Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:02:44.116Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - An Analysis of Collaborative Dialogue in Literature Circles

from Part II - Literature and Speaking Skills

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2019

Christian Jones
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Get access

Summary

Sociocultural and social cognitive theories have begun to make a lasting imprint on English Language Teaching (ELT) and learning as it is undertaken and understood today across a range of contexts (Steffensen and Kramsch ). This chapter reports on a study conducted with English language learners involved in Literature Circles (LCs) over an extended period and centres on an analysis of the discourse generated within these post-reading, group discussions. The chapter begins by contextualising LCs as a vehicle for reader response and collaborative engagement within an ecological perspective to second language (L2) development. Drawing on sociocultural theory (Lantolf, Thorne and Poehner ) and its application to collaborative engagement in a language learning environment, the discourse presented undergoes an ecologically grounded, dialogical analysis. This analysis interprets examples from the group conversations as affordances for language development identified as an emergent phenomenon, co-constructed and mediated by the support of peers, the shared reading experience and relevant scaffolding. The current study suggests that this dynamic combines collaborative interaction and interpersonal communication with ecosocial processes to promote spoken L2 development, where deep processing of shared interpretation, critical evaluation, collective noticing and expression of affect are externalised within the discussions.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armstrong, M. 2015. ‘Using literature in an EFL context to teach language and culture’, The Journal of Literature in Language Teaching 4(2): 724.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. 1997. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. 2001. ‘Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective’, Annual Review of Psychology 52: 1–26. Available at: www.annualreviews.org (Accessed 8 November 2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barfield, A. 2016. ‘Collaboration’, ELT Journal 70(2): 222224. doi:10.1093/elt/ccv074Google Scholar
Batstone, R. 2010. ‘Issues and options in sociocognition’, in Batstone, R. (ed.), Sociocognitive Perspectives on Language Use and Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 323.Google Scholar
Bloemert, J., Paran, A., Jansen, E. and van de Grift, W. 2019. ‘Students’ perspective on the benefits of EFL literature education’, The Language Learning Journal 47(3): 371384.Google Scholar
Brown, R., Waring, R. and Donkaewbua, S. 2008. ‘Incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading, reading-while-listening, and listening to stories’, Reading in a Foreign Language 20(2): 136163.Google Scholar
Brumfit, C. J. 1985. Language and Literature Teaching: From Practice to Principle. Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Brumfit, C. J. and Carter, R. A. 1986. Literature and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carrell, P. L., and Grabe, W. 2010. ‘Reading’, in Schmitt, N. (ed.), An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. London: Hodder Education, 215231.Google Scholar
Carter, R. and Long, M. N. 1991. Teaching Literature. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Carter, R. and McRae, J. (eds.) 1996. Language, Literature and the Learner: Creative Classroom Practice. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Chen, I. 2018. ‘Incorporating task-based learning in an extensive reading programme’, ELT Journal. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccy008Google Scholar
Chiang, M. H. 2007. ‘Improved reading attitudes and enhanced English reading comprehensionvia literature circles’, Lagos Papers in English Studies 1: 168183.Google Scholar
Cohen, R. (ed.) 2009. Explorations in Second Language Reading. Virginia: TESOL.Google Scholar
Collie, J. and Slater, S. 1987. Literature in the Language Classroom: A Resource Book of Ideas and Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Council of Europe. 2001Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Daniels, H. 2002. Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups (2nd edn). Portland, ME: Stenhouse.Google Scholar
Daniels, H. and Steineke, N. 2004. Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Deci, E. L. and Ryan, R. M. 1985. Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donato, R. 2000. ‘Sociocultural contributions to understanding the foreign and second language classroom’, in Lantolf, J. P. (ed.), Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2750.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. 1997. ‘Psychological processes in cooperative language learning: Group dynamics and motivation’, The Modern Language Journal 81: 482493.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. 2009The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. and Murphey, T. 2003. Group Dynamics in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dörnyei, Z., and Ushioda, E. 2011. Teaching and Researching Motivation (2nd edn). Harlow: Pearson.Google Scholar
Duff, P. A. and Kobayashi, M. 2010. ‘The intersection of social, cognitive, and cultural processes in language learning: A second language socialization approach’, in Batstone, R. (ed.), Sociocognitive Perspectives on Language Use and Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press 7693.Google Scholar
Fredericks, L. 2012. ‘The benefits and challenges of culturally responsive EFL critical literature circles’, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 55(6): 494504. doi:10.1002/JAAL.00059Google Scholar
Furr, M. 2004. ‘Literature circles for the EFL classroom’. Available at: www.eflliteraturecircles.com/litcirclesforEFL.pdf (Accessed 8 November 2018).Google Scholar
Gass, S. M. and Mackey, A. 2007. ‘Input, interaction, and output in second language acquisition’, in van Patten, B. and Williams, J. (eds.), Theories in Second Language Acquisition. London: LEA, 175200.Google Scholar
Green, C. 2005. ‘Integrating extensive reading in the task-based curriculum’, ELT Journal 59(4): 306311.Google Scholar
Hall, G. 2015. Literature in Language Education (2nd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Hsu, J.-Y. 2004. ‘Reading without teachers: Literature circles in an EFL classroom’, The Proceedings of 2004 Cross-Strait Conference on English Education: 401–421 Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED492558.pdf (Accessed 8 November 2018).Google Scholar
Jeon, E.-Y. and Day, R. R. 2016. ‘The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency:A meta-analysis’,Reading in a Foreign Language 28(2): 246265.Google Scholar
Kalaja, P., Alanen, R., Palviainen, A. and Dufva, H. 2011. ‘From milk cartons to English roommates: Context and agency in L2 learning beyond the classroom’, in Benson, P. and Reinders, H. (eds.), Beyond the Language Classroom. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 4758.Google Scholar
Keene, E. and Zimmerman, S. 1997. The Mosaic of Thought. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Kim, M. 2004. ‘Literature discussions in adult L2 learning’, Language and Education 18(2): 145166. doi.org/10.1080/09500780408666872CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kramsch, C. (ed.) 2002. Language Acquisition and Language Socialization: Ecological Perspectives. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. and Thorne, S. L. 2006. Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. and Poehner, M. E. 2014. Sociocultural Theory and the Pedagogical Imperative in L2 Education: Vygotskian Praxis and the Theory/Practice Divide. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P., Thorne, S. L. and Poehner, M. E. 2015. ‘Sociocultural theory and second language development’, in van Patten, B. and Williams, J. (eds.), Theories in Second Language Acquisition. New York: Routledge, 207226.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. 2007. ‘Reflecting on the cognitive-social debate in second language acquisition’, The Modern Language Journal 91: 773787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. 2010. ‘The dynamic co-adaption of cognitive and social views: A Complexity Theory perspective’, in Batstone, R. (ed.), Sociocognitive Perspectives on Language Use and Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4053.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. 2016. (an author in) The Douglas Fir Group. ‘A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world’, The Modern Language Journal 100(S1): 1947. //doi.org/10.1111/modl.12301Google Scholar
LeBlanc, C. 2015. ‘Investigating high school students’ self-efficacy in reading circles’The Language Teacher 39(1): 1521.Google Scholar
Long, M. 1996. ‘The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition’, in Ritchie, W. C. and Bhatia, T. K. (eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Academic Press, 413468.Google Scholar
Macalister, J. 2015. ‘Guidelines or commandments? Reconsidering core principles in extensive reading’, Reading in a Foreign Language 27(1): 122128.Google Scholar
McRae, J. 1991. Literature with a Small ‘l’. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
McRae, J. 1996. ‘Representational language learning: from language awareness to text awareness’, in Carter, R. and McRae, J. (eds.), Language, Literature and the Learner: Creative Classroom Practice. Harlow: Longman, 1640.Google Scholar
Maher, K. M. 2015. ‘EFL literature circles: Collaboratively acquiring language and meaning’, The Language Teacher 39(4): 912.Google Scholar
Mercer, N. 2004. ‘Sociocultural discourse analysis: Analysing classroom talk as a social mode of thinking’, Journal of Applied Linguistics 1(2): 137168.Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. 2003. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (3rd edn). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nishikawa, M. 2015. ‘How facilitator styles affect overall dynamic of group discussions in EFL contexts’, JACET Journal 59: 151167.Google Scholar
Ohta, A. S. 2000. ‘Rethinking interaction in SLA: Developmentally appropriate assistance in the zone of proximal development and the acquisition of L2 grammar’, in Lantolf, J. P. (ed.), Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 5178.Google Scholar
Ohta, A. S. 2001. Second Language Acquisition Processes in the Classroom: Learning Japanese. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Oxford, R. L. 2017. Teaching and Researching Language Learning Strategies: Self-Regulation in Context (2nd edn). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Paran, A. 2008. ‘The role of literature in instructed foreign language learning and teaching: an evidence-based survey’, Language Teaching 41(4): 465496. doi:10.1017/S026144480800520XGoogle Scholar
Riessman, C. K. 2008. Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Ro, E. 2017. ‘How learning occurs in an extensive reading book club: A conversation analytic perspective’, Applied Linguistics. doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx014Google Scholar
Rosenblatt, L. M. 1968. Literature as Exploration. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Rosenblatt, L. M. 1978. The Reader, the Text, the Poem. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University.Google Scholar
Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L. 2017. Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Sambolin, A. N. and Carroll, K. S. 2015. ‘Using literature circles in the ESL college classroom: A lesson from Puerto Rico’, Colombian Applied Linguistic Journal 17(2): 193206. doi.org/10.14483/udistrital.jour.calj.2015.2.a02Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. and Celce-Murcia, M. 2010. An overview of applied linguistics’, in Schmitt, N. (ed.), An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (2nd edn). London: Hodder Education, 114.Google Scholar
Schmuck, R. and Schmuck, P. 2000. Group Processes in the Classroom (8th edn). Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown.Google Scholar
Scotland, J. 2012. ‘Exploring the philosophical underpinnings of research: Relating ontology and epistemology to the methodology and methods of the scientific, interpretive, and critical research paradigms’, English Language Teaching 5(9): 916. doi:10.5539/elt.v5n9p9Google Scholar
Steffensen, S. and Kramsch, V., C. 2017. ‘The ecology of second language acquisition and socialization’, in Duff, P. A. and May, S. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Language and Education: Language Socialization (3rd edn). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi.org/10.1007/978–3-319–02327-4_2–1Google Scholar
Shelton-Strong, S. J. 2012. ‘Literature circles in ELT’, ELT Journal 66(2): 214223. doi:10.1093/elt/ccr049Google Scholar
Swain, M. 2000. ‘The output hypothesis and beyond: mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue’, in Lantolf, J. P. (ed.), Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 97114.Google Scholar
Swain, M. 2006. ‘Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced language proficiency’, in Byrnes, H. (ed.), Advanced Language Learning: The Contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky. London: Continuum, 95108.Google Scholar
Swain, M., Lapkin, S., Knouzi, I., Suzuki, W. and Brooks, L. 2009. ‘Languaging: University students learn the grammatical concept of voice in French’, The Modern Language Journal 93: 529. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00825.xGoogle Scholar
Swain, M. and Watanabe, Y. 2013. ‘Language: Collaborative dialogue as a source of second language learning’, in Chapelle, C. A. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 32133225. doi:10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0664Google Scholar
Teranishi, M., Saito, Y. and Wales, K. (eds.) 2015. Literature and Language Learning in the ELF Classroom. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Thibault, P. J. 2011. ‘First-order languaging dynamics and second-order language: The distributed language view’, Ecol Psychol 23(3): 210245. doi:10.1080/10407413.2011.591274Google Scholar
Tomlinson, B. 1997. ‘The role of visualisation in the reading of literature by learners of a foreign language’, PhD dissertation, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
van Lier, L. 2000. ‘From input to affordance: Social-interaction learning from an ecological perspective’, in Lantolf, J. P. (ed.), Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 155177.Google Scholar
van Lier, L. 2004a. ‘The semiotics and ecology of language learning: Perception, voice, identity and democracy’, Utbildning & Demokrati: Tidskrift för didaktik och utbildningspolitik 13(3): 79103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Lier, L. 2004b. The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective. Boston: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
van Lier, L. 2007. ‘Action-based teaching, autonomy and identity’International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 1(1): 4665.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, ed. Cole, M., John-Steiner, V., Scribner, S. and Souberman, E.. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Webb, S. 2007. ‘The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge’, Applied Linguistics 28(1): 4665. doi:10.1093/applin/aml048Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×