L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature
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Activating (oracy) embodied-dialogic and cultural literacies through drama worldbuilding pedagogy across the primary curriculum
Get PDFAcross Europe, the need for teaching practices that foster collaborative pedagogy involving creativity, active student engagement and culturally responsive learning is seen as critical. Effective social-emotional communication and language skills enhance positive life outcomes and educational attainment. However, language ideologies in English education policy often advocate deficit thinking in monolingual and monocultural classrooms. This case study shares the practice and research findings of a two-year \u27Story Exchange ‘project by employing co-participatory research with teachers, artists, and young people. Seven primary schools worked with five artist-educators in the North of England to bring the Humanities curriculum to life through an oral storytelling and inquiry approach called Drama Worldbuilding. Dismantling deficit models of oracy, the project aimed to promote imaginative, culturally relevant learning by building on the linguistic strengths of all children, especially Black and Global Majority children—seeing these assets as rich affordances of learning. Teachers were paired with one of five artist-educators and given time and space to co-plan, co-deliver, and co-reflect on curriculum learning, engaging them in systematic action research. Employing a translanguaging approach, the research evidences the impacts of the pedagogical approach on children\u27s social-emotional literacy, presenting a new co-designed Framework of Dispositional Learning through Embodied-Dialogic Oracy
Arguing with the intertextual resources of sayings and stories in Chinese opinion essays: Recommendations from composition guidebooks published in Hong Kong
Get PDFUsing sayings and stories in Chinese argumentative essays or opinion essays (yilunwen) (e.g., as evidence) has been recommended in Chinese education systems, while this tradition has stimulated discussion in intercultural rhetoric literature, with the sayings and stories perceived as “typical Chinese rhetorical features” that are not expected in English argumentative essays (Wei, 2020, p. 3). To understand such features in situ in Chinese language education, we draw on the view of intertextuality as a social construction (Bloome & Egan-Robertson, 1993) and conceptualize sayings and stories as intertextual resources (Bazerman, 2004a) to be drawn upon in Chinese opinion essays following certain conventions. Through systematic searching and selection, we obtained a collection of 10 composition guidebooks published in Hong Kong and analyzed their recommendations for drawing on such intertextual resources in Chinese opinion essays in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE). Employing a data-driven matrix analysis approach, we analyzed 230 extracts from the 10 guidebooks and teased out expected uses of intertextual resources: quoting sayings and incorporating stories to fulfill five rhetorical functions. By reference to curriculum mandates in Chinese language education in Hong Kong, we highlight the significance of the intertextual resources as carriers of Chinese culture that students are expected to identify with and point out the underlying purpose of using them to illuminate opinions on moral themes
Promoting literary understanding and language development: Teacher Support for Grade 6 Swedish language learners
Get PDFThis study explores how teachers promote literary understanding and language development in Swedish as a second language (SSL) classrooms for Grade 6 students through read-aloud discussions. Addressing a research gap on core SSL curriculum delivery in elementary schools, this investigation observed two experienced teachers over a two-month period. The study draws on reader-response perspectives from Langer and Felski, combined with discursive strategies and Cummins\u27 notion of reading engagement. Through analysis of classroom observations, field notes, and photos, the study examines how teachers use questioning, discussions, and language support strategies to foster students\u27 growth in literary understanding and L2 knowledge.In both classrooms, linguistic aspects appeared to be highly integrated into the reading practices. For example, the teachers commented on the linguistic and aesthetic qualities of literary words. At the same time, the different dynamics of the student groups impacted the teachers’ choice of texts, which affected the possibilities for a deeper understanding of the text; for instance, by perceiving symmetries between the text and knowledge acquired in other teaching areas. The strategies revealed in the present study can potentially be used in other contexts to elevate the quality and status of L2 teaching.
In both classrooms, linguistic aspects appeared to be highly integrated into the reading practices. For example, the teachers commented on the linguistic and aesthetic qualities of literary words. At the same time, the different dynamics of the student groups impacted the teachers’ choice of texts, which affected the possibilities for a deeper understanding of the text; for instance, by perceiving symmetries between the text and knowledge acquired in other teaching areas. The strategies revealed in the present study can potentially be used in other contexts to elevate the quality and status of L2 teaching
Teaching quality in literature lessons of student teachers: Findings from a video study
Get PDFHigh-quality teaching is a pivotal element in achieving favourable student learning outcomes. However, previous research has hardly investigated the quality of literature teaching, especially not among student teachers. This study focuses on addressing this gap by analyzing literature lessons taught by student teachers during their five-month field experience in Germany. For the purpose of this study, high-quality teaching is defined as teaching that successfully integrates normative ideas about good teaching with effective practices that support student learning. Drawing on a newly developed, subject-specific model of teaching quality, this study assesses subject-specific and generic dimensions of teaching quality as well as variation in teaching quality among student teachers. To this end, the study designed new instruments for video-based observation and used them to evaluate N = 22 videotaped literature lessons on narrative texts. The results show that student teachers perform considerably better in generic quality dimensions than in subject-specific ones. Furthermore, standard deviations and cluster analyses indicate considerable student heterogeneity. These findings imply that teacher education programs should emphasize developing subject-specific teaching competencies in literature instruction even more and pay more attention to student teacher heterogeneity
Unlocking genre knowledge through text exemplars and assessing its impact on argumentative essay quality
Get PDFThis quasi-experimental study investigates the impact of analyzing text exemplars on genre knowledge and on the quality of argumentative essays in authentic educational settings. Focusing on single and analogue text exemplars, we assess whether targeted genre knowledge and text quality can be improved. Conducted in classrooms with teacher-led Socratic instruction and individual text analysis, our hypotheses explore the effectiveness of both single and analogue exemplars on genre knowledge and text quality. Results show that while both exemplar types enhance genre knowledge similarly, only analogue exemplars significantly improve text quality. The study underscores the complex relationship between genre knowledge and text quality, suggesting that factors beyond genre knowledge contribute to writing proficiency. The findings highlight the nuanced process of knowledge transfer in writing and the potential of analogue exemplars to facilitate this transfer effectively
The open work and the closing reading: Navigating openness and ambiguity in literature discussions
Get PDFThe tension between openness and ambiguity in literature and readers’ expectation of coherence and consistency (i.e., their ‘desire for closure’) may present a pedagogical dilemma in literature classrooms. While prior research has identified an educational potential of using open works to de-automatize students’ thinking, encourage tolerance for ambiguity, and shape literary awareness, empirically-based knowledge of such classroom practice is scarce. The present study examined the interaction between structured openness of literary texts and readers’ ‘desire for closure’ in the context of literature discussions in lower secondary school. Drawing on videotaped whole-class discussions about narratively complex short stories in an ongoing intervention to support quality of literature discussions, we identified six different closing mechanisms used by either the teacher or the students: 1) Forcing a one-sided interpretation; 2) Inferring new context, not given by the text, to embed already preferred interpretations; 3) Magnifying peripheral details to support interpretations; 4) Staying on the surface – concentrating on the empirically verifiable and determinate; 5) Skipping between inquiries instead of developing lines of thought; and 6) Encouraging readers to connect fictive elements to their own lives. Based on the analysis, we discuss how interactional closure of literary openness in the classroom context relates to principal educational ideals of promoting clarity, comprehension, and coherence
Developing listening comprehension through listening strategies: A case study with 9- to 11-year-old students
Get PDFThis case study addresses the underexplored area of exposure to listening strategies in first-language (L1) education by investigating the impact of explicit strategy instruction on the listening comprehension of 9- to 11-year-old students. Two groups were compared: one receiving strategy instruction (n = 14) and one without (n = 15). Results revealed significant improvements in comprehension for the strategies group, particularly among struggling students, who also demonstrated greater engagement and task organization. These findings underscore the importance of explicit, structured exposure to listening strategies to foster cognitive and metacognitive skills, emphasizing the value of applying similar approaches in diverse educational contexts. Unlike large-scale experimental research, this study follows a case study approach, focusing on an in-depth analysis of a specific pedagogical intervention in a well-defined classroom context. The aim is not to achieve statistical generalization but rather to provide analytical insights into the mechanisms underlying listening strategy instruction
Mind the margin! Elementary school children\u27s (non)reading of picture book peripheries. An eye tracking study.
Get PDFWhen we pick up a book, the first thing we see is the cover. We might read the title and the name of the author to identify the book. When we decide to read the book, we usually flip through the first pages until we reach the beginning of the narrative. Gérard Genette has described some of the elements we usually find within this transactional zone through his concept of paratexts. For written literature, Genette sees the function of these textual elements in guiding reception. Picture book publications have recently shown a development with regard to increasing narrative transgression. In particular, the images on the cover, endpapers, and within the title pages are often an integral part of the narrative, while the printed text (in the following referred to as ‘print’) continues to follow the conventions described by Genette. This leads to the question whether child readers adapt their reception behavior when they encounter such picture book peripheries. This paper discusses eye movement data recorded during picture book reception by 48 elementary school students. The data show a significant tendency for participants to pay only very selective attention to the peripheral areas of the picture book, even when the narrative extends into the periphery. The concept of typographic dispositives is proposed as a theoretical explanation for these findings
Exploratory talk in times of globalisation and digitalisation: a narrative review
Get PDFOver the last decades researchers and educators have promoted the use of language in collaborative activities in the classroom. Accordingly, there is considerable support for the sociocultural idea that knowledge is the result of a co-constructed activity of students, and that exploratory talk can support them to develop higher-order thinking, high-level understanding, the voicing of personal opinions and ideas, and argumentation skills. Positive learning effects of exploratory talk have inspired researchers all over the world to replicate, refine or elaborate on these early studies, using both quantitative and qualitative methods and often finding similar positive linguistic, cognitive, social, psychological, and pedagogical effects. In this study we present a narrative review into the definition, measurement, and effects of exploratory talk. The review is both a part and an extension of a PhD study on the use of exploratory talk in primary schools in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. Based on this review we will highlight the relevancy of exploratory talk and associated challenges for L1 education in a globalising, diversifying and digitalising context. We will argue that exploratory talk can meet these challenges, but its potential can only be realized fully by a shift towards dialogic teaching as opposed to the IRF/IRE-pattern which still seems to dominate classroom practice
Multimodality in L1 Education: Introduction to the Special Issue
Get PDF The introduction serves as the first entry point into the special issue. Based on a semiotically grounded concept of multimodality, it summarizes the contributions of the articles to the topic. Additionally, the articles are thematically grouped to highlight the connections between them