Category-Bound Rights and Obligations of Young EFL Learners in Denmark: The Case of (Extreme) Differentiation

Category-Bound Rights and Obligations of Young EFL Learners in Denmark: The Case of (Extreme) Differentiation

Maria Vanessa AUS DER WIESCHEN

ÖZET
This study investigates if and how primary school teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners in Denmark interact in everyday classroom interaction with students who - according to a receptive vocabulary test - differ vastly in their English skills. Using Conversation Analysis, the study looks at how students present themselves in terms of claimed and demonstrated proficiency, epistemic displays, and willingness to participate, and at teachers’ methods to engage in interactions with these children, for example when they select them as next speakers. The analysis focuses on how the categories “strong” and “weak student” are co-constructed by both the teacher, the student in question, and their classmates. It seems that membership in one of these groups is written in stone, as students are not given many opportunities to be reassessed, even though continuous assessment is a prerequisite for successful differentiation. The analysis of EFL teachers’ practices of doing differentiation in teaching-in-interaction of Young Learners of EFL in Denmark contributes to our understanding of differentiation in language classrooms.

ABSTRACT
This study investigates if and how primary school teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners in Denmark interact in everyday classroom interaction with students who - according to a receptive vocabulary test - differ vastly in their English skills. Using Conversation Analysis, the study looks at how students present themselves in terms of claimed and demonstrated proficiency, epistemic displays, and willingness to participate, and at teachers’ methods to engage in interactions with these children, for example when they select them as next speakers. The analysis focuses on how the categories “strong” and “weak student” are co-constructed by both the teacher, the student in question, and their classmates. It seems that membership in one of these groups is written in stone, as students are not given many opportunities to be reassessed, even though continuous assessment is a prerequisite for successful differentiation. The analysis of EFL teachers’ practices of doing differentiation in teaching-in-interaction of Young Learners of EFL in Denmark contributes to our understanding of differentiation in language classrooms.

ANAHTAR KELİMELER: Conversation Analysis, differentiated instruction, Young Learners, EFL, Denmark

KEYWORDS: Conversation Analysis, differentiated instruction, Young Learners, EFL, Denmark

DOI : [PDF]