The Interactional Patterns of Socializing into Reading Strategy Development in an ESL Reading Class

Abstract

Kim, Sun-Young. 2008. The Interactional Patterns of Socializing into Reading Strategy Development in an ESL Reading Class. Linguistic Research 25(2), 21-44. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the different patterns of interaction ESL Korean students engaged in while learning reading strategies through the classroom interaction in the context of a TOEFL reading class. From a perspective of L2 socialization, this study explored how interactional patterns could constrain or promote the opportunities to develop reading strategies. This paper examined the sequences of peer interactions to observe to what extent the students’ utterances were organized in the way to facilitate their learning of reading strategies. Using the strategy-related utterances and interviews with students, the researcher identified two different sequences of interactions that helped to understand the learner differences in reading strategy use. The results showed that the Korean students were better able to negotiate difficulties and expertise under the complete sequence of interaction described as asking questions, helping behaviors by others, and returning the initial task. On the contrary, under the incomplete sequence of interaction, the opportunities to develop students’ own strategies often went awry in the middle of the classroom practices. The present study argues for the important role of the socially organized activity in reading strategy development in L2 reading classes. (Catholic University)