TRNG MINH HA

Learning in the Second language Classroom

Classrooms as social contexts
Classroom interaction & Second language acquisition
Interaction facilitates Second language Acquisition

Interaction increases Opportunities for Practice

Interaction promotes Reflection

Classrooms as social contexts

What is a social context?

The immediate physical setting in which people were raised,

including: the culture/language they were raised in & the
groups they interact with.
The social context of classrooms: A function of how

students with various characteristics are distributed through

interaction patterns.
Classrooms are deeply and fundamentally social contexts

concerning students relationship with each other as well as

the activities they jointly undertake.

Classrooms as social contexts

Contexts are constructed through the talkininteraction

in relation to specific institutional goals and the pedagogic

goals of a lesson.
An ability to understanding interactional processes in

classrooms is crucial to facilitating learning opportunity and

to preventing learners from becoming lost in the discourse.

Classroom interaction & Second language acquisition

Negotiated interaction: Conversational exchanges

arising when participants try to accommodate potential

or actual problems of understanding, using strategies
[comprehension checks or clarification checks].
Second language acquisition: The process by which

people learn a second language.

Classroom interaction & Second language acquisition

Van Lier (1988) distinguishes four basic types of

classroom interaction:
[1] The teacher has no control over the topic & the activity;
[2] The teacher controls the topic but not the activity;
[3] The teacher controls the topic and the activity;
[4] The teacher controls the activity but not the topic.
He also distinguishes three types of interaction function:

[1] ideational (telling people facts or experiences);

[2] interpersonal (working on relationships with people);
[3] textual (signaling connections and boundaries, clarifying,
summarizing, and revising).

Classroom interaction & Second language acquisition

Maximizing interaction should be regarded as less

important than optimizing it = Promoting appropriate

interaction based upon desired learning outcomes.
Quality interaction:

[1] Teachers manage & sustain via careful management of

the turntaking sequences occurring in face to face
communication.
[2] Students clearly have a significant role to play & need
to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interactive
processes.

Interaction facilitates Second language Acquisition

In the formal context, learners interact in many different

ways: [1] with each others; [2] with the teacher; [3] with the
materials being used; [4] with their own thought processes.
Through interacting with others, learners are obliged to

modify their speech in order to ensure that understanding

takes place.
By asking for clarification & confirming comprehension

[key features of interaction], language acquisition occurs.

Interaction facilitates Second language Acquisition

Negotiation through Interaction enables learners:

[1] to provide each other comprehensible input;

[2] to give and gain feedback on contributions;
[3] to modify and restructure utterances.
Meanings are made clear.
Negotiation must be regarded as an important

component of the learning experience, and cannot be

interpreted as repair of imperfect/ failed communication.

Interaction facilitates Second language Acquisition

Making
input
comprehensible

Centrality
of
Classroom
Interaction

Encouraging
learner
output

Enhancing
learner
attention

Interaction increases Opportunities for Practice

Comprehensible input & Negotiation of meaning do not

ensure second language acquisition (SLA) Learners

must have opportunities to speak.
Comprehensible output in the form of practice

opportunities at least as important as comprehensible

input.
Output enhances fluency & promotes noticing function

by allowing learners to identify gaps between what they

want to say and what they are able to say.

Interaction increases Opportunities for Practice

By giving learners control of the topic > activity

increasing opportunities for both practice and acquisition.

Through interaction & negotiation of meaning, learners

pay attention not only to the form of an utterance, but also

to its function and degree of appropriacy at a given point in
an exchange.

Interaction promotes Reflection

Quality interaction affords learners time:

[1] To reflect on their output;

[2] To identify gaps in their linguistic knowledge;
[3] To notice features of new language in relation to what
has been acquired already.
Through reflection & learning how to navigate the

discourse Learners have potential to become more

strategic & consequently enhance opportunities for
language acquisition.

Interaction promotes Reflection

The use of direct repair and corrective feedback

Examples of the ways in which teachers can help learners

monitor, reflect on and selfcorrect their contributions.
By drawing attention to one learners output

A teacher can facilitate reflective practices among the

other learners in the group, enabling a focus on form while
still maintaining communicative interaction.