Classroom interactional competence in content and language integrated learning

Abstract

This chapter problematizes the Classroom Interactional Competence (CIC) of learners and teachers working in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) contexts. Through Multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA), we consider how CIC is enacted in dialogues which focus on both subject content and English. Our analysis reveals that (a) teachers' deployment of multimodal resources ensures comprehension and self-selection; (b) teachers' questions and evaluative feedback may play a major role in guiding the students; (c) the scarcity of teacher elicitations aimed at more elaborated learner responses may limit the development of academic discourse; and (d) groupwork may become a privileged environment for students to deploy and develop L2 interactional resources.

English learning and use in Hong Kong's bilingual education: Implications for L2 learners’ development of interactional competence

“…Students can then be given greater support and develop their own IC; learning how to interrupt politely, give feedback to other students, demonstrate “listenership” (McCarthy, 2003), encourage participation, and so on are all elements of IC which could be trained. In EMI content‐area subject lessons, the teachers can better engage students in academic conversation, for example, by means of questioning, increased wait time, reduced teacher echo, evaluative feedback (including the shaping of learner contribution), and multimodal and multilingual resources (Urmeneta & Walsh, 2017; Walsh, & Sert, 2019) and provide them with interactional space to articulate their understandings (Llinares & Morton, 2010). They should also create a safe environment where “students are not afraid of being penalized or mocked by peers” and “develop a positive self‐image through their interactions” (Urmeneta & Walsh, 2017, p. 186).…”

“…In EMI content‐area subject lessons, the teachers can better engage students in academic conversation, for example, by means of questioning, increased wait time, reduced teacher echo, evaluative feedback (including the shaping of learner contribution), and multimodal and multilingual resources (Urmeneta & Walsh, 2017; Walsh, & Sert, 2019) and provide them with interactional space to articulate their understandings (Llinares & Morton, 2010). They should also create a safe environment where “students are not afraid of being penalized or mocked by peers” and “develop a positive self‐image through their interactions” (Urmeneta & Walsh, 2017, p. 186). There is a unique opportunity in an educational setting such as Hong Kong to develop and promote CIC across the whole school curriculum, with a priority on second language education.…”

“…They may adopt “teacher‐like” roles, providing scaffolding, clarifying meaning, checking their comprehension, and so on while participating in communicative events. Groupwork also provides good opportunities for students to develop their IC as it “facilitates learners’ interactional space where they can widen their repertoire of interactional resources” (Urmeneta & Walsh, 2017, p. 192). Particularly in communicative language teaching (CLT) and task‐based language teaching (TBLT), learners notice gaps in their own knowledge and find ways of communicating even through task completion if they do not have the most appropriate linguistic resources.…”

“…Both the CLT/TBLT approach and EMI education are likely to increase students’ opportunity to communicate in English, and hence their potential to develop IC. Although some recent studies have discussed the conception of IC in relation to TBLT (e.g., Dai, 2023) and EMI education (or CLIL) (e.g., Urmeneta & Walsh, 2017), little empirical research has considered students’ use of spoken English in the more holistic school environment. Therefore, this study aims to explore L2 learners’ English learning/use experiences under the current bilingual education policy that potentially contributes to their development of IC.…”

Formaci� inicial del professorat d�Educaci� Prim�ria i internacionalitzaci� a casa: Disseny i resul

“…A aquest nivell de competència en anglès general cal afegir-li la competència lingüística i discursiva pròpia de la disciplina que el docent imparteix: terminologia, gèneres textuals que li són propis, etc. Des del punt de vista didàctic, es precisa un docent format en la didàctica de l'ICLES amb un alt nivell de competència interactiva acadèmica (Walsh, 2006) per tal de promoure i sostenir formats interactius que afavoreixin la participació de l'alumnat en la conversa acadèmica i per modelar i remodelar les produccions dels estudiants cap a enunciats més precisos i coherents amb l'estil discursiu de la disciplina (Escobar Urmeneta i Evnitskaya, 2014; Escobar Urmeneta i Walsh, 2017).…”