Transforming EFL Classroom Practices and Promoting Students’ Empowerment: Collaborative Learning From a Dialogical Approach

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of implementing collaborative learning from a social and dialogical perspective on seventh graders’ interaction in an English as a foreign language classroom at a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. Thirty students participated in this action research where field notes, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and artifacts of students’ work were used to collect data during a complete academic year. Results show that taking a critical approach to language education and understanding collaborative learning as a social construction of knowledge can ignite opportunities for changing traditional teaching and learning practices where both the teacher and students take different roles, thus balancing classroom relations and interaction among participants and also promoting students’ empowerment.

Promoting Dialogic Action through the Expansion of English Language Learners’ Communicative Repertoires

“…By doing so, dialogic action allows the oppressed to emancipate themselves through trust, cooperation for transformation, union for liberation, organization, and systematic and deliberate action (Freire, 2018). Dialogic action allows overcoming the oppressive forces of antidialogical action that prevent the humanization of peoples, by neglecting their right to use the word to construct their own realities, and dividing oppressed peoples through individualism, manipulation, and cultural invasion (Contreras & Chapetón, 2016;Contreras & Chapetón, 2017;Echeverri & Pérez, 2014).…”

“…Other studies have concentrated on how critical pedagogy could promote not only the acquisition of linguistic repertoires but also dialogue, collaboration, and reflection in the English language class (Contreras & Chapetón, 2016;Contreras & Chapetón, 2017;Echeverri & Pérez, 2014). For instance, in a collaborative action research project, Ortega (2018) describes the implementation of lessons that addressed bullying and violence at the school.…”

Exploring EFL Teachers’ Classroom Management: The Case of Indonesian Remote Secondary Schools

“…However, based on the theory of classroom management in language teaching (Wright, 2005), the model of seating arrangement applied by the teacher in this study was known as the traditional rows model. Seating the students in fixed rows creates fewer opportunities for interactions and collaborative work (Contreas León & Chapetón Castro, 2017), and the number of interactions among students and teachers is ofter reduced (Correa, Lara, Pino, & Vera, 2017).…”

Cómo potenciar la justicia social y la pedagogía de Freire en la enseñanza universitaria. Ejemplos de la enseñanza universitaria del inglés

“…La experiencia didáctica que presentamos en este artículo se llevó a la práctica en una asignatura de Lengua Inglesa en el grado en Estudios Ingleses de la Universidad de Alicante, en concreto, en la asignatura obligatoria Lengua Inglesa V. Dicha asignatura se imparte durante el primer cuatrimestre de tercer curso y consta de cuatro horas semanales distribuidas de la siguiente manera: una hora se dedica a la enseñanza de la gramática inglesa, otra hora se dedica a la escritura académica; las dos horas restantes se dedican a practicar las destrezas orales por medio de la preparación del alumnado de una presentación oral cooperativa y de un debate, además de su participación en otras actividades. El objetivo fundamental de dicha asignatura consiste en que el alumnado desarrolle las distintas destrezas en inglés (escucha, habla, lectura, escritura e interacción) para poder alcanzar un nivel C1 dentro del Marco Común Europeo de Referencia de las Lenguas (CONSEJO DE EUROPA, 2001).…”

“…La mayor parte del alumnado quiere dedicarse a enseñar inglés en secundaria o en otros países, un porcentaje menor quiere trabajar llevando a cabo labores de traducción en empresas. Todo el alumnado ha estudiado inglés en bachillerato y en los dos años anteriores de la carrera por lo que tiene un nivel B2 dentro del Marco Común Europeo de Referencia de las Lenguas (CONSEJO DE EUROPA, 2001).…”