Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning synthesizes the existing body of research on the role of peer interaction in second language learning in one comprehensive volume. In spite of the many hours that language learners spend interacting with peers in the classroom, there is a tendency to evaluate the usefulness of this time by comparison to whole class interaction with the teacher. Yet teachers are teachers and peers are peers – as partners in interaction, they are likely to offer very different kinds of learning opportunities. This book encourages researchers and instructors alike to take a new look at the potential of peer interaction to foster second language development. Acknowledging the context of peer interaction as highly dynamic and complex, the book considers the strengths and limitations of peer work from a range of theoretical perspectives. In doing so, Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning clarifies features of effective peer interaction for second language learning across a range of educational contexts, age spans, proficiency levels, and classroom tasks and settings.

This volume represents the first collection of empirical studies focusing on peer interaction for L2 learning. These studies aim to unveil the impact of mediating variables such as task type, mode of interaction, and social relationships on learners’ interactional behaviors and language development in this unique and pedagogically powerful learning context. To examine these issues, contributors employed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods designs as well as cognitive, social, and sociocognitive theoretical frameworks. The majority of the studies are classroom based and were conducted in a rich array of settings covering five continents and encompassing a wide range of learner L1s and target languages. These settings include second and foreign language classrooms from primary to university level, content-based programs, online contexts, and after-school programs. To span the divide between research and practice, each study includes a section suggesting pedagogical implications.

Drawing on experiences of ESOL teachers from around the world, this book provides insights into how peer learning is understood and used in real language classrooms. Based on survey responses, interviews, and observations in a wide range of classroom settings, this book integrates research on peer interaction in second language learning from cognitive and social frameworks with original data on teacher beliefs and practices around the use of peer learning in their teaching. Readers will gain understanding, through teachers' own words, of how peer interaction is used to teach linguistic form, how learners collaborate to develop oral and written communication skills, and how technology is used with peer learning. This book also delineates the ways that current second language peer interaction research diverges from classroom practice and concludes with a classroom-centered research agenda that addresses the nexus of research and practice on second language peer interaction. The book provides a template for integrating research- and practice-based perspectives on second language learning. Language teachers, teacher educators, second language researchers, and advanced students of applied linguistics, SLA, TESOL, and language pedagogy will benefit from this volume’s perspective and unique work.

Strategies, tools, tips, and examples that teachers can use to help English language learners at all levels flourish in mainstream classrooms.

Blending research with teacher-developed strategies, this book helps teachers better understand students' cultural differences and turn educational challenges into educational opportunities.

Take a ride in a long submarine or fly away in a hot air balloon. Whatever you do, just be sure to bring your favorite book! Rafael López's colorful illustrations perfectly complement Pat Mora's lilting text in this delightful celebration of El día de los niños/El día de los libros; Children's Day/Book Day. Toon! Toon! Includes a letter from the author and suggestions for celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros; Children's Day/Book Day. Pasea por el mar en un largo submarino o viaja lejos en un globo aerostático. No importa lo que hagas, ¡no olvides traer tu libro preferido! Las coloridas ilustraciones de Rafael López complementan perfectamente el texto rítmico de Pat Mora en esta encantadora celebración de El día de los niños/El día de los libros. ¡Tun! ¡Tun! Incluye una carta de la autora y sugerencias para celebrar El día de los niños/El día de los libros. The author will donate a portion of the proceeds from this book to literacy initiatives related to Children's Day/Book Day. La autora donará una porción de las ganancias de este libro a programas para fomentar la alfabetización relacionados con El día de los niños/El día de los libros.

This dissertation study aims at elaborating on a theory of language play as an essential part of the overall communicative performance of second language (L2) learners. Real-life interactions are imbued with language play and humour. Therefore, if L2 learners are to become active participants in the day-to-day interactions of the L2 community, they need to be familiar with both transactional and goal-oriented as well as playful and fun-oriented language. Therefore, the present study reports the findings of a small scale empirical case study of nine English as a Second Language (ESL) adults university students in a conversation class, the curriculum of which had an intentional inclusion of Language play and humour. It reports the selection and implementation of authentic material from national newspapers, such as jokes, cartoons and riddles which generated a focus on language. These language play pieces embedded certain words and/or idiomatic expressions that inevitably came into focus as the students tried to understand the playfulness, the humour and the language involved. Through a pre-test/post-test design and a series of microgenetic analyses of the on-task talk of the students as they tried to unravel the meaning of the puns, this study traced in the peer-peer dialogues about language how students moved from non-comprehension to spontaneous use. By allowing students to work with and Learn from peers, the present study contributes to the line of research that concentrates on the ability of students to become active participants in their learning and on social interaction as a key mediational tool for the development of L2 communicative performance. Upon giving students the opportunity to overcome the cognitive, social and educational challenges of understanding L2 humour and language play, this study demonstrates that ESL university students can collaboratively manage their own comprehension and learning of the language involved and thus mediate each other's learning.