is to detail the instructional practices that either create or inhibit the opportunities for participation (Lerner, 1995), and by extension, the opportunities for learning. This study focuses on one such practice in English as a second language classrooms—the use of explicit positive assessment—and its relevance to learning opportunities. I argue that within certain contexts these assessments tend to suppress the opportunities for voicing understanding problems or exploring alternative correct answers, both of which are the stuff that learning is made of. The analysis suggests that what is sequentially and affectively preferred may be pedagogically and developmentally dispreferred.
A common practice in classroom discourse is the IRF sequence (teacher initiationstudent response-teacher feedback; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; cf. IRE in Mehan, 1979). Based on a single case analysis from an adult English as a second language (ESL) class, this article demonstrates how one ESL student manages, in close coordination with the teacher, to move out of a series of uninterrupted IRFs during a homework review activity, establishing instead a renewed participation structure that allows for student-initiated negotiations, which her coparticipants then jointly orient to and successfully accomplish. The analysis suggests that creating negotiation-rich opportunities is paramount not just during pair and group activities, but more critically, during teacher-whole class interactions.This article examines the constraints and possibilities surrounding a prevalent practice in classroom discourse, namely the IRF sequence (teacher initiationstudent response-teacher feedback; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; cf. IRE in Mehan, 1979). Specifically, I show how one English as a second language (ESL) student manages, in careful coordination and cooperation with the teacher, to move out of an uninterrupted series of IRF sequences, establishing instead a renewed participation structure that allows for student-initiated negotiations, I gratefully acknowledge the ESL teacher and students who generously allowed me and my video camera into their classroom. Caroline (Kisook) Kim made the analysis possible by creating the QuickTime files from the two mini-videotapes. Barbara Hawkins and Gabrielle Kahn offered useful input at an earlier stage of this project. Last but not least, I would like to thank the five anonymous reviewers and Robert DeKeyser for their kind words and some of the most detailed and productive feedback I have received. All remaining errors are mine.
Accounts have traditionally been understood as explanations designed to exonerate the speaker from an untoward act (e.g. account for lateness) (Scott and Lyman 1968). In this paper, I examine the use of accounts in advice giving, adopting a broader view of accounts as the reasoning provided to bolster the viability of the advice. The data set consists of 15 graduate peer tutoring sessions and a total of 143 advising sequences collected over a period of four years. Using the methodology of conversation analysis, I show that besides their remedial utility of 'repairing the broken,' accounts can also be used proactively to validate and promote a current agenda. In particular, I argue for the multi-functionality of accounts in addressing face threats, managing resistance, and doing pedagogy.
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