The Application of Activity Theory in Identifying Contradictions in a University Blended Learning Course

Gedera, Dilani S. P.

doi:10.1007/978-94-6300-387-2_4

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…The present study argues that L2 learners’ motivation is highly relevant to activity theory (see more in Gedera, 2016 ; Kim, 2013 ). That relevance is demonstrated as follows: Subject: non-English-major students as the primary focus of study.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 75%

Vietnamese non-English-major students’ motivation to learn English: from activity theory perspective

Nguyen

Habók

2021

Heliyon

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The purpose of this study was to investigate Vietnamese non-English majors' motivation to learn English as a foreign language (EFL) based on the activity theory perspective. The participants included 1,565 students with at least one semester of university-level English, of whom 13 participated in the semi-structured interviews. The data was collected using the five-point Likert scale motivation and desire surveys with 16 items and individual face-to-face interviews. The results from the quantitative and qualitative strands indicated that the participants were highly motivated to learn English. The sources of such motivation included obtaining a good job in the future, achieving success in academic studies, maintaining effective communications with foreigners, having personal enjoyment, and being influenced by other people. In addition, they were not only more internally (rather than externally) motivated, but they also demonstrated strong motivational intensity to learn English and enhance their language competence. Moreover, there was a strong positive relationship between internal motivation and motivational intensity, whereas there was a weak positive correlation between external motivation and motivational intensity. Activity theory was used as a lens to elaborate on the discussion of learners’ motivation in this study. The findings of the current study can be used by stakeholders, such as EFL educators, decision-makers and curriculum developers, to understand more about their students in terms of psychological issues and to design appropriate programs that can increase their learning motivation.

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Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 75%

Vietnamese non-English-major students’ motivation to learn English: from activity theory perspective

Nguyen

Habók

2021

Heliyon

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“…In fact, the juxtaposition of vision and AT in the present study is due to their similarity in terms of adopting intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual views on self. L2 teacher motivation research equivalents (Gedera, 2016) of AT terminologies are:…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

English Language Teachers’ Vision and Motivation: Possible Selves and Activity Theory Perspectives

2018

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Recent research has identified a direct link between language teachers’ self and motivation, and their relationship with conceptual change and professional development. A better understanding of the exact manner in which language teachers’ perceptions of self interact with their motivation, however, requires further empirical evidence from a variety of contexts employing various research methods. Drawing upon possible selves theory and Activity Theory, the present mixed-methods research explored language teacher vision and its relationship with motivation in the Iranian state sector language education context. In the first qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 teachers on their vision and motivation to teach English. In the second quantitative phase, a researcher-developed questionnaire informed by the interview data was electronically administered to in-service language teachers (N = 211). Data analysis identified a typology of English language teacher vision and a positive relationship (r = .59) between vision and motivation. A coefficient determination of around 35% showed the degree of covariance between the two constructs. Furthermore, the study indicated that some contradictions among the rules, tools, community, and division-of-labour components of language teacher motivation activity system mediated the motivational force of vision. The study implies that teacher education programmes should raise English language teachers’ awareness of the positive motivational force of vision.

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“…Through the lens of activity theory activities are dynamic entities, always changing and developing, driven by participants' actions in their effort to achieve the object of the activity (Kuutti, 1995). Internal influences, such as a participants' skills, and external influences, such as changes in the environment, can create a contradiction or unfit within and between the elements of the activity system, appearing as obstacles, conflicts, gaps or obstacles in the activity system (Gedera, 2016;Kuutti, 1995). A central tenet of activity theory is that contradictions or tensions are inevitable in any activity system and these contradictions or tensions are useful tools of analysis (Foot, 2001).…”

Section: Chat In This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Teacher-teacher aide teaming: investigating collaboration using cogenerative dialoguing and CHAT

Tatum¹

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Globally, collaboration in teacher-teacher aide teams is under-researched. In Australia, there is a dearth of research into teacher-teacher aide team collaboration. This is despite school reform initiatives requiring staff to work together with the understanding that collaboration has the potential to improve teaching and student learning outcomes (Conley & Cooper, 2013). This emphasises the urgency and importance for research into the collaborative teams, as well as working relationships, of teachers and teacher aides in Australian schools. The aim of this research is to contribute to understandings around collaborative practices in school settings. This study explored teacher-teacher aide team collaborative practices using cogenerative dialoguing (cogen), seeking to bring to light factors that may influence the effectiveness of collaborative practices utilising an analytical framework of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Guiding this investigative study was the research question: How is collaboration practised in teacher-teacher aide teams? Supporting this question are the subquestions: In what ways do the teachers and teacher aides collaborate in their teacher-teacher aide teams? What happened to the quality and the nature of communication between teachers and teacher aides when teacher-teacher aide teams used cogenerative dialoguing? and How can CHAT be used to conceptualise the affordances and challenges of cogenerative dialoguing for understanding and explaining collaborative teacher-teacher aide teaming? A collective case study approach was chosen for this qualitative study. Supporting this approach, the research took the form of observations, semi-structured interviews that included concept drawings and team cogen sessions. Data were obtained from ten teacher-teacher aide teams. However, due to changes in work commitments and the break-up of teams at the end of the year, only four teams completed the study. This is consistent with teacher-teacher aide teamworking where the purpose and need for these teams often depend on student needs and staff availability with teams sometimes reforming during the year and often splitting up at the end of the school year to reform as different teams in the new school year. This study found that collaboration between teachers and teacher aides is not a linear process, rather, it is fluid and dynamic, cyclic in nature, occurring on an as needed basis depending on the task or activity team members needed to perform. There were no steps to true collaboration. Instead, participants' experiences of collaboration involved face-to-face encounters that moved through different elements of collaboration, such as coordination , cooperation, reflective communication and carnivalisation. Collaboration was found to begin with team members Publications during candidature No publications Publications included in the thesis No publications included Contribution by others to the thesis No contribution by others Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award o...

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The Application of Activity Theory in Identifying Contradictions in a University Blended Learning Course

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Vietnamese non-English-major students’ motivation to learn English: from activity theory perspective

Vietnamese non-English-major students’ motivation to learn English: from activity theory perspective

English Language Teachers’ Vision and Motivation: Possible Selves and Activity Theory Perspectives

Teacher-teacher aide teaming: investigating collaboration using cogenerative dialoguing and CHAT

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