Examining Instructional Shifts Within Dialogic Interaction in Japanese University Efl Education
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses July 2020 EXAMINING INSTRUCTIONAL SHIFTS WITHIN DIALOGIC INTERACTION IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY EFL EDUCATION Roehl Sybing University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Sybing, Roehl, "EXAMINING INSTRUCTIONAL SHIFTS WITHIN DIALOGIC INTERACTION IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY EFL EDUCATION" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 1963. https://doi.org/10.7275/17645714 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1963 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXAMINING INSTRUCTIONAL SHIFTS WITHIN DIALOGIC INTERACTION IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY EFL EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented by ROEHL SYBING Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2020 College of Education Language, Literacy, and Culture © Copyright by Roehl Sybing 2020 All rights reserved. EXAMINING INSTRUCTIONAL SHIFTS WITHIN DIALOGIC INTERACTION IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY EFL EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented By ROEHL SYBING Approved as to style and content by: _________________________________ Theresa Austin, Chair _________________________________ Maria Jose Botelho, Member _________________________________ Cristine Smith, Member _________________________________ Thomas Roeper, Member _________________________________ Jennifer Randall Associate Dean of Academic Affairs College of Education DEDICATION To Mark Weissman, Jason Pratt, Makiko Takahashi, Takako Watanabe, Matthew Wallace, and David Kluge, teachers who have shaped what I do to this very day, and teachers who love connecting with their students. To my mom, Glenda, and my dad, Fernando, who always pushed me to go further. To friends Jeanne, Katherine, Devin, Paul, David, Ashley, Hengyi, Emma, and Razia. And to all my students over the years from whom I have learned so much. You may not know it now because we are so far apart today, but my life's work might be far less fulfilling if not for each of you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are so many people to thank for being a part of this chapter of my professional career. This work would not be possible without my advisor and dissertation committee chair, Dr. Theresa Austin, and current and past committee members Dr. Maria Jose Botelho, Dr. Cristine Smith, Dr. Tom Roeper, and Dr. Korina Jocson. Each of them come to this work with very different perspectives and interests in mind, but all of them bring valuable insight without which this research would not have taken shape. In particular, Dr. Austin was instrumental in challenging me to explore language education in ways that I simply had not considered when I first entered the doctoral program in the College of Education. For that wider perspective, I offer my thanks. Among countless other mentors at University of Massachusetts Amherst, I would also like to thank Dr. K. C. Nat Turner and Dr. Laura Valdiviezo for the opportunity to explore ethnography and qualitative research through sociocultural and social justice lenses, which I hope are reflected in the research presented in this dissertation. Dr. Lynnette Arnold and Dr. Krista Harper were also insightful in providing the necessary anthropological and methodological perspectives that further inform this research. Last but not least, Dr. Denise Ives provided that spark to explore discourse in creative but thoughtful and rigorous ways that I hope are apparent in the data analysis presented here. There are also staff and administration that I have worked with as I push through my doctoral program. Dr. Ray Sharick, Dr. Shane Hammond, Michael Hanna, Kristin Tyler, Sovann-Malis Loeung, John Ciampa, and Jorge Guzman were always there to help with paperwork and explain the many (and, at times, obscure) protocols and customs v required to meet the various milestones of my program. The work that takes place behind the scenes may be perceived as a thankless task but I owe them my thanks for their support and guidance nonetheless. Many thanks go to the people in Japan that have supported this research during my time there. Of particular note, a couple of bags of black licorice from Black River Candy Shoppe go to Mr. Nelson next time we meet. Of course, this work would not be possible without the participation and support of his students. As much as I have learned about the learning process from them, I hope I have been of some benefit to them in kind. Back in Amherst, there are countless peers and mentors within my doctoral cohort, my writing group, the blue and yellow sides of the College of Education building, and my assistantship at the Learning Resource Center. To all of them, I'm grateful to have shared whatever brief time we had together while our paths crossed. The likelihood of one being successfully self-made is very rare, if the likelihood exists at all. It's more probable (and far more interesting) that a work attributed to one person is really the work of many, just as this dissertation was the product of abundant dialogue with and inspiration from countless people during my four years as a student at University of Massachusetts Amherst. So many of you have contributed to this project in ways big and small, noticed and otherwise, that I hope I have requited in some way. Wherever you go in this life, my hope is that the people around you are as supportive to you as you have been to me. As for what happens after this dissertation, you will not see me on this road again, but on other paths, I hope that we meet again and that I can be of similar service to you. vi ABSTRACT EXAMINING INSTRUCTIONAL SHIFTS WITHIN DIALOGIC INTERACTION IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITY EFL EDUCATION MAY 2020 ROEHL SYBING, B.A., NEW YORK UNIVERSITY M.A., NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Theresa Austin This dissertation presents a study aimed at exploring the influences on language learners' contributions to dialogic classroom interaction in a Japanese university EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom context. Dialogic approaches to teacher discourse rely on the contributions of students to classroom interaction as well as the interpretive skills of teachers to facilitate understanding and co-construction of knowledge. However, the contemporary literature has reported on challenges involved in fostering mutual classroom dialogue with language learners, owing to challenges with linguistic and academic resources and differences in culturally informed perceptions regarding academic roles and expectations. This paper explores the need for teachers and researchers to identify (1) shifts in pedagogical practices that occur during the course of discrete episodes of classroom discourse, (2) the possible causes that prompt such shifts, and (3) the power dynamics surrounding such shifts. The study engages in observations of an EFL classroom and interviews with classroom participants. In conjunction with discourse analysis and critical discourse vii analysis, this study will employ discussions of instructional conversation (Goldenberg, 1992), challenges to dialogic interaction (Engin, 2017), and "bases of social power" (French & Raven, 1959) to understand how an L1 English-speaking teacher adjusts their pedagogical practices in response to L1 Japanese students' contributions to classroom discourse. The findings of this study indicate that the teacher's instructional shifts take advantage of various interactional resources, opportunities for co-constructing meaning, and validation of students' knowledge and sociocultural identities in order to build a productive dialogue within the classroom. Ultimately, this dynamic classroom environment provides pathways for fostering rapport with and agency in students, two qualities that the contemporary research has associated with positive learning outcomes. Discussion of the discursive practices explored in this study should prompt researchers of and practitioners in language classroom contexts to transcend formulaic approaches of "teacher talk" and elicitation of language for its own sake. Instead, the attribution of rapport and mediated agency to dialogic interaction realized through instructional shifts necessitates a paradigm shift in the contemporary empirical research in language education toward a more sociocultural approach to understanding mediation between classroom interactants across differences of language and culture. viii PREFACE What if I had your heart? What if you wore my scars? How would we break down? What if you were me? And what if I were you? What if you told my lies? What if I cried with your eyes? Could anyone keep us down? What if you were me? What if I were you? - Five for Fighting ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………... v ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….. vii PREFACE………………………………………………………………………………... ix LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………… xiii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………….. xiv GLOSSARY OF TERMS……………………………………………………………….. xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………... 1 M 7/8, PE1, Episode 10917……………………………………………………….