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Probing the gaps : the influence of social context and stance on second language students’ co-construction of a literary work

University of British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of social context and stance on second language (L2) students co-construction of a literary work. To this end, it examined three small groups of L2 students, first investigating the influence of social interaction, group composition and the management of the task on the students' coconstruction of the literary work, and then investigating the influence of three types of stances, post-structuralist, response, and literary, on the literary work constructed. The study was conducted over a unit of instruction in a Transitional English 11 classroom. As the researcher was also the students' teacher, the study employed both a qualitative and action research approach and analysed data from three sources: audiotaped discussions, questionnaires, and individual interviews. The first question was analysed from a social perspective, using social theories of reader-response as well as Vygotsty's theories (1978) as the framework. The findings for the second question, which explored the influence of stance on the students' discourse, are presented in a summary of how the students' discourse varied as they discussed questions from different stances and an analysis of the discourse. The findings for the first question indicated that social context did influence the literary work the students constructed. Students did model for each other the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for in depth literary analysis, but their interaction was influenced by both how they managed the task and by the composition of the group. Findings for the second question indicated that questions from a number of stances were productive. Post-structuralist stances were successful in highlighting differences in how students constructed the implied content of the text. Response stances produced the most varied discourse, which included students sharing personal opinions, experience, and moral judgements. Literary stances produced the most abstract discourse. Limitations of the study are detailed as well as suggestions for future research and suggestions for teaching practice.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-06-16

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/9243

Language and Literacy Education

University of British Columbia

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