Epistemics in interaction refers to how participants display, manage and orient to their own and others' states of knowledge. This article applies recent conversation analytical work on epistemics to classrooms where language and content instruction are combined. It focuses on Epistemic Search Sequences (ESSs) through which students in peer interaction collectively resolve emerging knowledge gaps while working on pedagogic tasks. ESSs are initiated when a speaker displays an 'unknowing' epistemic stance by making an information request (IR) about some aspect of language or the content being worked on. We examine three different types of ESS: those in which a 'knowing' response is accepted by the init iator of the sequence; those in which there is an 'unknowing' response; and those where 'knowing' responses are contested. The findings have implications for understanding peer interaction in content-based classrooms in three areas: the affordances of peer interaction for learning in contrast with teacher-led 'knownanswer' sequences; how learners manage rights and responsibilities around knowing or not knowing; and how learners discover and work on their own learning objects.
This paper draws on Wenger's model of community of practice to present preliminary findings on how processes of negotiation of meaning and identity formation occur in knowledge construction, meaning-making and interaction in two secondary Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) science classrooms. It uses a multimodal conversation analysis methodology to provide detailed analyses of how teachers and students use talk-in-interaction and other semiotic resources to build and maintain their communities of practice. The data come from two CLIL classrooms in Spain in the same curricular area (biology) but which differ in geographical and sociolinguistic context (Barcelona and Madrid), and in terms of age, level of secondary education and pedagogical approach. The findings show the complex patterns of participation and reification as teachers and learners use different linguistic and other resources to make meaning. The paper argues that a combination of Wenger's meso-level practice model and micro-level multimodal conversation analysis is highly effective in elucidating how learning and identity formation are accomplished in CLIL classrooms. It also suggests that the efforts to understand classroom processes and language use in CLIL classrooms can be strengthened by forging links between CLIL research and the classroom discourse work across different disciplines.
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