The Use of LLT Materials in China’s EFL Classrooms: Making Learner Engagement in Classroom Talk Visible

Conference: The European Conference on Education (ECE2022)
Title: The Use of LLT Materials in China’s EFL Classrooms: Making Learner Engagement in Classroom Talk Visible
Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Wei Dan, Southwest University, China

Abstract:

Language learning and teaching materials (LLT) are crucial parts of language classrooms. However, how these materials are used by students and teachers during EFL classroom interactions is still understudied. To fill in this gap, this classroom-based study examined the use of LLT materials in English classrooms for English majors and how students engaged with the materials, in a higher institution in China.

36 hour videotaped classroom interaction were collected from three EFL teachers and 90 students at the intermediate level of English proficiency. Based on a conversation analytic treatment of 90 extracts, this study focuses on (a) the types of LLT materials used in the English classrooms, (b) the characteristics of the discourse patterns generated due to the use of LLT materials and (c) the extent to which students engage with them.

Results shows that diverse language teaching resources were utilized by teachers, covering all five dimensions of materials (i.e. physical entities, texts, signs, environments, and technologies) to synergistically facilitate learning. Nonetheless, textbooks remain the most commonly used type of instructional materials in EFL classrooms. Additionally, LLT materials were observed to have a significant impact on teacher-student classroom interaction, prompting turns-at-talk in direct or indirect ways. It also revealed that different materials-discourse relations provide students with various level of engagement and topic selection, resulting in distinct possibilities of interaction space, and consequently, impact learner agency in classroom talk in varied ways. This study provides implications for how instructional materials and classroom discourse interact to provide language learning opportunities.



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