ERIC Number: EJ1372393
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1946-3014
EISSN: EISSN-1946-3022
Available Date: N/A
Requests for Assistance in the Third-Age Language Classroom
Classroom Discourse, v13 n4 p386-406 2022
In this conversation analytic study, we investigate requests for assistance in the third-age (65+) language classroom. Seven Dutch seniors participated in a one-month course of English as a foreign language. We found that these seniors asked many language-related questions which fell into one of three categories: (1) production-oriented questions, (2) comprehension-oriented questions and (3) wonderment questions. These questions differ in the ways the sequences are shaped: (a) what precedes the request for assistance, (b) the person who is recruited to provide the assistance, (c) the person who offers the assistance, and (d) the response to the provided assistance and the subsequent interaction. We found wonderment questions to be the most prevalent category. Our findings suggest that the senior learners in our data show clear ownership and agency over their own learning process, demonstrated by their active participation and frequent (wonderment) questions in the classroom.
Descriptors: Discourse Analysis, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Classroom Communication, Student Participation, Learning Processes, English (Second Language), Foreign Countries, Older Adults, Adult Education, Language Processing, Help Seeking, Questioning Techniques, Vocabulary Development, English for Special Purposes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A