Title: Talking to learn and learning to talk: teacher and learner talk in the secondary foreign languages classroom

Authors: Rachel Hawkes

Addresses: Comberton Village College, West Street, Comberton, Cambridgeshire, CB23 7DU, UK

Abstract: This paper focuses on the initial findings of an ongoing qualitative case study of three teachers and three classes of second year secondary L2 German learners. The study of teacher-learner interaction takes socio-cultural theory as its main point of departure, drawing on the tenets of a SCT-based dialogic teaching approach to design an intervention programme of teacher talk and behaviour strategies to promote higher levels of learner L2 output. In light of much classroom interaction research which suggests that the dominant patterns of classroom discourse may not allow learners the interactive space to develop their oral output in an optimum way, a primary aim of the intervention programme was to subvert the dominant IRE/F pattern of classroom discourse.

Keywords: learner participation; L2 development; second language; oral interaction; socio-cultural theory; teacher talk; learner talk; teacher initiation; student response; teacher evaluation; feedback; IRE/F; classroom discourse; secondary foreign languages; German language; dialogic teaching; intervention programmes; behaviour strategies; oral output; classroom interaction; United Kingdom; UK; dominant patterns; learning; change; challenges; secondary education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2010.035832

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2010 Vol.4 No.3, pp.217 - 236

Published online: 05 Oct 2010 *

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