The dynamics of the language classroom / Ian Tudor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tudor, Ian.

Series:

Cambridge language teaching library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and languages--Study and teaching.

Language and languages.

Physical Description:

viii, 234 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Summary:

Traditionally, the classroom has been seen as a place where language learning is assumed to take place in a linear manner on the basis of a fairly predictable input -- output model. Recent research. however, has portrayed the classroom as a complex environment which is influenced by a wide range of attitudinal and contextual factors. This book seeks to explore the dynamic and frequently unpredictable nature of the language classroom. It does this by examining the various conceptions of language, learning, and the classroom which influence participants attitudes and actions. The interaction between methodology and context and the role of local cultures of learning are also examined. It then concludes with a number of recommendations as to how language educators may work constructively with the complex dynamic of classroom teaching and learning.

Contents:

1 A changing perspective on language teaching 5

1.1 A new technology of language teaching 5

1.2 Towards an ecological perspective on language teaching 8

1.3 Learner identities 11

1.4 Teacher identities 15

1.5 Identity and context 18

1.6 Emerging responses, emerging challenges 21

2 The dynamics of teaching and learning 28

2.1 Locating language teaching 28

2.2 Diversity and rationality 31

2.3 A changing research agenda 39

2.4 A dynamic perspective on the classroom 43

2.5 Exploring classroom dynamics 47

3 Visions of language 49

3.1 The language is the language: Or is it? 49

3.2 Language as a linguistic system 50

3.3 Language as doing things: The functional perspective 57

3.4 Language as self-expression 65

3.5 Language as culture and ideology 69

4 Visions of learning 77

4.1 The diversity of the learning experience 77

4.2 Experiential learning 78

4.3 Analytical learning 85

4.4 Habit formation: Developing automaticity 90

4.5 The role of affect 95

5 Visions of the classroom 104

5.1 The many meanings of the classroom 104

5.2 The classroom as a controlled learning environment 105

5.3 The communicative classroom 111

5.4 The classroom as a school of autonomy 117

5.5 The classroom as socialisation 123

6 Methodology and context 132

6.1 Putting methodology in its place 132

6.2 Exploring context 133

6.3 The force of circumstance 136

6.4 Conflicting rationalities 145

7 Exploiting local dynamics 157

7.1 The mental context of learning 157

7.2 Cultures of learning 158

7.3 Discovering the rules 160

7.4 A study in educational ethnography 170

8 Negotiation in the classroom 181

8.1 Teaching as negotiation 181

8.2 Negotiative dynamics 182

8.3 Negotiating classroom identities 185

8.4 A tale of two courses: Negotiating classroom realities among multiple participants 196

9 Living with complexity 207.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-225) and index.

ISBN:

0521772036

0521776767

OCLC:

59498122