COLLABORATIVE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: SOME REFLECTIONS FROM INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PAIRS

Laryssa Paulino De Queiroz Sousa,Francisco José Quaresma De Figueiredo,Neuda Alves Do Lago,Fernanda Franco Tiraboschi

doi:10.1590/010318138653439430941

Laryssa Paulino De Queiroz Sousa, Francisco José Quaresma De Figueiredo + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/010318138653439430941

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Abstract

ABSTRACT The focus of this study is on the interactions five pairs of students had in order to carry out a collaborative writing activity. The research was conducted in a language school of Goiânia, in Goiás, Brazil, with ten EFL/ESL students, in 2015. The objectives of this investigation are: a) to observe and discuss the elements that stand out during the students' interactions; and b) to investigate these learners' perceptions of the experience. This study is grounded on sociocultural theory (DONATO, 1994; HALL, 2001; VYGOTSKY, 1978) and collaborative language learning (FIGUEIREDO, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2015; OXFORD, 1997). The theoretical assumptions that guide this research consider interaction and collaboration as essential elements for language learning development. This is a qualitative case study (GODOY, 2006; TELLES, 2002), and the sources used to generate the data are questionnaires, audio recordings of the students' interactions and semi-structured interviews. The elements that stand out in this investigation are related to the potentialities of dialogic interactions, which foster scaffolding, mutual support, and the promotion of learners' autonomy. In addition, the learners highlight some positive aspects they could perceive from the experience, such as each other's help and the possibility to access more ideas; as negative aspects, they point out disagreements and conflicts they had to handle during the interactions.

Highlights

The focus of this study is on the interactions five pairs of students had in order to carry out a collaborative writing activity
This study is grounded on principles of sociocultural theory (DONATO, 1994; HALL, 2001; VYGOTSKY, 1978) and collaborative language learning (FIGUEIREDO, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2015; OXFORD, 1997)
Language is fundamentally social and, when we learn through communication, interaction and dialogue, we experience interpsychological processes, which are internalized and lead to intrapsychological processes (DONATO, 1994; FIGUEIREDO, 2005, 2006; SWAIN, 1995; VYGOTSKY, 1978)

Summary

SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY AND COLLABORATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING

Language is fundamentally social and, when we learn through communication, interaction and dialogue, we experience interpsychological processes, which are internalized and lead to intrapsychological processes (DONATO, 1994; FIGUEIREDO, 2005, 2006; SWAIN, 1995; VYGOTSKY, 1978). There is a more capable peer or not, by working in collaboration learners can solve problems that perhaps they could not, if they were working on them by themselves Another concept closely related to the Zone of Proximal Development is scaffolding, characterized by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) as a process of assistance from one individual to another, in which another person’s help is essential for the development of a certain task. The social context influences learners’ individual linguistic development (DOBAO, 2012; DONATO, 1994; FIGUEIREDO, 2005; VYGOTSKY, 1978). In the context of this study, the teacher proposed a collaborative writing activity so that the students could have an experience of collaborative language learning

THE STUDY

DATA ANALYSIS

Focus on the interactions between the pairs

The students’ perceptions of the experience