Mediation Tools Research Articles

Exploring EFL learners` developmental errors in academic writing through face-to-Face and Computer-Mediated dynamic assessment

Theoretically grounded in Vygotsky`s sociocultural theory of mind, Dynamic Assessment (DA) provides researchers with the opportunity to investigate different aspects of learners` developmental trajectory, including the ways they overcome their errors. As a qualitative inquiry into the nature of errors reflecting learners` development in academic writing and the ways they are treated, this study examined the role of face-to-face (FTF) and Computer-Mediated (CM) contexts on the ways Iranian EFL learners dealt with their main developmental errors. In this study, the nature of developmental errors emerged out of the analysis of a writing corpus of four learners participating in a two-month DA based academic writing course. The learners` high-frequency errors were examined through the microgentic development method, which allows for investigating the moment to moment changes in learners` performance, to reveal the ways they were addressed in FTF and CM contexts of DA. The results highlighted the different effects of FTF and CM contexts on learners` pace, depth and permanency of development through not only employing different mediation forms but also encouraging the usage of different mediational tools. The findings indicated that while FTF mediation led to an inclination toward collaborative writing, CM mediation increased learners` engagement with their written texts by focusing more on difficult items and transferring development to other tasks and situations which, in turn, illustrates their progression towards self-regulation. The findings of the study shed light on the potentials of DA in guiding learners` struggle to overcome their academic writing developmental errors in both CM and FTF contexts.

The Rio Doce mining disaster: Legal framing in the Brazilian justice system

The objective of this article is to analyse the repercussions in the Brazilian justice system of the mining disaster that devastated the Rio Doce Valley in Brazil in 2015. The disaster was caused by the rupture of the Fundão dam, under the responsibility of Samarco Mineração SA and its controlling companies Vale SA and Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton Brasil LTDA. The article examines collective claims to the justice system resulting from the dam rupture, identifying which issues, claims and arguments appear in the actions. From the results, we observe that the country’s environmental laws are mobilized to address a wide range of effects of the disaster, as well as prompting a re-visiting of the legal definition of damage, as the reality imposes a definition not provided by law. Finally, the article discusses important problems with the use of mediation and conciliation tools, as evidenced by the fact that the lawsuits include complaints related to measures that had as their objective the repair and mitigation of damages. In this sense, the instruments have failed because they do not present themselves as an effective way to replace litigation with a mediated resolution.

Using Activity Theory to Explain How a Student Learns ‎in an Internationalised Classroom ‎from a Sociocultural ‎Perspective

This paper focuses on mediation, which is one of the concepts developed by Vygotsky under the umbrella of sociocultural theory. It also draws on activity theory as a theoretical framework to understand the learning experiences undertaken by an international student engaged in a 12-month programme in the UK for one year. This study adopted a qualitative approach; which involved conducting a semi-structured interview with the participant to provide an in-depth understanding of how tools and artefacts in culture and in wider society mediated the process of learning and development. Activity theory helped elucidate how this process was facilitated by socialising with others and through mediational tools. This paper identified three areas where dynamic and complex social activities took place: speaking English, attending class on time, and critical thinking.

Metaphor in Terminology

Professional communication between an expert and a non-expert, the so-called transdiscursive communication, presupposes special knowledge transfer and acquisition. Asymmetry in communicants’ knowledge causes ambiguity and conceptual misrepresentation. Precise knowledge transfer in the context of transdiscursive communication can be achieved by means of knowledge mediation.
 In this context metaphor accomplishes the function of a transdiscursive knowledge mediation tool. This cognitive mechanism encourages conceptual mapping of specialized knowledge from a routine area to some knowledge domain. The study of metaphoricity of terms provides ground for finding language tools for cognition management.
 For discourse analyses we have focused on specialized texts from scientific journals and popular magazines obtained from the Corpus of Contemporary American English as a result of the key word in context search.
 We aim at proving the evidence for special knowledge mediation necessity and efficiency in the context of transdiscursive communication.

Algorithmic management and app‐work in the gig economy: A research agenda for employment relations and HRM

AbstractCurrent understanding of what constitutes work in the growing gig economy is heavily conflated, ranging from conceptualisations of independent contracting to other forms of contingent labour. This article calls for a move away from problematic aggregations by proposing a classification of gig work into three variants, all based strongly upon key technological features: app‐work, crowdwork, and capital platform work. Focusing specifically on the app‐work variant, this article's more delineated focus on the textured dimensions of this work proposes new lines of enquiry into employment relationships and human resource management. Examining the crucial role of algorithmic management, we critically discuss the impact of this novel mediation tool used by gig organisations for the nature of employment relations within app‐work, work assignment processes, and performance management. In so doing, we propose a series of research questions that can serve as a guide for future research in this increasingly important field.

Introducing tablet computers to a rural primary school: An Activity Theory case study

This paper reports on a case study investigating the introduction of tablet computers into a rural primary school in Oman. The school is unusual in that it is in an economically-disadvantaged, mountainous region which is prone to flooding. There is little infrastructure, with no internet and there is a high turnover of staff. The project to introduce tablets was a personal initiative of the head teacher who needed to convince the Ministry of Education, her staff and parents of the pupils. The study used Activity Theory to explore the introduction of the tablet computers, seeing the school and the classrooms as Activity Systems. The Activity Theory analysis made it possible to see how changing one aspect of an Activity System, by introducing new mediational tools, affected the agents, the community, the rules and the division of labour. The study found that the tablets changed the working culture of staff in the project and the behaviour and responsibilities of the pupils.The significance of the study lies in the fact that the school was such an unlikely setting for such an innovation and the consequent effects such as staff collaboration and partnership between teachers and pupils – which might have been standard practice in an affluent urban setting – constituted radical changes in the culture of the school and classrooms. The study also innovates in the use of Activity Theory to examine all components of the System in order to understand the unexpected impacts of an innovation such as tablet computers in education.

Machine-Assisted Learning in Highly-Interdisciplinary Media Fields: A Multimedia Guide on Modern Art

Art and technology have always been very tightly intertwined, presenting strong influences on each other. On the other hand, technological evolution led to today’s digital media landscape, elaborating mediated communication tools, thus providing new creative means of expression (i.e., new-media art). Rich-media interaction can expedite the whole process into an augmented schooling experience though art cannot be easily enclosed in classical teaching procedures. The current work focuses on the deployment of a modern-art web-guide, aiming at enhancing traditional approaches with machine-assisted blended-learning. In this perspective, “machine” has a two-folded goal: to offer highly-interdisciplinary multimedia services for both in-class demonstration and self-training support, and to crowdsource users’ feedback, as to train artificial intelligence systems on painting movements semantics. The paper presents the implementation of the “Istoriart” website through the main phases of Analysis, Design, Development, and Evaluation, while also answering typical questions regarding its impact on the targeted audience. Hence, elaborating on this constructive case study, initial hypotheses on the multidisciplinary usefulness, and contribution of the new digital services are put into test and verified.

Teaching writing to elementary school students: an activity theory perspective

Most of the existing studies on academic writing were conducted in ESL/EFL university settings. Further research targeted at other educational settings such as primary schools, for students in different stages of their studies, will advance our understanding of student writing broadly. The study aims to investigate the impact of writing instruction on students’ engagement, using the activity theory. Participants were five grade four teachers teaching English and their grade four Singaporean students in five classrooms in a local primary school. The observation data and field notes were coded, using Dȍrnyei’s (2007) qualitative data analysis scheme and NVivo. Findings show that preparing mediated tools, arranging division of labour in executing the tasks, setting rules and objects, and having communities that teachers involved in are crucial factors to consider in the activity system. Before discussing student activity system with their own objects/motive, it is important to understand what types of activity system the teachers bring to the writing classroom. Our study contributes knowledge to research on writing instruction and students’ engagement by analysing grade four writing lessons from an activity theory perspective. The findings may also be useful pedagogically for educators outside Asia.

English-medium instruction in the Australian higher education: untold stories of academics from non-native English-speaking backgrounds

ABSTRACTThe literature on English-medium instruction (EMI) has predominantly focused on contexts where English is not the first language. Little is known about EMI in traditional English-speaking (Anglophone) contexts like Australia, where English is the first language. The highly internationalised Australian higher education has witnessed a growing cohort of foreign-born students and academics, many from non-native English-speaking backgrounds (NESB). Whilst the issue of EMI for NESB students has received increased attention, the EMI-related challenges facing NESB academics have been overlooked. This paper explores communicative and pedagogical challenges and associated strategies of NESB academics as they revealed untold stories about their teaching experiences in this EMI context. It adopts a Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theoretical perspective in conceptualising English as a tool academics appropriate to mediate their teaching. A modified EMI competence framework further elaborates the use of English as a pedagogical and communicative tool. Data were generated through individual interviews and survey questionnaire with NESB academics at an Australian university. Findings revealed multiple challenges facing the academics and strategies they applied to adapt English, as a mediational tool, to effectively mediate their teaching. The study has implications for EMI research in Anglophone contexts and professional development and institutional support for NESB academics.

중국어 학습동기 변화에 관한 일기연구: 행위이론 관점에서

Despite the extensive research on second language learning motivation, very little research has been conducted with Chinese learning motivation and the focus of the research has been limited mainly to identifying types of motivation. Considering the popularity of Chinese as a second language and the lack of research on Chinese learning motivation, the study aims to illustrate the process of motivational changes in learning Chinese from the sociocultual perspective. The data were collected from the researcher’s own autobiographic diary written while she was learning Chinese. Using the framework of an Activity Theory, the data were analyzed to find factors affecting the participant’s motivatonal changes. The findings indicate that the participant’s motivation was affected by dynamic interaction of mediational tools, relationships within the community, and different roles of the learner. The findings imply that the level of motivation is affected by how the learner resolves the tensions among those factors to move forward to the goal of becoming a multilingual speaker. The study may provide a methodological insight into L2 motivation research by analyzing and describing a longitudinal Chinese learning experience from a first-person point of view.

Developing Students’ Critical Thinking and Discourse Level Writing Skill Through Teachers’ Questions: A Sociocultural Approach

Abstract The present study adopts a quantitative design to explore the effects of pre-designed teachers’ questions as the mediation tool to scaffold the development of students’ critical thinking and their discourse level writing skills in English from a sociocultural perspective. The participants were 39 sophomores from two classes. The results showed that: (1) teachers’ questions targeting specific critical thinking skill in the classroom and in after-class conferences, as well as in written homework feedback were effective; (2) students backslid a little while internalizing teachers’ questions concerning critical thinking; (3) students improved reliably in terms of local and global coherence in their written production with the help of teachers’ questions. The findings indicate that teachers’ questions facilitate students’ development of critical thinking and enhance their discourse level writing skill.

L2 Dynamic Assessment: An Activity Theory Perspective

AbstractBecause scaffolded feedback is a key component of dynamic assessment (DA) and is present in some forms of corrective feedback (CF), it can be unclear how the 2 frameworks differ. Further complicating the distinction, many second language (L2) DA studies have focused on how a teacher provides mediation as a series of prompts, usually in reaction to a learner's error, and what that implies for L2 development. To investigate distinctions between DA and CF from an empirical stance rather than solely a theoretical one, this study utilized activity theory (AT) to analyze the changes that an English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language teacher experienced in how he responded to learners’ inaccurate utterances as he endeavored to use classroom DA as part of professional development. Findings revealed key distinctions between CF and DA by showing how the discursive tools of mediation were but 1 aspect of change in the teacher's responses, and that other components of the activity system such as subject orientation, division of labor, tools beyond discourse, community, and the outcomes of the responses played a fundamental role in understanding such change. More broadly, findings also revealed how the learning of DA led to a transformation in the teacher's theoretical perspective.

HOW SCAFFOLDING CONCEPT IS REALISED THROUGH THE USE OF FEEDBACK: A SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

The aim of this paper is to discuss how the metaphor of scaffolding is realised through the use of feedback in an ESL class in the US. In doing the analysis, I look at three types of feedback (self-feedback, peer feedback, and teacher feedback) and how each type help to shape the learning process in the learning context which is discussed. A number of experimental researches indicate that L2 learners would benefit from corrective feedback -regardless of the type of the feedback (Alfaajreh and Lantolf, 1994; Caroll and Swain, 1992). In the same vein, from this learning context, it can be concluded that each type of feedback can potentially serve as a mediation tool to scaffold students’ learning process.

기호적 중재를 통한 사각형의 성질 학습 사례 연구

The purpose of dealing with the properties of various quadrilaterals in the lower secondary geometric curriculum is closely related to the understanding of the structure of mathematical reasoning as the relational network. In this paper, we analyzed the unique structure diagram included in a reasoning task on the relationships between the properties of parallelograms and the learning process within the class through the task, focusing on the aspect of semiotic mediation. As a result, we could identify the semiotic potential from the structural design of the diagram, which can be used both as a means in accomplishing the task and as a tool of the semiotic mediation. In the task process, students were producing and using multimodal semiotic resources that simultaneously represent the spatial structure of the diagram and the structure of mathematical reasoning, thereby learning the structure of mathematical reasoning.

ROLE OF MANAGER IN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTRIBUTED TEAM; A REVIEW

Geographically Distributed Team is a team where members are dispersed in different locations across the globe and collaborate together to achieve a common goal. Such kind of team have the characteristics of both virtual team and global team. The team members work from far flung locations and relying heavily on computer mediated communication tools to interact and to collaborate with each other. The members work in different time zones and are culturally diverse. Managing such distributed team requires a different set of competence than a collocated team. The team leader or manager not only have to manage a team who may have never met or worked with each other before but also have different cultural orientation, working style, values and behaviours. This paper reviews research studies highlighting the managerial challenges of geographically distributed teams as faced by team leaders/ managers and also discuss managerial roles and behaviours that have been found to be effective in overcoming those challenges and to build an effective distributed team.

The First Language (L1) as a Mediational Tool in Peer Interaction by EFL College Students in Vietnam

The assumptions that using the first language (L1) in EFL/ESL language learning might spoil the linguistic development have been established for a long time. However, a large body of language learning studies has recently claimed the benefits of using L1 in learning context, especially during peer interaction. Moreover, Sociocultural Theory (SCT) provided the new perspectives towards learning shedding new lights on the potential role of L1 by highlighting the mediational role of L1 for the higher mental achievements in language learning. This paper drawing on SCT reports the results of the study which investigates the use of L1 in speaking tasks by EFL college students in Vietnam. It provides insights into the use of the L1 in the EFL learning in a speaking environment. Data collection was done by videotaping five pairs on completing two speaking tasks and analysed by adapting the L1 functions of Storch and Wigglesworth (2003), Swain and Lapkin (2000), Algería le la Colina & García Mayo (2009). The paper reveals the mediational functions of L1 in peer interaction in speaking task completion. It also provides the pedagogical implications for using mother tongue in teaching and learning English in the peer context.

Exploring Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on the Use of the Mother Tongue as a Mediational Tool in a Saudi EFL Classroom

Exploring Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on the Use of the Mother Tongue as a Mediational Tool in a Saudi EFL Classroom

“When your lesson is bombing”: The mediation of perplexity in the development of a reflective stance toward teaching

This year-long telling case study followed a pre-service teacher into the field as a novice kindergarten teacher. We sought theoretical explanation for the development of the participant's reflective stance in both settings. Four scenarios revealed that variation in the participant's depth of reflection can be explained by how foci, scaffolds, and stimuli for reflection mediated the participant's experience of perplexity. Analysis of each scenario revealed factors that impacted how mediational tools supported reflective growth. These factors can inform the choices of teacher educators, mentors, and pre-service and novice teachers about mediation in an apprenticeship.

Exploring Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on the Use of the Mother Tongue as a Mediational Tool in a Saudi EFL Classroom

Exploring Teachers' Beliefs and Practices on the Use of the Mother Tongue as a Mediational Tool in a Saudi EFL Classroom

Work Satisfaction as a Mediation Tool of Organizational Culture Towards Employees’ Performance

This study aimed (1) to describe the organizational culture, job satisfaction, and employees’ performance variables; (2) to analyzethe influence of corporate culture variables towards job satisfaction; (3) to investigate the effect of corporate culture and jobsatisfaction towards employee’s performance. The samples employed in this study were 49 people. The analysis techniqueadministered was the model of Structural Equation Modeling. The t-equation model was a combination of factor analysis,regression t and path analysis. The method of the structural equation could be tested to determine the value of direct influence, indirect influence, and the total influence between Exogenous Variables and Endogenous Variables. The organizational culture influenced job satisfaction, which meant that employees’ job satisfaction would be obtained if the company had a good organizational culture. Furthermore, organizational culture and job satisfaction affected employees’ performance. It could be assumed that the better the organizational culture of the company in supporting its employees in completing the company’s work, the more satisfied the employees would be. Moreover, it could improve the employees’ performance. Job satisfaction mediated the influence of organizational culture towards employees’ performance. Thus, the organizational culture could be inferred having a positive influence in improving employees’ performance, if employees felt satisfied with their workplace.