This article reviews studies that have investigated discourse in foreign language (FL) classroom contexts from the perspective of sociocultural theory. Sociocultural theory maintains that language learning and development in a classroom context are intimately tied to the discursive practices by which and through which learners interact with each other and their teacher. Furthermore, the research has shown that teachers play an important role in that the specific types of patterns created in their interactions with students are a fundamental source of learners’ competence in the FL. This review raises additional questions that remain to be addressed in future research that will potentially contribute to an evolving understanding of classroom discourse.
This article analyzes whole‐class discussions between a teacher and her students in a Latin American Colonial literature course at the college level. The study is theoretical–exploratory in nature in that it (a) articulates theoretical assumptions inherent in an ecological perspective on second language learning and teaching and (b) attempts to operationalize the affordance construct (van Lier, 2000, 2004) in the context of a second language (L2) literature classroom. The study's findings underscore the importance of teacher reformulations in whole‐class discussions as well as students' engagement with and awareness of the unfolding talk. Furthermore, how the teacher dynamically interacts with one student and his/her contribution potentially affects other students' understanding of the ongoing discussion which, in turn, can influence their comprehension of the literary texts under analysis. Teacher reformulations during whole‐class discussions therefore can serve as affordances for learning. Theoretical implications of the affordance construct, in addition to implications for L2 language and literature teaching, are delineated.
This paper revisits the treatment of the expression of futurity in Spanish foreign language (FL) textbooks. We analyzed twenty college-level Spanish FL textbooks to determine and quantify how futurity is represented. Variationist research has shown the periphrastic future (PF) to be the most frequent variant of futurity followed by the simple present (SP) and the morphological future (MF). Our findings reveal that, despite over two decades of communicative language teaching, Spanish FL textbooks still do not completely present the reality of the expression of futurity. Introductory texts present all three variants of futurity. However, there is a dramatic difference in the formal representation of these three variants in intermediate texts. The PF is formally presented in only four of the ten intermediate texts analyzed. Interestingly, all ten intermediate textbooks include a formal section on the MF. From a formal treatment perspective and unlike native speaker usage, the MF continues to be the futurity variant most often presented to learners, followed by the PF, and the SP, respectively.
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