Can the EFL Classroom Be Considered a Community of Practice?

Abstract

The concept of Communities of Practice (CoPs) has attracted interest for over two decades and has been actively reexamined from a variety of perspectives, especially in the field of education. However, limited research has been conducted into the concept of one EFL classroom-based teaching and learning community constituting one CoP. This paper discusses the potential applicability of the concept of CoPs to the EFL classroom and investigates the following question: "Can a certain number of students and their instructor participating in a group population be defined as a CoP?" The results of the study showed that considering an EFL classroom in its entirety as a CoP is possible, and an expansion of the definition of CoPs to include EFL pedagogical communities is necessary.

The CoP Theory in Reading Enhancement Programme(REP) from Pragmatic Lens of Language Development

“…The theory of Communities of Practice (CoP) has captured interest of many linguists and educators for more than two decades thereabouts as a subject of their philosophical inquiry and investigation to verify its efficacy towards language learning which the present piece of work will also delve into (Heikkinen et al, 2022;Nagao, 2018). This approach to language learning has, as a matter of fact, distinguishing features as underpinned by various scientists.…”

“…• it spans beyond purely signifying a circle of friends or a group of acquaintances to comprise those with a shared common interest. Essentially, being one of the participants in any noble intention presupposes an all-out commitment which somehow necessitates required know-hows and capabilities to contribute to CoP itself (Nagao, 2018;E. Wenger-Trayner & B. Wenger-Trayner, 2015);…”

Making Small Talk: Support for Chinese Graduate Students

“…If, as Holmes and Woodhams (2013) indicate, one needs to be able to understand social norms and respond appropriately to nuanced interactions to be accepted as a CoP member, one wonders when these subtle rules can be learned. Kojima (2020) and Nagao (2018) suggest establishing CoP-like classrooms or communities to help international students increase their sense of belonging and inclusion. Therefore, the results of this research suggest that international students who find themselves challenged by casual social interaction with locals should turn to various CoPs as a viable solution.…”

Untitled

“…Despite the misalignments, adjusting foreign language (FL) classroom realities to CoP may lead to turning classrooms into CoP-like communities (Nagao, 2018;Thomson, 2017). Yet, learning in classrooms where CoP informs educational design is still underexplored.…”

“…The theoretical underpinning of this article is communities of practice (E. Wenger-Trayner & B. Wenger-Trayner, 2015), setting the goal of learning as "community building" and seeing learning as "belonging, participating and communicating" (Sfard, 1998, p. 7). Despite the critique that classrooms are unlikely to have all the features of CoP (Haneda, 2006;Wenger, 1998), it is argued that it is possible for classrooms to become closer to CoP when CoP informs the educational practice (Nagao, 2018). The JFL course design this article examines is informed by the concepts of CoP (Thomson, 2017).…”