Discourse Analysis in an ESL Community of Practice

Page No.: 
130
Writer(s): 
Akiko Nagao, Ritsumeikan University

 

In this study I examined the process of ESL learners joining different academic learning communities in Australia. Using a sociocultural lens and Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice model, I investigated how newcomers became experienced learners through interactions by documenting their engagement. Participants’ classroom interactions were observed and recorded once a week for over 6 months. Discourse analysis, self-reflection, and rhetorical units analysis were used to examine their evolving roles. One implication is that the model of education should shift from knowledge transmission attribution to participant attribution in order to explain how learning takes place within classrooms.

日本人大学生である被験者がオーストラリアの大学付属語学学校であるESL学習コミュニティーに参加し、どのようにメンバー達とかかわり合い言語能力を伸ばしていくかを理解するために、被験者とそのクラスメートの談話を分析した。授業観察・クラスルーム談話分析・インタビュー分析を含んだ追跡調査から、以下の結果を得た。一定期間内で被験者の言語能力の変化の記録に成功し、被験者が帰属する集団内で「周辺的」から「中心的」な役割を果たすようになる為に必要な要素を記録した。

 
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