Transcript Enrico Grazzi Interlanguage transfer revisited. The Global

Enrico Grazzi
The Sociocultural Dimension of ELF
in the English Classroom
Notes on Chapter 3
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ELF and Sociocultural Theory
ELF should be considered, on a par with any
other verbal language, a mediational tool that
serves the needs of its speakers in social
interaction and that is emergent in authentic
communicative contexts.
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Focus on...
EFL
•The components of the institutional EFL
(English as a Foreign Language)
curriculum (e.g. language syllabuses,
teaching materials, assessment tests, etc.)
• Interlanguage: the learning continuum
and the students’ transitional competence.
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Focus on...
ELF
• An emergent language system determined by
variable circumstances and affordances (e.g. the
globalization of trade, Web-mediated
intercultural communication, etc.) in real
sociocultural practices.
•The verbal outcome of L2-users' real social
practice, that cannot be taught as such.
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The convergence of EFL and ELF
EFL
L2-USERS’
PERFORMANCE
ELF
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Main objectives of this research
• To
integrate social networking into ELT and bridge
the gap between the scholastic dimension of EFL
and the thriving reality of ELF.
• Exploit the high affordance of social networking to
provide learners with a Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD).
• To make suggestions about the role of the
language teacher and the implementation of
learners' ELF-mediated activities for social
networking.
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Social networking
and ELT
 Even though most English syllabuses follow the
communicative approach, learners hardly have any
opportunity to use English for real communication
within the institutional learning context of the foreign
language classroom.
 The Web, instead, provides access to a vast virtual space,
open to authentic social interaction in a multicultural
context that should be exploited by students of English.
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Open source
communities of peers
friendship
family relationships
common interests
chance encounters
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What are communities of
practice (Cop)?
Communities of practice are formed by people who
engage in a process of collective learning in a shared
domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a
band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group
of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of
pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of
surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of firsttime managers helping each other cope. In a nutshell:
Communities of practice are groups of people who
share a concern or a passion for something they do
and learn how to do it better as they interact
regularly.
Etienne Wenger, http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
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L2 learners, literature and a
community of practice
As members of a Cop, L2
learners can exploit the
potential of their collective
intelligence first by sharing
their views on their favourite
books and then by writing
collaboratively, using ELF as
their contact language.
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L2-users as a community of
practice (Cop)
A few classes of English learners from Rome, Palermo and Messina
have been turned into a community of practice who exploit the
potential of their collective intelligence:
• by sharing their views on their favourite books
• by writing brand new passages of their favourite books
collaboratively
• using ELF as their contact language
• being open to any contributions from the wider community of social
networkers drawn by the same interests
• sharing their peers’ advice and feedback in a ZPD
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Literature and the internet
The case of aNobii:
List books,
Share thoughts,
Meet people.
/http://www.anobii.com
"aNobii provides as much
of a books community as
you'll find anywhere" Lifehack
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Advantages of using aNobii
• Improve learners’ reading and writing
skills.
• Promote the use of English as a
contact language for authentic
communication within an international
community of readers who share the
same interests.
• Present a different approach to reading
as a social event that promotes the
horizontal sharing of ideas and
experience.
• Make students discover fields of
potential interest to them.
• Promote reflective learning/teaching as
a process of cultural awareness.
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Book Review – Giulia – Harry Potter
I love all of the saga of Harry Potter. I read all the seven
books in Italian and only this summer I started reading the
saga in English with the third book, Harry Potter and the
Prizoner of Azkaban, because it was a birthday gift of mine.
Maybe this is the Harry Potter's book I like less, but I
enjoyed reading it in the same way. This is a middle book,
so it isn't full of particular events that could cought the
reader that much, for me. Yes, there's the apparition of
Sirius Black, that apparently tries to kill Harry ( I like the
fact that at the end e understand that Sirius is good and not
evil) and that causes some moments of suspance, but we
don't see Voldemort at all in this book and that brings me to
miss this evil character. In fact for me the one thing missing
in the story is a real antagonist. One of my favourite part of
the book is the one linked to the Time-Turner, that shows
us the theme of the trip in the past for trying to delete and
to modify some errors made.
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B.R. - Francesco – Lord of the Rings
i read it several times in italian and now i'm doing it in english.
the story is fantastic because it is beyond space and time and
deals with themes of every age.
what makes it enjoyable by everyone is that it contains both
the mighty of the Kings and the "simple" of the country.
I often think of great battles and of the ancient glory of Gondor
reading the appendix.
But the chapter I like the most is three is company: an innocent
and merry journey through a beautiful and peaceful land, with
just an unknown shadow that makes it an adventure.
There is too much to say and I will enjoy to have a discussion
with someone very much, so every feedback is most welcome.
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B.R. – Sara – Alice in Wonderland
ALICE IN WONDERLAND’S REVIEW
Alice in Wonderland is a book that would seem for
children, but it isn’t at all. All the story is based on
odd characters and apparently nonsense
dialogues. It is full of allusions to characters,
proverbs and events of the period in which it was
written. It has been interesting try to find and
understand the many hidden meanings and I think
that just if it is read in the original language it’s
possible to enjoy all the puns. In some passages I
found it not very fluent and so quite boring.
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B.R. – Benedetta
The Picture of Dorian Gray
I really believe that we cannot help but read this book, this masterpiece. Many times it
happens to all of us to ask questions about why we accept renunciations and many
times we let our body can find relief in the pleasure of the senses, in vices, smoking,
food, alcohol, drugs, and lose contact with reality often become almost a requirement;
but at one point, however, life presents his account, and then you cannot back down.
Perhaps the reason why The Picture of Dorian Grey is a book that you have to read
so deeply, all in one breath, is that although we try to hide the weaknesses of our
body, which then are the weaknesses of our soul, sometimes the need to become
aware of it cannot be postponed. We cannot always hide behind excuses and masks
and then reading those exceptional words that Oscar Wilde put together seems to
give relief, because, even if for a few chapters, it feels the fragilities of each share, as
if the fact that others also test them is able to justify them. The ending is really, in this
context, an explosion. For Dorian, for Oscar Wilde, especially for the reader, at least
for me it was so.
If you start to read this book, it is impossible to detach from it without first having
reached the last page and this such a involving reading is due to the incredible
exaltation of senses and reason it causes. This is the astonishing greatness of this
work, because when you read The Picture of Dorian Grey limits just become soft
edges, the reader becomes Dorian.
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B.R. - Arianna - Feedback
I'm agree with you on the contrast between appearance
and essence, this should make us reflect on what is
happening in our life. In this society is to prevail the
appearance and this book should be an example on this
subject!
You are right! Unfortunately our society gives more
importance to appearance nowadays, and I don't like this
very much.
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B.R. – Silvia
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Dorian has made a pact with the devil, and while the picture shows the
signs of advancing age, Dorian those signs of immorality. Talk of the
passage of time thus leading to the end of beauty and Dorian did not
accept this. Is a very good book for me also philosophical significance
that should make us reflect much.There are many words to the effect that
struck me very much!!!!!! Is a book that at the same time suggests many
things, but I prefer the yellow over philosophical books, it's a passion that
I have!
Feedback from Miro 92
Maybe being forever young and beautiful could be really interesting for
many people but everything has the other side of the coin. Dorian is
obsessed by his beauty and by the fear to lose it!
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B.R. - Anna Lucia – Animal Farm
Animal Farm of George Orwell is a brilliant satire on the corrupting
influence of power. It is also an allegory of politic and talk about Mr
Jones and his Manor in England. Farmer Jones swills whiskey and
abuses his animals–including pigs, chickens, ducks, sheep, goats,
horses, and dogs. One evening, Old Major, a wise pig who is dying,
sows the seeds of revolution. He tells his barnyard comrades that they
can enjoy peace and prosperity, every animal sharing equally in the
benefits of the farm, if they overthrow Jones and run the farm
themselves. The old pig even teaches them a rallying song. Days later,
after Old Major dies, the animals plot the rebellion, led by the most
intelligent among them, the pigs–in particular, Snowball, Napoleon, and
Squealer.
When the animals take over the farm, they think it is the start of a better
life. Their dreams is of a world where all animals are equal and all
property is shared. But soon the pigs take control and one of them,
Napoleon, becomes the leader of all the animals. One by one the
principles of the revolution are abandoned, until the animals have even
less freedom than before.
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B.R. – Giorgia
The Picture of Dorian Gray
I really enjoyed this novel because it struck my
curiosity. Reading through fine, I tried to
immerse myself in Dorian. This book is the
contrast between appearance and essence.
between what is visible to the eye and what is
hidden inside each of us. The most beautiful is
the painting when it breaks and dies. From this
we understand that the true picture of Dorian
Gray is a man without scruples, who managed
to escape all but the mirror of his conscience
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Collaborative Writing
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Collective writing, fanfiction and ELT
Projects works include:




film and book reviews
tour guides and diaries
mini sagas
sequels of popular
books that students
have read.
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A new mythopoiesis
Today, the creation of new
literary myths has received
a substantial boost thanks
to the internet, giving rise
to a fresh epic form that is
going to shape a novel
cultural tradition based on
collaboration and mutual
support.
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Our community
of practice on Wikispaces
http://fanfiction-roma-palermo.wikispaces.com/
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The process within our activity
Mediating Artifacts
word processor; social
networks; wiki; ELF
Object
Developing creative collaborative writing and media
literacy
Outcome
Subject
EFL - ELF
Rules
asynchronous writing and
web-mediated interaction
intercultural communication; progress
in EFL and ELF; construction of ZPD;
improvement of communicative
competence and cooperative practices
Community
intermediate students;
teachers; netizens
Division of labor
-teacher = facilitator;
guidance; assessment
-L2-users =
negotiation;
collaborative writing;
reciprocal feedback;
assessment
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Fanfiction
http://www.fanfiction.net/book/
• The Web connects groups of readers worldwide
• Love for literature is a driving force and source of inspiration for those
who have become authors in their turn.
• Fans appropriate their favourite novels either by interpolating new parts
into them, or by changing their original stories, or even by writing
sequels to them.
• The relationship of an individual to content has been replaced by the
participatory involvement of group members who contribute to the
reinterpretation and progressive development of ideas.
• Fanfiction: creative writing as a social event that entails and promotes
intercultural communication.
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Starting up!
In 2010, the first two classes that
joined the project were asked to read
two books during the summer holidays
and jot down any impressions and
ideas about them (e.g. introducing new
episodes or changes in the stories).
These notes were used the following
school year to carry out their projectwork on fanfiction.
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Collaborative writing and ELF on…
www.collaborative-writing-ELF.wikispaces.com
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Wikis and ELT
• Improve learners’ communicative competence
•
•
•
•
•
in a ZPD.
Promote the use of ELF in an international Cop.
Promote a different approach to reading/writing
as a social event that favours the horizontal
sharing of ideas and experience.
Make students discover fields of potential
interest to them.
Promote reflective learning/teaching as a
process of sociocultural awareness.
Improve students’ media literacy and sense of
responsibility as net-users
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The role of the language teacher
The teacher as facilitator:
• filters the students’
contributions
• orientates their choices
• gives advice
• provides relevant
language input
• assesses results
(together with the
students)
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Conclusions
Collective writing and
fanfiction are paving the way
towards mutual
understanding and
intercultural communication,
which are also two main
objectives of ELT. Therefore,
literature on the web should
not be overlooked by
language teachers, but rather
be integrated within the
foreign language syllabus to
enhance learners’
competencies and support
collaborative relationships.
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