Layered Contexts

This brief essay focuses on a single turn in an interchange between an adult educator (Anna), and a five-year old girl (Claire), who are playing math games together. Using multiple layers of contextual information, the paper shows how much interactional work can be involved in teacher talk, even in an informal setting. First, conversation analysis (CA) is used to analyze the turn in question, as well as its sequential context. Next, data from a participant interview is described within the context of Goffman‟s (1974) theories of frames and footing. Thus, four layers of context—turn, sequence, participant interview, and frames—work together to help describe this pedagogical interaction

Mixed categories in word grammar: Swahili infinitival nouns

In this article the theory of Word Gramm.ar, including recent work on morphology, is utilised to give an account which covers both the morphological facts and the syntactic ones associated with infinitival nouns in Swahili, a Bantu language spoken widely in East Africa. The paper is organised as follows: in 1 a brief account of some of the data is given; 2 is an introduction to Word Grauzmar (WG); in 3 the analysis of the Swahili data is given; 4 is a conclusion and comparison with other recent theories

Frames, Footing, and Teacher-Initiated Questions: An Analysis of a Beginning French Class for Adults

Unlike children learning to speak, adults come to the language-learning process with years of life experience. They may be beginners in a new language, but they are not beginners in their own lives. Yet, some of the most common types of teacher/student exchanges, especially those that follow a teacher-initiated question, may lead to situations in which students who are speaking about familiar topics still feel, act, and are treated as novices. This paper explores a beginning French class for adults, asking how the class participants deal with dual — and sometimes conflicting — roles. On the one hand, the teacher‘s knowledge of French puts her in the role of expert, especially in comparison to her beginning-level students. At the same time, teacher and students are all adults who, outside of the classroom, would meet as equals in terms of general knowledge and experience. These shifting roles can be seen especially clearly in interchanges following questions about students‘ own lives. While it seems evident that a student would know more about her background than anyone else, such questions often seem more like tests of how well students can answer in French than actual requests for information

“You Can Make a Tower”: Using Conversation Analysis to Understand a Math Tutoring Session

A recent article in the New York Times (Spencer, 2011) described a series of well-attended workshops on how to encourage children to play effectively with wooden blocks. At first glance, the idea of teaching children to play seems somewhat absurd. And yet, if we think about learning via play rather than learning to play, it is reasonable to ask how adults can encourage mathematical and verbal complexity in children’s games and activities. By looking closely at what parents and teachers say to children during play sessions, we can perhaps better understand the kind of language that supports intellectual development in the context of child-directed play. In this brief paper, I attempt to show how one teacher uses language to bring together learning and play in a math tutoring session. Specifically, I discuss an instance where the teacher finds a moment in a student’s self-directed game where it would be appropriate to introduce beginning math concepts. In order to better understand and depict the tutor’s talk, I use Conversation Analysis (CA) to study how the interaction unfolds on a moment-by-moment basis. CA’s emphasis on how each turn unfolds — and relates to preceding and following turns — allows me to look closely at the pedagogical implications of seemingly minor choices on the part of the tutor

Layered Contexts

This brief essay focuses on a single turn in an interchange between an adult educator (Anna), and a five-year old girl (Claire), who are playing math games together. Using multiple layers of contextual information, the paper shows how much interactional work can be involved in teacher talk, even in an informal setting. First, conversation analysis (CA) is used to analyze the turn in question, as well as its sequential context. Next, data from a participant interview is described within the context of Goffman‟s (1974) theories of frames and footing. Thus, four layers of context—turn, sequence, participant interview, and frames—work together to help describe this pedagogical interaction

“You Can Make a Tower”: Using Conversation Analysis to Understand a Math Tutoring Session

A recent article in the New York Times (Spencer, 2011) described a series of well-attended workshops on how to encourage children to play effectively with wooden blocks. At first glance, the idea of teaching children to play seems somewhat absurd. And yet, if we think about learning via play rather than learning to play, it is reasonable to ask how adults can encourage mathematical and verbal complexity in children’s games and activities. By looking closely at what parents and teachers say to children during play sessions, we can perhaps better understand the kind of language that supports intellectual development in the context of child-directed play. In this brief paper, I attempt to show how one teacher uses language to bring together learning and play in a math tutoring session. Specifically, I discuss an instance where the teacher finds a moment in a student’s self-directed game where it would be appropriate to introduce beginning math concepts. In order to better understand and depict the tutor’s talk, I use Conversation Analysis (CA) to study how the interaction unfolds on a moment-by-moment basis. CA’s emphasis on how each turn unfolds — and relates to preceding and following turns — allows me to look closely at the pedagogical implications of seemingly minor choices on the part of the tutor

Pivotal Moments in Student Teaching

When we first discussed a forum devoted to current and recent student teachers, we simply thought it would be worthwhile to highlight the voices of teachers preparing to work with English Language Learners (ELLs) in our public schools. What we didn’t realize is that we would also hear the voices of their young students—and, in the process, be asked to rethink our own vision of the importance of student teaching

Frames, Footing, and Teacher-Initiated Questions: An Analysis of a Beginning French Class for Adults

Unlike children learning to speak, adults come to the language-learning process with years of life experience. They may be beginners in a new language, but they are not beginners in their own lives. Yet, some of the most common types of teacher/student exchanges, especially those that follow a teacher-initiated question, may lead to situations in which students who are speaking about familiar topics still feel, act, and are treated as novices. This paper explores a beginning French class for adults, asking how the class participants deal with dual — and sometimes conflicting — roles. On the one hand, the teacher‘s knowledge of French puts her in the role of expert, especially in comparison to her beginning-level students. At the same time, teacher and students are all adults who, outside of the classroom, would meet as equals in terms of general knowledge and experience. These shifting roles can be seen especially clearly in interchanges following questions about students‘ own lives. While it seems evident that a student would know more about her background than anyone else, such questions often seem more like tests of how well students can answer in French than actual requests for information