Table of Contents
Editorial: Research on EFL learning by young children in Spain
María del Pilar García Mayo | pp. 181–188
ARTICLES
Pair dynamics and language-related episodes in child EFL task-based peer interaction
Elisabet Pladevall-Ballester | pp. 189–213
Language-related episodes by young CLIL learners: A review of task modality effects
María Martínez-Adrián, M. Juncal Gutiérrez-Mangado, Francisco Gallardo-del-Puerto & María Basterrechea | pp. 214–245
Effects of proficiency and collaborative work on child EFL individual dictogloss writing
Asier Calzada & María del Pilar García Mayo | pp. 246–274
Give me a second chance: Task repetition and collaborative writing with child EFL learners
Amparo Lázaro-Ibarrola & María Ángeles Hidalgo | pp. 275–299
A theoretically-grounded classification of EFL children’s formulation strategies in collaborative writing
Julio Roca de Larios, Francisco Javier García Hernández & Yvette Coyle | pp. 300–336
What is an ecosystem?Defining science in primary school CLIL contexts
Ana Llinares & Nashwa Nashaat-Sobhy | pp. 337–362
BOOK REVIEWS
Craig Lambert & Rhonda Oliver (Eds.). 2020. Using Tasks in Second Language Teaching: Practice in Diverse Contexts
Reviewed by Priska Pramastiwi | pp. 363–366
Katie A. Bernstein. 2020. (Re)defining Success in Language Learning: Positioning, Participation and Young Emergent Bilinguals at School
Reviewed by Mayyer Ling | pp. 367–370
Abstract
Pair dynamics and language-related episodes in child EFL task-based peer interaction
Elisabet Pladevall-Ballester | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Previous research shows young learners are indeed able to interact in a foreign language (FL) and negotiate for meaning while also attending to form. One of the variables that has been least studied among young learners (YLs) in FL contexts is the kind of relationships established among the members of a dyad and how the nature of pair dynamics affects the learners’ ability to attend to language. The present study explores the pair dynamics and the frequency and types of language learning opportunities in the form of language-related episodes (LREs) that emerge during peer interaction in a spot-the-differences task completed by young learners in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. We also examine the effects of age and pair dynamics on the production of these LREs. Results suggest that children interact mainly using collaborative patterns and can actually attend to language in episodes which are mainly meaning-focused and are resolved particularly in expert/novice dyads. Age has been found to significantly affect the production of LREs but pair dynamics seems to be less determinant. Findings corroborate the need for YLs to be given the chance to interact with their peers in class to foster learning opportunities.
Keywords: child EFL, peer interaction, pair dynamics, LREs
Language-related episodes by young CLIL learners: A review of task modality effects
María Martínez-Adrián | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
M. Juncal Gutiérrez-Mangado | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
Francisco Gallardo-del-Puerto | University of Cantabria
María Basterrechea | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
Task modality has been found to affect the production, nature and resolution of Language Related Episodes (LREs). However, a substantial number of investigations have been conducted with adult learners (i.e. García Mayo & Azkarai, 2016; Niu, 2009; Payant & Kim, 2019), except for García Mayo and Imaz Agirre (2019) with child learners. Besides, there is a lack of investigations examining the incorporation of LREs in the final output of oral and written tasks. In addition, previous studies have not controlled for either the different levels of accuracy that both task modalities demand as a consequence of their on-line and off-line nature or the opportunity for revising the output equally in both modalities. This paper compiles the findings from various studies conducted with the same cohorts of 5th and 6th primary school learners that have overcome the aforementioned methodological limitations, all of which will make possible a more comprehensive understanding of modality effects in terms of LRE production. In addition, it tackles the relationship between task-modality and variables such as the use of previously known languages, pair dynamics and pairing method (gender, proficiency and self-selection). Likewise, it adds to the scant research on young learners’ attitudes towards the tasks administered.
Keywords: language-related episodes, task modality, use of previously known languages, pair dynamics, pairing method, task motivation
Effects of proficiency and collaborative work on child EFL individual dictogloss writing
Asier Calzada | Universidad del País Vasco | Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU)
María del Pilar García Mayo | Universidad del País Vasco | Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU)
Collaborative writing has been traditionally studied in terms of language-related episodes (LREs), which have been shown to be influenced by learner proficiency. Yet, the impact of collaboration on the written product has received less attention, especially regarding child EFL learners. Our study analyzes the individual reconstructions produced by 30 Spanish-Basque EFL children (aged 11–12) before and after (T1 and T3) they completed a collaborative dictogloss (T2). From the analysis of their LREs at T2, we predicted that certain areas (grammar and mechanics) could reflect more changes at T3 than others. Moreover, we wanted to determine whether those changes were moderated by the learners’ and their partners’ proficiency at T2: low (LP) or high (HP). Text-based and rubric measurements showed that only grammatical complexity improved in children’s individual writing from T1 to T3. Regarding proficiency, LP children performed significantly worse than their HP counterparts at T1 and T3 in most writing dimensions. Partner proficiency only influenced accuracy, and unexpectedly, working with an LP partner did not appear to have a detrimental effect. Our findings stress the need to carry out longitudinal studies to further determine the role of collaboration in L2 writing and knowledge development.
Keywords: EFL, young learners, dictogloss, L2 writing, collaboration, proficiency
Language-related episodes by young CLIL learners: A review of task modality effects
María Martínez-Adrián | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
M. Juncal Gutiérrez-Mangado | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
Francisco Gallardo-del-Puerto | University of Cantabria
María Basterrechea | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
Task modality has been found to affect the production, nature and resolution of Language Related Episodes (LREs). However, a substantial number of investigations have been conducted with adult learners (i.e. García Mayo & Azkarai, 2016; Niu, 2009; Payant & Kim, 2019), except for García Mayo and Imaz Agirre (2019) with child learners. Besides, there is a lack of investigations examining the incorporation of LREs in the final output of oral and written tasks. In addition, previous studies have not controlled for either the different levels of accuracy that both task modalities demand as a consequence of their on-line and off-line nature or the opportunity for revising the output equally in both modalities. This paper compiles the findings from various studies conducted with the same cohorts of 5th and 6th primary school learners that have overcome the aforementioned methodological limitations, all of which will make possible a more comprehensive understanding of modality effects in terms of LRE production. In addition, it tackles the relationship between task-modality and variables such as the use of previously known languages, pair dynamics and pairing method (gender, proficiency and self-selection). Likewise, it adds to the scant research on young learners’ attitudes towards the tasks administered.
Keywords: language-related episodes, task modality, use of previously known languages, pair dynamics, pairing method, task motivation
A theoretically-grounded classification of EFL children’s formulation strategies in collaborative writing
Julio Roca de Larios | Universidad de Murcia
Francisco Javier García Hernández | Universidad de Murcia
Yvette Coyle | Universidad de Murcia
Research into collaborative writing (CW) has drawn on the notion of “languaging”, operationalized as language-related episodes (LREs), to account for the way learners pool their ideational and linguistic resources, give and receive immediate feedback on language and, as a result, deepen their awareness of meaning-form mappings. LREs in CW have been examined from different perspectives, including the degree of noticing shown by learners, the extent of their involvement in the interaction, the knowledge sources drawn upon, or the cognitive processes deployed to solve their linguistic problems. Yet, in spite of the alleged “added value” that strategic behaviour brings to learners’ reflection on language, available research on CW has not yet looked at LREs from the perspective of formulation strategies, i.e., the conscious mental actions engaged in by writers to address the problems involved in the transformation of ideas into written language. In an attempt to address this gap, and to extend available, but sill limited, CW research with children, the interactions of 30 young EFL pairs while writing two narrative picture-story texts were analysed by means of a reconceptualization of LREs as problem-solving strategy clusters, i.e., chains of strategies activated and applied to the writer’s linguistic knowledge in the course of the activity. The outcome of these analyses is a theoretically-motivated and pedagogically useful, child-based taxonomy of collaborative formulation strategies, which can help raise awareness of the mechanisms involved in solving language-related problems in early EFL writing, thereby promoting more tailored writing instruction and learners’ self-regulation. The taxonomy is also presented as a point of departure for future research.
Keywords: collaborative writing, formulation, strategies, children, foreign language
What is an ecosystem?Defining science in primary school CLIL contexts
Ana Llinares | Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Nashwa Nashaat-Sobhy | Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
In Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) contexts, students are expected to express disciplinary knowledge in a second/foreign language. One construct that has proven useful for the identification and realization of language functions in disciplinary knowledge is Dalton-Puffer’s (2013) model of cognitive discourse functions (CDFs). Additionally, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) has already been proven useful for distinguishing lexico-grammatical features that characterise different CDFs in CLIL students’ productions (e.g., Nashaat-Sobhy & Llinares, 2020; Evnitskaya & Dalton-Puffer, 2020). In this article, we use SFL to analyse the oral and written realisations of the CDF Define by 6th grade students participating in a CLIL program in Madrid, Spain. A total of 83 students responded to the same prompt (on science) in writing (in the form of a blog) as well as orally (in the form of an interview). In the oral interviews the co-construction of definitions by the students with the interviewer (researcher) and another peer are explored using the notion of Legitimation Code Theory and the concept of semantic waves (Maton, 2013). The analysis of students’ definitions is also related to primary CLIL teachers’ evaluations using comparative judgement.
Keywords: CLIL, systemic functional linguistics, semantic waves, oral and written definitions, comparative judgement
