Participation, collaboration and language use in English Foreign Language adult learning groups that share or do not share a common language besides English

The study attempts to answer the question: "How is learning, interaction and information exchange affected by whether learning groups are composed of people who share or do not share a common language (besides English)?" I carried out the research at English Foreign Language (EFL) classes which were held for peoples of Africa. Data were collected through audio and audio-visual recordings, field notes and semi-structured follow-up interviews. The findings indicated that learning, interaction and information exchange were affected by the composition of the group. These differences were related to the interactive and dialogic nature of exchange in the 'cross language groups' where conversational techniques (such as turn-taking) were used in order to engage in an interactive and collabortive dialogue. As a result, learning, interaction and information exchange occurred more readily in 'cross language groups' than in 'common language groups'.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

School of Education

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Gavron-Stadtmaer, Tanya

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Prinsloo, Mastin

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10559

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10559