This study investigates the functions served by learners' first language (L1) in classroom interaction among Iranian learners of English (L2). The study aims to determine how learners' L1 serves them in their L2 learning. It adopts a qualitative approach. The study involved the participation of eleven Grade 9 learners in one Iranian high school in…

Ostensibly, the orientation towards learning outcomes in adult English language and literacy delivery ensures that the focus is on standardised skill development and knowledge acquisition of students. Such measureable development is seen as foundational to broader employability skills and job readiness. It is an agenda however which ignores the…

Unwillingness to communicate (UWTC) was initially conceptualized as a trait-like predisposition in L1 studies, but later research shifted the focus to willingness to communicate (WTC). In second language acquisition, WTC was introduced as a situational construct where time is highlighted by the immediate context of decision to communicate.…

Sociocultural theory argues that an individual's mental, social, and material activity is mediated by cultural tools. One such tool is the language or discourse teachers use during whole class interaction in the second language classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine how a Colombian second language teacher mediated her ninth-grade…

For Vygotsky, language is a cultural-psychological concept emerged from social interactions and is applied for higher cognitive functions such as thinking, meaning making, and knowledge construction. In this study, a sociocultural perspective was applied to analyze the language produced by 40 sophomore Iranian EFL learners during dialogic…

This dissertation study focused on a feature of emergent interactions in the L2 classroom called unanticipated student utterances (USUs), which is defined as utterances spoken by the student that the teacher has not anticipated as part of the discussion at hand. The purpose of the study was to demonstrate why USUs are significant in the L2…

This study investigates how five non-heritage language learners manage themselves in a heritage learner dominant classroom. It looks at mainly the interactions among the students from a sociocultural perspective in terms of their attitude, socialization, and using strategies. The results indicate that most of subject students struggle but…

This article examines high school teachers' engagement of newcomer English learner students' prior knowledge. Three central research questions guided this study: 1) To what extent do teachers function as mediators of their students' prior knowledge? 2) What goes into teachers' thinking about how and when to elicit prior knowledge? and 3) How do…

This article explores how a primary school teacher utilized the frameworks of dynamic assessment (DA) and the instructional conversation (IC) within a Spanish as a foreign language classroom. DA was used to construct zones of proximal development with individuals in the classroom context. A menu of pre-scripted assisting prompts, used to respond…

As an area of classroom research, Interaction Analysis developed from the need and desire to investigate the process of classroom teaching and learning in terms of action-reaction between individuals and their socio-cultural context (Biddle, 1967). However, sole reliance on quantitative techniques could be problematic, since they conceal more than…

Framed in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT) of mind, this paper explores second language (L2) learning beliefs in study-abroad (SA) contexts. Previous research on learner beliefs has relied mostly on survey methods, while regarding belief as a static, internal representation of experience that is resistant to change. Due to the concern…

This paper focuses on the perspectives of Years 7 and 8 Pasifika students on mathematics learning, in particular their views about the communication of solution strategies with others (their peers), and their teacher. Pasifika students' ideas about the importance of communicating their mathematical reasoning and strategies to peers and teachers…

This short-term longitudinal study sought to identify the issues faced by a group of international Chinese students undertaking study in an Australian university. While the focus was on educational issues, socio-cultural and personal factors were also examined in an attempt to identify the sorts of strategies students used in settling into a new…

Drawing on Language Awareness (LA) approaches developed for francophone classrooms and a sociocultural theoretical perspective on language and learning that posits the genesis of new knowledge construction is situated in social interactions and shaped by socio-historical context, we conducted a small-scale case study of the implementation of LA…

This study reflects a social constructivist theoretical framework in which the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a central element, as two teaching approaches, communicative language teaching (CLT) and explicit focus on form (FonF) are examined. Research questions include: Are CLT and explicit FonF conducive to reaching the ZPD? Is there a…