LA11.004_Dynamic conceptions of input, output and interaction Vietnamese EFL Lecturers Learning Second Language Acquisition Theory
Nội dung đề tài: “Dynamic conceptions of input, output and interaction Vietnamese EFL Lecturers Learning Second Language Acquisition Theory”
Dynamic conceptions of input, output :
Although research into language teacher learning and cognition and teaching
innovations oriented to communicative tasks has been abundant, little has
addressed EFL teachers‟ learning and conceiving of SLA principles underlying
task-based language teaching. The study reported in the present thesis aims to fill
this gap, specifically investigating teachers‟ learning and conceiving of the
notions of rich comprehensible language input, and authentic output and
interaction, referred to as „SLA facilitating conditions‟. The study explores three
issues: teachers‟ conceptions of the SLA facilitating conditions based on their
practices in the tertiary English classroom; teachers‟ perceptions of implementing
the conditions, including factors affecting the implementation; and teachers‟
perceived learning or change as a result of the process.
Data for the study were obtained from six Vietnamese EFL lecturers who
voluntarily participated in two short professional development workshops
focusing on language input, and output and interaction. The data collection
process was cumulative, beginning with pre-workshop interviews, followed by
collection of lesson plans, lesson-based interviews, reflective writing, observation
of lesson recordings, and a questionnaire. Analysis and interpretation followed a
process of triangulation, and drew on the author‟s knowledge of the context and
the teachers‟ backgrounds.
The results showed that the six teachers held contextualised conceptions of
language input, and output and interaction. Although they believed that these
conditions are important for language learning, their conceptions based on their
implementation of the conditions reflected a synthetic product-oriented view of
language learning and teaching. The teachers demonstrated an accommodation of
the notion of comprehensible input into their existing pedagogical understanding,
and revealed a conception of language output oriented to accuracy and fluency of
specific target language items. Tasks and activities for interaction were mainly to
provide students with contexts to use the target language items meaningfully
rather than to communicate meaning. Most teachers delayed communicative tasks
until their students were acquainted with the language content of the day. Such
conceptions and practices had a connection with both conceptual/experiential and
contextual factors, namely their prior training and experience, time limitations,
syllabus, and students‟ characteristics.
The study also showed that although the teachers‟ perceptions of the feasibility of
promoting rich language input and authentic output and interaction were neutral,
they thought promoting these conditions was relevant to students‟ learning,
congruent with their pre-existing beliefs about teaching English, and this granted
them a sense of agency. The teachers also reported they became more aware of
input, and output and interaction in teaching, confident, and purposeful in actions,
and some reported a widened view of English language teaching.
The study confirms that teacher learning and cognition is conceptually and
contextually conditioned (Borg, 2006). In terms of this, it provides a model of
how EFL teachers‟ learning SLA is constrained by prior pedagogical beliefs and
contextual conditions. In conjunction with previous research, the study provided
evidence to suggest that communicative and task-based language teaching would
appear to run counter to existing beliefs about teaching and practical conditions in
Asian EFL situations. This lends support to a more flexible organic approach to
employing tasks, perhaps considering the extent to which and in what ways
communicative tasks are pedagogically useful to the EFL classroom. An
implication is that for any new approaches like task-based language teaching to be
incorporated into teachers‟ existing repertoire, teachers‟ conceptions of language
input and interaction, and the conceptual and practical constraints influencing
their thinking and practice should be considered and addressed. In a broader
sense, approaches to teacher education and development should take a
constructivist perspective on teacher learning, taking into account the local
context of teaching and teachers‟ existing cognition
