Pair-work dynamics: Stronger learners’ languaging engagement and learning outcomes for the Japanese polysemous particles ni/de
Issue: Vol 5 No. 1 (2018)
Journal: Language and Sociocultural Theory
Subject Areas: Writing and Composition Linguistics
DOI: 10.1558/lst.34514
Abstract:
Adopting microgenetic analysis of languaging (Swain, 2006) in pair-work, this study aims to advance our understanding of learners’ developmental processes for the complex concepts of Japanese particles ni/de. Two pairs whose learning outcomes differed were chosen, and their languaging was examined, focusing on ‘stronger’ learners, the peers who showed more target-like knowledge of particles on fill-in-theblank pre-test than their partners. Both interaction patterns and quality of engagement appeared to have facilitated their conceptual internalization for the Japanese particles ni/de. A stronger learner in one of the pairs demonstrated reciprocal elaborate engagement in a collaborative pattern, and greatly improved his understanding and retained it longer-term. In contrast, a stronger learner in the other pair, who demonstrated non-reciprocal limited engagement in dominant-passive interaction, showed no development over time. Follow-up interviews revealed these peers’ differing attitudes toward pair-work, which were likely conducive to their engagement in pair-work and L2 learning outcome.
Author: Kyoko Masuda, Noriko Iwasaki
References :
Arievitch, I. and Haensen, J. (2005). Connecting sociocultural theory and educational practice: Galperin’s approach. Educational Psychologist 40 (3), 155–165. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4003_2
Aljaafreh, A. and Lantolf, J. (1994). Negative feedback as regulation and second language learning in the zone of proximal development. The Modern Language Journal 78 (4), 465–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1994.tb02064.x
Buescher, K. and Strauss, S. (2015). A cognitive linguistic analysis of French prepositions à, dans, and en and a sociocultural theoretical approach to teaching them. In K. Masuda, C. Arnett, and A. Labarca (Eds), Cognitive Linguistics and Sociocultural Theory: Applications for Second Foreign Language Teaching, 155–181. Boston, MA and Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614514442-009
Gal’perin, P. Y. (1969). Stage in the development of mental acts. In M. Cole and I. Maltzman (Eds) A Handbook of Contemporary Soviet Psychology, 249–272. New York: Basic Books.
Gal’perin, P. Y. (1989). Mental actions as a basis for the formation of thoughts and images. Soviet Psychology 27 (2), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.2753/RPO1061-0405270345
Ganem-Gutiérrez, A. (2008). Microgenesis, method and object: A study of collaborative activity in a Spanish as a foreign language classroom. Applied Linguistics 29, 120–148. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm032
Haenen, J. (2001). Outlining the teaching-learning process: Piotr Gal’perin’s contribution. Learning and Instruction 11, 157–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(00)00020-7
Iwasaki, N. (2002). Simple performance-oriented test (SPOT) vs. oral proficiency interview (OPI). Journal of Japanese Language Teaching 114, 100–105.
Kabata, K. and Rice, S. (1997). Japanese ni: The particulars of a somewhat contradictory particle. In M. Verspoor, K. Lee, and E. Sweetser (Eds) Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning, 109–127. Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Kim, Y. and McDonough, K. (2008). The effect of interlocutor proficiency on the collaborative dialogue between Korean as a second language learners. Language Teaching Research 12 (2), 211–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168807086288
Kim, Y. and McDonough, K. (2011). Using pretask modelling to encourage collaborative learning opportunities. Language Teaching Research 15 (2), 183–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168810388711
Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Leeser, M. (2004). Learner proficiency and focus on form during collaborative dialogue. Language Teaching Research 8 (1), 55–81. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168804lr134oa
Lundstrom, K. and Baker, W. (2009). To give is better than to receive: The benefits of peer review to the reviewer’s own writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 18: 30–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2008.06.002
Masuda, K. (2007). Japanese postpositions ni and de: cognitive linguistic approach. Chicago Linguistic Society 39, 14–25.
Masuda, K and Labarca, A. (2015). Schemata use and languaging quality in learning Japanese polysemous particlels ni and de. In K. Masuda, C. Arnett, and A. Labarca (Eds), Cognitive Linguistics and Sociocultural Theory: Applications to Foreign/Second Language Teaching, 203–232. Boston, MA and Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
McDonough, K. (2004). Learner-learner interaction during pair and small group activities in a Thai EFL context. System 32 (2), 207–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2004.01.003
Nassaji, H. and Swain, M. (2000). A Vygotskian perspective on corrective feedback in L2: The effect of random versus negotiated help on the learning of English articles. Language Awareness 9 (1), 34–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410008667135
Moriyama, S. (2008). Ninchigengogaku kara Mita Nihongo Kakujyoshi no Imikoozoo to Shuutoku. [A cognitive linguistic view of Japanese case particles: Their semantic constructions and acquisition for teaching Japanese]. Tokyo: Histuzi Syobo.
Negueruela, E. and Lantolf, J. (2006). Concept-based instruction: Teaching grammar in an intermediate-advanced Spanish L2 university classroom. In R. Salaberry and B. Lafford (Eds) The Art of Teaching Spanish: Second Language Acquisition from Research to Praxis, 79–102. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.
Ohta, A. (1995). Applying sociocultural theory to an analysis of learner discourse: Learner-learner collaborative interaction in the zone of proximal development. Issue in Applied Linguistics 6 (2), 93–121.
Ohta, A. (2001). Second Language Acquisition Processes in the Classroom: Learning Japanese. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Association Publisher.
Philp, J., Walter, S., and Basturkmen, H. (2010). Peer interaction in the foreign language classroom: What factors foster a focus on form? Language Awareness 19 (4), 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2010.516831
Philp, J., Adams, R., and Iwashita, N. (2014). Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning. London and New York: Routledge.
Pica, T. (1984). Methods of morpheme quantification: Their effect on the interpretation of second language data. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 6, 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100000309
Sato, M. and Ballinger, S. (Eds) (2016). Understanding Peer Interaction, Research Synthesis and Directions. Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Sakoda, K. (2001). Gakushuusha no bumpoo shori [Learners’ grammar strategies: Learners look at nearby contexts]. In H, Noda, K. Sakoda, M. Shibuya, and N. Kobayashi (Eds), Nihongo Gakushuusha no Bumpoo Shuutoku [Acquisition of grammar by learners of Japanese], 25–43. Tokyo: Taishuukan Shoten.
Storch, N. (1999). Are two heads better than one? Pair work and grammatical accuracy. System 27 (3), 363–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(99)00031-7
Storch, N. (2001). How collaborative is pair work? ESL tertiary students composing in pairs. Language Teaching Research 5 (1), 29–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/136216880100500103
Storch, N. (2002). Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language Learning 52 (1), 119–158. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9922.00179
Storch, N. (2004). Using activity theory to explain differences in patterns of dyadic interactions in an ESL class. The Canadian Modern Language Review 60 (4), 457–480. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.60.4.457
Storch, N. (2005). Collaborative writing: product, process and students’ reflections. Journal of Second Language Writing 14, 153–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2005.05.002
Storch, N. (2008). Metatalk in a pair work activity: Level of engagement and implications for language development. Language Awareness 17 (2), 361–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410802146644
Storch, N. (2013). Collaborative Writing in L2 Classrooms. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Storch, N. and Aldosari, A. (2012). Paring learners in pair work activity. Language Teaching Research 17 (1), 31–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168812457530
Suzuki, W. (2016). The effect of quality of written languaging on second language learning. Writing and Pedagogy 8 (3), 461–482. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.27291
Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In J. Lantolf (Ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning, 97–114. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swain, M. (2006). Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced language proficiency. In H. Byrnes (Ed.), Advanced Language Learning: The Contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky, 95–108. London: Continuum.
Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal 82 (3), 320–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb01209.x
Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (2002). Talking it through: Two French immersion learners’ response to reformulation. International Journal of Educational Research 37 (3–4), 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(03)00006-5
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 (1), 5–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00825.x
Talmy, L. (2000). Toward a Cognitive Semantics, vol. 2. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Watanabe, Y. and Swain, M. (2007). Effects of proficiency differences and patterns of pair interaction on second language learning: Collaborative dialogues between adult ESL learners. Language Teaching Research 11 (2), 121–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/136216880607074599
Watanabe, Y. and Swain, M. (2008). Perception of learner proficiency: Its impact on the interaction between an ESL learner and her higher and lower proficiency partners. Language Awareness 17 (2), 115–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410802146651
Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Vygotsky and the Social Formation of Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.