Creating better pairwork: Salient cultural variables in adult TESOL classroom interaction

• Main Author: Weaver, Jennifer D.
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarly Commons 2015
• Subjects: English as a Second Language; Multicultural Education; Communication; Communication and the arts; Education; Classroom culture; Interactions; Intercultural; Pairwork; TESOL; International and Area Studies; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/247; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1246&context=uop_etds

This study investigated the salient cultural variables in play in an adult TESOL classroom. Two instructors paired students and offered their rationales for having done so. They created 71 dyads, which were examined and categorized according to Storch's four patterns of interaction. Results showed that the instructor who created pairs according to certain student cultural variables had a 12% higher rate of acquisition-enhancing patterns than did the instructor who did not pair in this same fashion. Instructor rationales were then analyzed to determine which cultural variables were found to be most salient in the creation of each of the four interaction patterns. Among them were issues of facework, trust, cultural norm remaking, and role ascription or achievement. By extension, the findings showed that using cultural variables when pairing learners in the TESOL classroom might significantly enhance second language acquisition.