Teacher and student views of EFL classroom activities
An ethnographic study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12112802 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jacqueline D Beebe (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 191-203 |
| Publication date | 1994-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Language Culture and Curriculum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0790-8318 • E-ISSN: 1747-7573 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07908319409525177 |
| OpenAlex | W2082747934 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
This ethnographically‐oriented study investigates how EFL lessons are conceptualised and carried out. What rules underlie the idealised version of an activity and what actually transpires? The video‐tape of a conversation lesson at a Japanese business school was shown to four students from the class and then to the native‐speaker teacher. These informants commented on each activity's boundaries and purposes. They identified participation rules and classified each activity according to van Lier's (1988) typology of interaction types based on the degree of focus on what is being talked about and focus on how the activity is carried out. Students tended to describe activities in terms of linguistic elements and state the purpose as accurate production, while the teacher's stated main concern was with the successful conveyance of meaningful information. The students described activities according to what they were supposed to do while the teacher spoke more of what actually transpired. The interviews revealed that two general rules could override the rules of any specific activity: (1) understanding is paramount, so switch to Japanese when you need to, and engage in side‐talk when necessary; and (2) ‘talking is the point’ so do not be overly concerned with grammatical accuracy
Class (philosophy · Conversation · Conversation analysis · Ethnography · Focus (optics · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Point (geometry · Sociology · Typology · Communication · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Mathematics · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching
| Highly cited | No |
|---|