Designing a Collaborative and Resourceful EFL Classroom at a Japanese Junior High School

DeslgwE a Cdlaborative and Resα

Ⅲ

3e皿

EFL Classroom

誠

a lttseJuniorHiま

Scho01

教育内容・方法開発専攻

文化表現系教育コース

言語系教育分野

(英

語

)

M13171J

江森

享子

Deslgmng a Collaborative and Resourcettu

EFL Classroom

滋

a Jqttlese JuniorHiま

SChOd

A¶

騰

sis

Presentedto

hFacu17 0f鵬

…

COurse滋

Hyogo Universけ

ofTeacherEducmoll

hPぷ

al Fulihent

Ofthe Requirements forthe Degree of

Master ofSchool Educ面

oll

by

Kyoko Emori

(StudentNmber:M13171D

December2014

Ackmowledgements

I wish to express my gratitude to everyone who has suppotted me as l wrote this

thesis一my ttrst‐ever thesis which as an added atibute,was wntten in English.

This paper owes much to the strlct yet warln guldance of my supervisoL PЮfessor TatsuHro Yoshida.MeFely stating that l do not● ow hoW tO express my gratitude to him does■ ot capme the attount of gratitude l feel towards him,

oompelll鴫 me to atleasttry and exemplitt I CamOt forgetthe evening when l was feeling completely lost and qulte puzzled as to how to proceed.I remember how he

sat beside ine patientltt helped nle look for some sollrces that would help lme escape

from the labyrinth,and read them with me mtil late at night.Every饉 me l recollect that scene,the melody of y。 ″ル おθ

tt

_ψ begins playing withinme.

Proおss∝ _{Yoshida introduced Lev Vygot的 ,the sOdocutwal theory9 and the}

zone of pro対

mal development(ZPD)to me.These ideas have changed my outlook

on education and societt l must confess,howev∝ ,that what Professor Yoshida says

has been usually beyond my own ZPD,and l am still lost in the labyrinth.I aln

detemined to keep ttying untiH fully lllnderstand him some&y

l dso express my heartfelt ttadttde to the faculties atthe Depament OfEnglish

Language,Hyogo University of Teacher Education.As someone who mttored in a

ield lllnrelated to English(I mttOred in lnllsic education as an undergraduate),れ

was

the stimulatin3 eye‐openlng,and interesting classes by these facul饉 es that atacted

me to the wond OfEnglish education.

I aln also very grateil to my fellow students,especially those who attended the

thinking,and l have always found the supportive a協

losphere to be greatly encowaglng.

Ths thesis owes IIlllchわ the lbrary tt」 of this univesity as wen.I ttank

them sincerely for arranging the books l needed and for helping me when l faced

issues with using the computet which l am not greatly skilled at.

I aln greatly indebted to dl the stafFand the eighth諄 畿 rs at Kume Junlor High School,my fo..ner workplace.Without their cooperation,I could not have concluded my researcho Since l worked at public jlllniOr high schools for many years,Ik■

ow

how dittcult■ is to sptte time for extra classes,I thank tt Yusuke lkeda who

arranged class schedules for me.I camot adequately express my gratitude to the

Engish teachers,m.Klmiko Muroi,Ms.KaoH Futatsugi,and m Yuki Kurita,who

joined my classes and assisted me in many ways.It was a wonderful expe五 ence for me to see my forlner colleagues and students,and l am tmly gratem fOF the Warm welcome they gave me.

My specid thanks go to m Yoshiharu lnaba,a retired tacher ofajmior Ы

gh

school.I met him forthe irst ime when I宙 sited Tagonoura Jllnlor Hiま Sch001 in

Ftti Ciり

_{,ShiZuoka Prefectwe in 2009.The then principa of the school,he}

enthusiastically expl〔 uned collaborative learnlng to lne,something l knew very little

about p■or to that. The students and the teachers at the school lett a lasting

lmpresslol1 0n nle.

ARer the visit,I read some books about collaborative learmng and pЮ

posed

implementing i to my colleagues at Kme Jmior High Schoolo Some of them

wlshed for a inore concrete understanding,so l hmbly made a callto鹸 、haba to ask ifl could boFrOW SOme vided堕

"s OfC01laborative learnmg classes.He answered,``I

expense.

■ e next time I宙 sited his school,he arranged a small pttL and seated me

attaCent tO Professor Manabu Sato,the advisor of his school.PЮ fessor Sato's pasdon mher enhanced my already piqued interest in collaborative leamingo ln a wayp this whole thesis,which deals with collaborative leaming,can be a悦 Hbuted to

that encomter with雨

、Inaba,whose ettorts l thank and appreciate greatly.

I宙

sh to oonclude by expressing my heartfelt thanks to my family.When I decided to qult my Job and take the graduate admissions exalnination,lny children, Sanli and Rei,gave me a good‐luOk cham. Sin∝ I became a student,my husband,

N6buo,has been―

ing our household,as l have been living in the dormitory on

weekdays.On weckends at home,my cute dog,Otsu,always helped me forget my

exhaustion with her love and affectiono My eighty‐two‐year‐

old雨

_ゝ

WasabWO,

treats me to delicious food and coftte every lme I宙 sit himo l know in my heartthat

my mothtt JШ止o,who passed away twenty‐ flve years ago,is always watching me and

encouragng me from heaven. Words do not sufrlce to thank every member of my

family for dltheir smdl and“ge Sac壺ices that have made this thesis a reali与

Kyoko EmoH

Kato,Hyogo

Abstract

A classroom is a little socicty in which students with mique personalⅡ es,

abiltties,preferences,backgrollnds,and dreams llnfold in a kaleidoscope of dramas. Sometimes these dramas include large casts of characters mth multifarious features, and other imes they include only the pЮ minent players,Sometimes a classroom is a leaming place with a collaborative atnosphere,and at other times,it becomes a place of intense competition, where students apparently feel a sense of supenonty or

inferiority. According to Sfard(1998),the α “ νおJ′′ “ ″θ `″ 力0′ _{則 ,an epiStemological}

宙ew oflea口 ing as the acqulsition ofknowledge,b五 ngs competition to the classroom, since the knowledge in question is measwable and quantitatively comparable. h contrast to the AM,Sfard sets out the′ α″Jθ_ttα

`:ο

′″θ力_Pみ0′

(PM)and∞

ntrasts the

tradidonal宙 ew ofleming and one thatis more appropnate for present socie与

The purpose of this thesis is(1)tO make clear the principles of collaborative leaming 8om literame reⅥ ew On Jaa“ ″

g,ω

′′αらοr鍼わ

cた

α″′″

g,and″

sο″

“ θθs,(2) to design lessons on the principles,and(3)to andyze interactiolls among students and

between students and teaching materials in collaborative leaming,in order to explore a

pOtential approach to EFL classrooms thatis based on the PM so that every student can participate in meaningfu leaming acti宙ies.

Chapter 2 explains the sociocultural theory in which the PM has is fomdatiot focusing on ieα ″ i銘_, οοJrabο″′

"c Jaa“

,電_{, and} κsozκθs. TheSe are the core concepts in my design ofa collaborative and resollrcem EFL classroom.

From the socioculmal perspective,learnlng is a social process(Vygotsl彰 1978),

Dewey.The literatwe review reveals the following points:

‐

_{Learmng is宙}

_{ewed as participation and/or contribution(Lave&Wenge■} 1991: Grabois,2008),and L iS alwa/ys]"■ ofand enlerges from contexts and act市ities.

‐ Collaborative learmng creates a context for students to participate in group

activities.

… ■oonsmcts a zOne of pro対

mal development(ZPD)which means the distance

between the levels of present development and the potential development that is achieved with the help fbm others or宙 th peers(Vygotsり

,1978;Donato,1994;

Ho1411an2 2008;van Li∝ ,2008).

‐ It provldes students宙 th opportmities for social interaction,which prompts their cognitive,social,and e対stential leγ

mng(Akita,2012 1shittЮ

_,2004).

‐ Social interaction also matures students'citizenship,which is the foremost aim of education(SatO,2006b:Akita,2012)。

… The avanlability of the resollrces in the dassroom is constricted,but their

accessibility and usability can be increased by the髭 ″′4g ealfreyman,2006). … Erective teaching inaterials consmct zPDs and create五 ch oontexts for leaming

(働Ⅳinen,2009).

When collaborative leamlng and teaching materids work successfullゝ the occurrence ofthe followlng leaming is expected:

‐ _{Lcarnlng ofthe English language}

‐ Leamlng ofthe contents ofteaching mate五 als

‐ Learnlng ofsocial skills

‐ Lcarnlng ofattitudes and values ‐ _{Existential leaming}

my classroo■ l design as a whole include the following:

¨ Collaborative learmng to make ful use ofsocial resollrces

‐ _{Teaching mate五}als to promote access to mate五al resollrces and social resources

‐ _{Teachers as accessible facilitators}

The research was conducted in two,elghth grade classrooms at a public Junior hiま SCh001 in Okayama Prefectllre on March 6,19,and 20,2014.All of the s破

lessolls were宙deotaped and transcribed for conversation analysis in order to identi取

students'learmng process through an exarnination of their verbal and■ onverbal interactions with mateHal resollrces and social resollrces.The data collected also

included b五efreflectio■ sheets,oompleted by the students a■ er the lessons.

Chttter 4 illustrates how the collaborative and resollrcem classroom helped the

students participate in the learlllng activities.In the flrst two sections,I focus on two

scenes iom the data,which l exalrune with conversation analysis.The analysis of

Case l sheds light on the roles of one dictionary when a student used it as a material

resollrce in a group activitt ln case 2,I examine how the utte● ng of a Japanese word by one student grew into a負 1l English sentence during oollaborative wiing in a

group that e■bctively hctioned as a social resollrce. In the subsequent section,I

analyze students'renectiOn sheets and cover the leaming ofother ttudents。

I found that collaborative leamng has the potential to increase students'

participation by expanding the use of social resollrces when teaching mate五 als create

contexts for students to access resollrces.Both students with a high¨ level ofEnglish

and with a low‐level of English had a space for learnln3 and their leaming involved

not sunply the knowleむ of Or skill in using English:social and e対 stential leaming also occtlrred.

pedagogical implications in desigm■ g a collaborative and resourceful EFL classroom focusing on collaborative leanung.Tho理 典 collabOrative leaming is sometimes said to be inettcient or time‐oonsunling,れ is worth implellllenti●g lo guarantee every

student'snま t to learn.I also recommend preferable teaching materials for

collaborative leanung. h addition,I suggest that students need to have opportunities

to learn the inanners ofcollaborative learning to ensllre success.

If we want to identify possibilities for participation by dl ttudents in the classroom,ifwe hope to pro宙 de the Hch and fruitm leaming required for students to

become sensible and mature citizens,and if we desire precious moments when

students can share the pleasure of leaming宙 th their peers,I propose collaborative leaming as a promising approach that can be implemented within the present simtion.

Contents

Acknowledgements.…

_{… … …… … … …… … …… … … …}:・… … … …… … … … i

Abstract.… _………市 Contents.… _………Vlll Chapter l lntroduction.… ¨…………¨¨…………・・¨………・・…・・………¨…¨…………¨………1

Chapter 2 Literature Review.… _{… … … …8}

2.1.Lcaming¨_{“………¨………¨―……}・・…・・・・………・・¨・・・・¨¨"……・・¨・・¨……・・・・¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨8

2.1.1.Lcamng as a social process.… ………・・8

2.1.2.Metaphors for leaming… … … …… … … …9

2.2.Collaborative Lcarning¨¨...∴.…_……..…_{……¨………}11

2.2.1.Bac聰 「omd Of001laborative leamlng…… … … …11

2.2.2.A zone ofpro対

md development(ZPD)…

_{… … … …}13

2.2.3.Cittzenship… … … … ……… ……… … … ……… … … …… …14

2.3.Resollrces.…_{…¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨……・}・¨¨¨・・…¨¨"¨¨………・・“¨¨¨¨¨………・・………・・¨¨¨¨¨…¨17

2.3.1.Resollrces in a social context.… _{………・■}7

2.3.2.Teaching matenals.… ……… … ……… … … … ……… … …19

2.4.S―

ary…_……..…………・・………¨¨¨¨¨¨………・・¨¨・・¨¨・・¨¨・・¨¨………¨………21

Chapter 3 Study…_{… … … …… … … …… … … …}

24

3.1.School Contexts and Participants.… ………・・………・。

24

3.2.Lesson Plans.¨ .¨……・………・¨¨¨¨………・¨¨¨¨・……・¨・・・・…・・¨¨・・・・¨¨¨¨¨¨¨・・・・………

26

3.3.Data Collection...・・・・・・…・・・・…・・・・… … … … …・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・…・・・・・・・・・・31

3.4.Methods ofAnalysis.¨....¨¨¨¨¨………・・………・・¨………・・…・・……¨¨・

32

Chapter 4 Analyses ofthe Lessons.… ………

34

4.1`1.Members ofGroup l in Class 2‐ 1.…_…………..……・・¨“………・・¨“¨¨。

34

4.1.2.A scene aromd`ン ″ 'and`'yα

m彎

_{鍛 α}"“_………35

4.1.3.Roles ofa dictionary in this case.… _….."¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨………¨¨¨¨¨¨…………¨・・¨・39

4.1.4.A task creating ZPDs.… ……….…_{……・………… ………… ……… ……。…………・41}

4.2.Case 2.… ………41

4.2.1.Members ofGroup 4 ofClass 2‐ 1.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨………_{・・¨¨¨¨"¨“¨¨・・・41} 4.2.2.A scene tom“ ιわ ″′″

"to`huddy w衛

"…

_{… … … …・}42

4.2.3.Functions ofverbal interaction...… _………・・¨・・・・¨・・・・…………¨・・・_{・¨¨“¨“¨¨¨“¨}・・………

47

4。2.4.Atask creating ZPDs.… ………・・¨¨・・¨・・¨¨¨¨・・・・¨¨・・………・・・・・

49

4.2.5。 Silent particlpatioll.… _{… … … …}

49

4.3.An Analysis ofthe Reflection Sheets.… ………¨¨………・・¨¨・・¨¨-51

4.3.1.Lcarnlng ofthe English language… _{… … … …・}52

4.3.2.Learmng ofthe contents ofteaching inaterials.… _……..¨・・¨……¨・・…¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨・53

4.3.3.Learnlng ofsocial skills...… _……..………・・¨¨………¨¨¨…………・・……¨¨¨……・・“¨¨¨……。54

4.3.4。 Lcaming ofattitudes and values.… _{………¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨………¨………55}

4.3.5。 Existential learmng_¨ ..¨¨………¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨………・・¨………¨¨¨¨¨¨…………・I・¨¨¨¨¨¨56 4.4.SIllmmary¨ ¨..…_………¨・・¨¨¨………・・・・¨…¨¨¨¨…………・・¨¨¨・・¨¨¨¨…………¨………56

Chapter 5 Conclusion.…_………58

Referen∝s.…_{… … … ……… … …… … … ……¨… … ……… …… … … … …… …61}

AppettxA:A questiomalre forthe seventh graders in 2012(OHJnal)…

_………

67

Appendix B:A questiomalre for the seventhぎ

轟

rs in 2012(TranSlateの

_…

_………

68

Appendix C:A renectioll sheet(Original)…

_………

69

Appendix D:A renection sheet(Translateの

_………・

170

Appendix E:A lyrics sheet of``From a Distance''.…

_………

71

Appendix F:TranscHption Conventions.…

¨¨

..¨

¨

¨

¨¨

¨

¨

・

・

¨……

・

・

…

……

…

…

…

…

・

・

¨

・

・¨

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

72 lX

List ofLesson Plans

Lesson Plan A.… ………・・………・・‥‥・・…・・………・・・・……・・……

27

Lesson Plan B.… … ………… …。… ………… ………… …・… …………・・……… ………… …………

28

Lesson Plan C。_{…… ………… ………… ………… ………… …………・・……… ………… ………… …・}

30

List ofExcerpts Excerpt l.… _{… … … …}

36

ExceTt 2A...… ……… ………… ………… ………… …・… ………… …………・・………・・…・・… …・43 Excerpt 2B.… ……..…_{…… …… …… …… ………… …… …… …… …… …… …… …… ………}・

44

Excerpt 2C...… _…… `.…..………¨………・・………・・・・………‥……

46

List ofFigures Figure l.… ...…_{…・…………・¨・・…・・・……・・}・_{・・………・………・…………・………・‥・}・。

38

FigШに2.… _{………・・…¨………¨∴・………・・・・……・・…………・・…。}

39

Figllre 3.… 。_….…・・・・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・・・・…・…・…・…・…・…

50

Figllre 4.… .… Ⅲ_{…・…・¨・…・…・…・―・…・¨・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…・…}・…・…・…・…。_{…・…・…・…・}・・

50

Chapter l lntroduction

A classroom is a little society in which a large varlety of students with their

mique persm減

Hes,あ

通

Hes,preferences,backgromds,缶 tre dreams,md moЮ

面 ld in a kaleidoscope of dramas. Sometimes the drama goes on mth a large cast

of characters of multifarious features,and other tilnes it gOes on with only protrlinent

players.I often observe thatin mamy English as a foreign language cFL)olasSr00ms,

students with a high‐ level ofEnglish tend to be active,positive,and admired,whereas

students with a low‐ level of English are apt to be treated as less admired and less

posiive,and sometimes they are left behind.

`■ don't want to be in a class with those incapable guys,"``We loow we are

troublesome and we're dropping out。 '' These are typical of the statement l heard

おm students when a class《五宙sion based on the degree of academic achievement,or ability groupln3 was flrst introduced by an educational administration as one of the measllres to improve students'academic abiliじ

_{The ir“}

Statement was made by a

studentin an advanced class,and the lattet by a ttudentin a basic class.The p●

mⅢ

question here is, ``Is this a sound education?" I can hardly accept the present educational situation,where teachers get students involved in an intense competition

for point‐scoring and the students apparently feel a sense ofsupe五 onty or inferiori年

Despite the United Nations'repetitive recommendations since 1998 to correct

the∞

mpetitive education system in Japan for fear of causing students'character disorders among students cErikawa,2012),the reality ofJapanese schools seems to be llnchanged,or even worse.Powerful education administrations have simply required inlmediate outcomes that are expressed nmericallゝ and teachers are driven to wow about students'visible or measwable results ofachievelnent.h such an amosphere,

the paramomt aims of education seeln to easily fade away udess people一 掟achers, parents, admilllstrators, and politicians― ―Inake erorts tO keep them in lllind.

HO呻

,juttwhatare the aims ofeducation?

The airns of education are elucidated in Japan's Article l of the]Basic Act on Education as follows:`電ducation shall aim for the full development ofpersonality and

strive to nurtwe the citizens,somd in mind and boむ

_{,whO are imbued宙}

th the qualides necessary for those who fom a peaceful and democratic state and socieげ'

o個

刈 ,2006).According to this statement,school teachers are responsible for

developing students'personality and competence so that they can become full‐■

edged

judicious cidzens,but they should■ ot develop students'sense of inferiority to make them imid citizens nor develop their sense of superionty to make them arrogant

citizens looking dowll on less able people.The contradiction between the aims

described in the Act and what school administrations actually impose on schools cttses uso We need to pursue a better educatio■ al systein with a sense of inission.

If the“

competitive educatio■

system"causes u山

"py classrooms,■

is ollr

responsibility to abandon this approach and seek altemative approaches that will lead in the opposite direction,toward happy classrooms.How can this be achieved?

A perspective mdenying Such educational competitions is an epistemology that

views learmng as acqulnng kmowledge, because that kind of k■

owledge can be

measurable and quantitatively comparable(SfaFd, 1998). During the era of

industrialism,acadelmc ability was for the most part synonymous with the moШ t of

knowledge.Howev∝

,in the cwent post‐ indusmalism era,technology llnavondably

pro宙des a nood ofinfo.11lation updated second by second on the global stage and the deinition ofacademic ability is being questioned(SatO,2004,2006b;Sato,Sawano,&

overcome the α “

″な′′′ο′″θ′_{″力ο′(Sfard,1998)and take the proper approaches,the}

mixed¨ ability grouping is■o less harllnful than the ability grouping in that both d五 ve

students and teachers into energy‐oonslllning competitions regarding knowledge accmulatio■.

In contrast with the αθg″お″Jο″″

`′暉'あ

0″_{,Sfard(1998)sets Out the′ α}rrた_{″ ″ο″}

″θ

`ηみο″ (whiCh I Will reviёw in det誠l in the next chapter)and COntrasts the

traditional宙ew of leanung and a view that l contend is more appЮp●ate for the present societt Many scholars use their owlll te■ ■■■s to express the transi■ons of the

perspectives about leamlng;魚 》

m“

memory and retentioゴ 'to“ activity and interaction"

(SatO,1999),Oom`Ъ

ehaviolmsm''to``soCiOCultwislll''CAkita,2012),お

m``having,

to``doiば '(Walsh,2013),and S0 0■ .All ofthese telllls presuppose that leamers are ■o longer passive receivers of k■

owledge:餡

ぬeち they are active agents in a social setting.

When l becalne familiar宙 th cdlaborative leaming hough a series of studies

done by Sato(1999,2000,2004,etc。

_{),I agreed with his idea that schools should}

guarantee every student's五ght to lo田 l and to have access to the Ⅱghe飩‐quality and

best wa7ys of leaming(SatO,2005).He prOposes:carttJtt ω″″″ ′_ケbased On a

philosophy that consists ofthree plllars democracy,publicness,and academic pursuit

(Sato,2005).SatO(2014)declares thatル

α″″Jtt ω″″笏J夕 is``■Ot a recipe,a

techniquc,or a model,but tt is a vision,a philoso山

,or a sOcial system.'' Collaborative leamlng,which is backed up with the philosophy ofた α′″′″g _{θο″″″ ″}

based on an ideology that alms to achieve democratic societies(SatO,2005,2006ち

2014),seemS tO be a good flt for pЮ

宙ding classrooms with the p″

`:θ

ttαtiO鵞

″θj響_力οr.

and other Asian comtries as a grassroots movelllent. Howevェ、 it is ■ot ce躙麟腫

n

whether the philosophy of collaborative learnlng is well understood by the teachers or

school administrators who are involved in the movement.Sometimes they introduce collaborative learmng simply as an effective method to boost scholastic scores and reduce problems such as school violence,bullying9 or nonattendance. Other tiines,a board of education recommends cdlaborative leamng along with ability gЮ uping at the salne dme,as both are helpful.Howevet the philosophy ofoollaborative leaming ― which advocates the equality ofevery student's五

ghtto learntamot be∞

mpatible with ability grouping,which many studies have proved to retard academic progress,

reduce self‐estee■1,lower aspiratiOns,and promote negative attitudes of students in average and below…

average academic tracks(Oakes,1986,2008).How Can students

who are taught at schools in which individuals are legitimately segregated by their ability become supporters ofa democratic society in the fume?

In collaborative lcaming,students are encouraged to develop their intellect and

ethics through acti宙ties and interactions in a social envlЮ nlnent.They are a1lowed

to be rag′′ゴ″αた′θ′″みθ″′

participants caVe&weng鴫

1991)even thOugh they are

novices in the conln血_飢 and the process of experiencing and the transfonnation of

their identities are considered learning. Becoming is more impOmnt than

possessioll,and every student,or even an adult,is on the way to beconling all the

dme.

These∞

ncepts of leanung seeln qulte approp壺 ate for cL閣_略

hg classroom

settings in which struggling students are■ keけ _{わ rt llnnerved∝ demotivatet and}

sometimes g市

e up or escape from learmng.Thet how can tcachers put the

concepts into classЮ om practice to provide a more educational enviroment where all the students can learn collaboratively instead of∞ mpetitivelb respecting each

other as llmque individuals instead oflooking down at others or feeling downcast?

To test the philosophy of collaborative learnlng in the speciflc EFL classroom

setting,I did research at a small publicjunior high school where l used to work.It is

located in a momtal■

ous agncull油

rd district where the students have few

opportunities to use English in their daily lives,which lowered the students'

motivation to learll English except for their need to s“ for the high school entrance

exarnlnation.

In 2010,the school introduced a collaborative leaming proJect, in which the

students were oten given oppomnities tO work collaboratively in many school

suttects,while observing eighth graders in mixed‐ ability English classes,I follnd

that the students showed good collaboration in pa71r work or group work when they were given rather mechanical tasks such as melllo五 zing phrases,reading textbooks in

m,Or playlng a

Юle in conversational texts.Even such mechamcal tasks do lure students into collaboration,which is far more preferable than competilon‐ oriented

indi宙

dual drillingo Howe“

r,in light of the relevant studies,I fe■ that the

cdlaborative leaming must have had a more profound impact on the students'

leaming.

In a pllrsult of more fmitful collaborative leaning, I turned my attention to

resolllrces avallable for students'leaming.If students are not to be sl■ ply receivers

of knowledge or mechanical repeaters ofmonoto■

ous面

1ls,they need something that can induce their active involvement,something that can activate the缶 curiosity and

creati宙_壌 and SOmething which wortt learmng to become mame cidzens.I thouま t

at that tinle that “

The more resources l prepare in the classroom, the more

OppOmnities for leamng and the more productive leaming宙

1l occuに

Those

that such resollrces were jutt mate五als such as handouts,dictionaries,pictures,

whiteboards,etc.h time,howev∝

,I realized that the students themselves were also

resollrces,human resollrces so to speak,because they could leam ttom each other

utilizing their k■owledge and expe五 ence,and that collaborative leaming was a good

way to use peers as resollrces.I kept on thinking,``It would be desirable to see

students utilizing their respective characteH飩 ics and qualities as helptt resources。

HovKハ κ■,what ifthe students don't interact with each other? Even ifthey work in a group,they carmot alwa・ ys be resollrces.Even if l prepare dictionaries in the

classroom,they could bejust orllaments on the shelfunless they are used by students.''

So,the next thing l needed to oonsider was how l oould create leamng oontexts in

which the students tried to access resources.

This was the background that motivated me to design a collaborative and

resollrce働こEFL classroom.

The purpose of this thesis is(1)tO make clear the principles of collaborative

le額」ng hm literature reⅥ

ew onた

α〃″g,Cο:ιめ ο″′″θたα

“

′″

g,and″

sο

"κθs,(2) to design lessons on the principles,and(3)to analyze interacuons allnong students and

between students and teaching lllate五 als in collaborative leaming,in orderto explore a

potential approach to EFL classrooms thatis based on the PM so that every student can

participate in ineaningnll learmng activities.

In Chapter 2,I will re宙 ew the theones and concepts that are relevant to my

cla)sroo■l design;they are ιυけ■mgぅθο:=αらο′α′′ッι′υ″4ing,and rasatts.

A review on leaming宙

■

_{Jve an Outl∞}k for a concOpt of leaming from a sociocultural framewort whiCh l take as the fomdation ofthis pape■

A re宙ew on

collaborative leamlng will provide its backdrop associated with sociocultural theo■ y,

psychologlst｀ ゥgOtSky ls conttmcted in collaborative leamlng and how its social name is related to developlng students'citizensШp which is the foremost aim of

education.Re宙

ews on resollrces will explain how learmng resolrces are interpreted in a sociocultural■ amework in deslgmng a resollrcefu classr00m and in looking at students'lcarnmg process.

Based on the revieL I wl■

extract beneflcial conditions for deslgmng a collaborative and resollrcem EFL classroolll in which every student's learning is enhanced,and presuppose expected students'leaming in such a classroom.

Chapter 3 will explain the research design.

Chapter 4 win prOvide my indings about the students'leaming following

conversation analysis of the students'interactions with resollrces in collaborative learmng. I w11l docunent the ininute process in which the students leam actively and interdependently when they are in a co■ aborative and resourceful classroom. The

students'renection sheets will also be analyzed to cover the students'learnmg。

In Chapter 5,I w11l explain my concluSiOn,which宙

1l suggest arther pedagogical implications in designlng a∞ 1laborative and resourceml EFL classroom

Chapter 2 Literature Review

In the prevlous chapteL it was pointed out that over the patt three decades there

has been a transition of the perspectives about leamlng hm α69γお′′′ο″″θク_ψhO″to

″ ′′′ε″口″ “

″et"Lο r,and yet the reality at Japanese schools has■ ot thoroughly

caught up with this transition.In the present ch叩鯰

_r,I宙

1l review the extant literame that helps elucidate dassroom practices based on the socioculmal theO理 _ち which is a new oot brand_new but still rath∝ mfamiliar)宙ew in the Japanese school

oontexts.I do so by focusing on′ θα

“″g,θο

::αbοrarルθルα″″′

4g,and

κsο

"κιs,

which l assume are alHnter‐ related in the classF00m.I hope that these three concepts

宙 1l also work as pivotal factors in designing a collaborative and resollrcem EFL classroom in which every student can participate in leanung acti宙 ties in ways that

difFer tom those in the traditional classroom.

2。1。

Learning

2.1。1。 Learning as a soclal process

The宙

ew that leaming is a social pЮ cess rather than a process intemal to

indi宙dwtt leamers was presented by Vygotsky in the fomer part ofthe 20th centtty He posited that an individud's cognitive system develops through socid interaction. He dso elllphasized the importance oftools,especi』 ly language as a spbolic tool,to mediate the relationship between learners and the u」

oown world cVygotsky,1978).

IIis theory has had an epoch‐ Inaking iduence on Westem education in the early

1990's(Lantolf&Poe血

,2008),and many psyclЮ

logists and educators began to

think that leamlng occurs in the process ofinteraction between learners and others,and

called sociocultuml theory.

As for language leanung, Atkinson(2011)argues that cogniti宙 sm, a

“histo五cally dominmt''approach,is llo longer acceptable for second language

acquisition(SLAp, because``SLA is an extremely complex and multifaceted

phenomenor'0.宙

_{). HiS editing of the work И}lt針

“ ′_ルθ物 “ α(力θ

Sゎ

&7θο″グ 肋 電 ν

cr

И “

γな′rlio″ c01lects s破 approaches vis‐かvis a cogmtive approach,all of

which imply a social tum in SLA.In that volllme,Ortega(2011)sketches three

dimensions of the direrence between cognitivism and its dtemttives:(1)

psychologically versus socially o五 ented explanatio■

s,(2)abstractness versus

situatedness,and(3)entities and o● eCtS Versus actions and processes.In her

explanation,the cotttiVe approach,which does■ ot include social viewpoints,pursues abttractness by assllming thtt knowledge is separable from contexts,and regards

learners or their abilities as flxed or static,whereas the alternative approaches regard

them as dynamic and relational in actions and processes.These contrasts pro宙 de

clear‐cut distinctions between the traditional appK)aCh and altemative approaches.

Walsh(2013)dso sll―

arizes three mttn principles of Vygotskyan theory as

follow∬

_{(1)knOwledge has a socia natwe,(2)leaming takes place in a zone of}

proximal development(ZPD),and(3)learmng is assisted by scafFoldingo I宙 ■take

up``ZPD''in a later section.

h order to provlde a more concrete pictwo ofleaming as a social process,I宙 11

refer to three metaphors for leaming in the next sectioll.

2。1.2.Metaphors for learning

As l mentioned in Chapter l,the widely known metaphors fOr leamng are the

α

_%rν

お

J′

′

ο

″″ι

η み

α

(AMh and the′

α

″たゎα″ο″″

ettth″ (PMn desc壺bed by Sfard

(1998)。

P五

or tO Sfard, Lave and Wenger(1991)Studied several cases of

apprenticeship of leaming,and they identiied the ways that novice workers gradually

join the co―unlty in 7ag′′″2α′σ′θ″″みιraJ ptttたゎα′′ο″・ Lcamers take part in the

periphery of a conlmumty at flrst,then,they develop a relationship宙 th one or more

other participantsi they gradually grow to be central participants,and the entire process

is regarded as leamingo The important pOint here is that whether they are peHpheral

or central,learners are acknowledged as legitimate in a∞ 劃熙血与

Sfard's PM stands on this ideL regarding leaFnlng as a process of becoming a

member of a certain co― mty through activities.On the other hand,inan AM,in

Sfard's words,the human mind is just like``a container to be■ 1led with ce」開

n

materials''or“ an owller of these mate五

als''o.5).By cOntrasting the AM and PM,

Sfard desc五bes several educational issues. When acquired knowledge``is conceived

as a colmodiじ "`知ЮWledge and mate五al possessions are likely to play similar roles

in establishing people's identities and in deflning their social posttions.'' Moreovet

``[alS in a society driven by a pursult ofmaterial goods,so in the AM‐ based approach to learlung,leamers and scientists are likely to put forward competition,''and``the

metaphor of intellectual property is more likely to feed五 valry than collaboratior'(p.

8).

Sfard,ho“

ver,does not necessanly negate the AM,because learlllng inevitably

entanls indi宙dual emrichment,and ttυ ttψ

′

is premised on the idea of lmowledge as

prope‖_{y or possession of the individuals. hll(■ , she criticizes extreme PM}

adherents.As the Jie of her articlo``On Two Metaphors for Leaming and the

Dangers of Choosing Just One''indicates,both are essential in her view Since the

AM has been incoHgibly prevalent,she emphasizes the importance of`Ъ

壷

ng[in』

Grabois(2008)propOSes another met4,hor,the θο′r7・ノbγ′ゎ′″θ′響力ο

/(CD,tO

llnderline the social aspect Of learmng. In the CM, learners are considered

``oontributors to elrlergent co―umties ofpractice where their voices,life expeHences

and hlowledge foml an essential part of the leaming dynamic''(p。 385)。 Both the

PM and the CM are opposed to the AM,and the CM seemsto be as a more advanced

宙ew than thc PM.

h my research,I consider the classroom as a society of students and teachers, and the socioculmal framework and the three mettthors desc五 bed above give me a

宙sion ofan ideal landscape in the classroom.

Ishi週_{興Ю (2004)indiCates that in socioculmal theory9 1earning always involves}

designing environments,and that a classЮ om should be a place for students to leam

how to create social relations with other people such as peers and teachers as well as a

place to gain knowledge,and■ should be a setting in which students can develop their individual identities,which involves their entire persons. Thatis to s彎 _{,olassroom is}

a place where students'oognitive,social,and existential leaming is enhanced.In the has a sociocullmral

next section, I review how collaborative learmng, which

background,stimulates students'cognltive,social,and e対 stential learning.

2.2.ConabOrative Learning

2.2.1。 Background of collaborat市 e learning

Collaborative lcarmng has its foundation in epistemology and philosophy based on the socioculmal theOry and social constructi宙 sln developed by Dewey2ヽ_ヶgotSk勇

and their followers(OxfOrd,1997;Sato,2005).There is a similar approach called

``000perative learnlng." In both collaborative and cooperative leamng,students work in pairs or slnall groups.Though they seem to have much in conlmon,Oxford(1997)

describes distinctions between cooperative and collaborative leamingi Cooperative

leaming`犠

fers to a panicular set of classroom techniques that foster leamer interdependence as a route to cognitive and socid developmmt"(p.443),whereas

collaborative learmng``hs a`social constructi宙 st'philosophical base,which views learmng as construction of knowiedge within a social context and which therefore encourages acculturation ofindividuals into a learnlng communlty"(p.443)。 Actuallュ

these tems are sometimes used loosely or interchangeablyp or their explanations are

sometimes mixed.In this thesis,I use“

collaborative leaming,in line with the deinition by Oxford.

Since l have dready covered Vygotsky's work roughly previously(2.1.1.),I宙 11

review Dewey's contribution to collaborative learmng here. Oxford(1997)

introduces I)ewey's pFattatic approach to eplstemology as fbllows:``In l)ewey's vieL

learners do not learn in isolatio■;the individual learns by being part ofthe sllrrounding

comllmlty and the world as a whole''o.447).Sat0 0005)mentiOns,``IA]ccording to Deweュ leaming is social expenence as well as cogtttive experience,a process of

building relationships between suttect and en宙

rollment''(p.112). TheSe

explanations indicate that Dewey's approach as a philosopher and a pedagogistis qulte similar to Vygotsky's work as a psychologisto Sato(2005)itemiZes three featllres comlnon to Dewey and Vygotsky:(1)the purposeful and acuve featllres,9)the SOCid

and co―

mal features,and(3)the intellectud and ethicd feames.

These are the background ofcollaborative learmng.

Donato 2004)stateS that collaborative leaFmng is a mique way not only to acqure knowledge but also to encourage leamers to participate and contribute in the

co―

mities where they live.He emphasizes the impommce Of cOntexts and

activities for leaming and development, and he proposes that when students work

oollaborativelyp a zone of pro対mal development(ZPD)is created in parallel with leaming and development. This ``□ PD'' is one of the central notions of the

sociocultural approacL and in the next section l explain the terln in detail.

2.2.2。A zo■

o of prOXimal development(ZPD

WgOtSky expldned the ZPD as the distance b∝

ween the level of present

development and the level ofpotential development achieved with the help from others (VygOtSり ,1978).h other wOrds,a ZPD is a space forlearmng to be created sociallゝ

and collaborative learning provides a context to create it with the and Of peers loward

new knowledge which is difflcult to reach without collaboration(Donato,1994)。

In collaborative leaming,every student can be a resollrce mutually to create the

ZPD.Donato(1994)referS tO this phellome■

on as``colleCive scarolding。

'' Vm

Lier(2008)stateS,``Scarolding can occllr not omly in an expert‐ novice context,but also among equal peers''(p.62).Holる 二uan 2008)frst COnsidered how to oonsmct a

ZPD collectivelゝ

and she tmed back to Vygotsky(1978),who emphasized the

impOmnce ofinteracting with people and cooperating with peers.She conceives that

“what is key to the zpd is that people are doing something to"血

eF(p.28),and

concludes that`¶騰 zpd is a didectical,tool‐ and‐result activity,simultaneously the creating ofthe zone(enVirOllmenth and what is created(leartung‐ lcading…

developmmo"

(p.29).

All ofthe researchers cited above questioned the wldely accepted idea ofa ZPD)

which assllmes that a novice is supported by a inore capable individual,wh6 is usually

an adult.Instead,they contended that peers can create a ZPD when they are provided with appropnate contexts and activity.These ideas reinfo“e the appropriateness of collaborative leamng to lnake an enⅥ roment fu1l ofpossibilities ofleamng.

Brown(1994)callS C01lect市

ely consmcted zPDs“

multiple zones of pro対

mal

developmmt"Φ

。7),and aSSe■s thtt a ZPD is consmcted in the comnllmty where “indi宙dual differences lare]recOgnized and valueご '(p.9)and that“_{[mlembers Ofthe} colnnlllmty are criticttly dependent on each耐 '(p・ 10).ThiS means that students

camot dways constmct a ZPD oollectively even though they are given a gЮ up activiじ

A ZPD is conttructed when students respect their diversiり _{,mtt mutuallゝ} and create a

collaborative amOsphere and relationships.I dscuss this matter mher in the next

section, whiOh deals vnth the relationship between collaborative leanung and

citizenship.

2。 2。 3。 Citizenship

The previous sections described learmng as a social process,and it was■ oted that collaborative leanung is a suitable way to pronde students with contexts of experiencing the social pЮcess.In this section,I re宙 ew some studies relevant to

cれizenship to illustrate how collaborative learnlng in the classroom contributes to the

development Of the cHzenship ttt students are required to matwe for their futre in socieじ

Citzenship has been deined as the characteristics requlred for ci饉 zens at three

levels loc江_{,national,and globd cMinei,2007).The 10Cal level refers to the various}

conlmllmdes to which people belong that are smaller umts than their country;for example,their ciり

_,woJい

lace,residents'associatioL and schoo1/miversity groups.

Ishimo五 (2013)examined the qualiications and abilities of global citizens extracted命ol■ vanous types of related studies such as those produced by trNESCO,

Oxfam,and DeSeCo c)eflni」

On and Selection of Competencies)program,and she

attitudes and values.The flrst domain,knowledge and lmderstanding,includes

vanous issues in globd society and the measllres that are used to∞ pe with the issues。

The second domain, skills, includes commllmcation, collaboration, infornlation

processing,and more.The third domttn,attitudes tt Values,includes geneЮ siじ

responsibili飢 lЮnesり

_{,COlttesy among others,and more.Ishimo五}

contends that these abilities are necessary to redize a fair globa sOciety where dl hlman beings and

creames will ooc麗 st peacefully.Collside五 ng that we are in a so‐ called global

SOd噂

,thOSe domttns can be applied to any level ofc■ izens.

Akita(2012)propOSes that public education has a responsibility to raise all

children to become citizens eqЩ pped with ibndamental knowledge,skill,morality9 and

ethics so that they can ind a satistting career and slⅥ pe their ide幽

、

GHfrln(2014)

states that children should llnderstand through collaboration that l市ing in the

multifaceted Jobal SOCiety is to live as an active and responsible global citizen。

In co■aborative learmng,students are encowaged to interact with others,and the

interaction involves cogmtive,social,and e対stential aspects(Akita,2012).TheSe

血 ee aspects correspond to what lshigwo(2004)mentiO■ S about the classroom;it is a

place where students'oognitive,socid,and e対

stentid leaming is enhanced.

Collaborative leaming pro宙

des opportmties to leam to become citizens with

appropntte socid skills and attitudes through interaction with others.

Sat0 2006b)pro01aims that a teacher's mission is to oontribute to the realization

and development of a democratic society by providing a1l of her or his students with equal opportmties to leanl,and by guaranteeing education for citizenship, so that

students will be able to take part in activities of politics,ecollolllヌ and Culture as

responsible c■izens in the fume.His idea is completely in alittment宙 th the aims of education stated in the Japan's Basic Act on Education mentioned in the flrst

chapter.If his idea sollnds novel,it indicates that the aims in the Act have been

lgnOred while other pnorities have been pursued.

Akita(2012)indiCates that“ collaborative leamng in the classroom is an

opporttnity to leam basic malmers of democracy"Φ

。

148).More Speciicallュ

students are req宙red to lcam how to create an amosphere and relatiollships in which

they can ask for help when in trouble.They are encouraged to ask questions when they do not mderstand something(an important ability for any indi宙 dual to have in life),they are tralned to respond cordidly when asked a quesuon or for a help,and

they are requiКd to give thoughtm attention to their relatiollshps with others to be

equitable dithe ume.These manners are impomntin the creation ofa better soci吻 ,

in particular with respect to diversity and mutual support.

At this point, I tun back to Brown's mention in the preⅥ ous section that

multiple ZPDs are constructed in a co― umty in which dittrences and

interdependence are valued. Atthe same time,howeverp these attitudes are nurtllred

through working torぬ ∝_{,aS Akita mentions above.There is an organlc relation} mong ZPDs,collaborative leamng,and the development ofcitizenship;oollaborative

leaming provides contexts to develop citizenship, which promotes fdher

collaborative learnlng with the creation ofmultiple ZPDs.

I have reviewed ideas regarding how collaborative leaming oontributes to students'oognitive,social,and exlstential development,the notion ofZPDs and social

interactiot and the relatio■

ship between∞

1laborative leartung and citizenship, an

essential factor ofeducation related to its goals.

Next,ln the latt sectioll ofthis ch"ter,I ded宙 th resollrces including taching

materials.Resources are not only teaching mate五 alsi as noted earlier,members ofthe group can also be resollrces.The section explains how resollrces are interpreted in

the sociocultural■amework,which will be a key concept in my concept of an EFL

classroom. Such a classrooln is designed to atact every student into interactions

with resources.

2。 3。 Reso■ rces

2.3.1。 Resources in a social context

Pdfreymm o006)di宙

deS language leaming resolrces into two catego五 es,

″αたガα′rasOttes and sοο″′″sοzrrcθs,and Felates them to an ecological concept in a

social context宙 s‐かvis the usual resource‐based leaming which``refers to leamers'

independent interaction with leaming matenals''(p.352).According to his di宙sion,

social resollrces are human networks in the commllnlty both inside and outside of

school,お

m which students get knowledge,support,or even in■

uence.As for

nlaterial resollrces, he includes the abstract sense of resollrces such as fmds,

exalnination systems cTudOL 2001),and authorlty or power cVan Liet 2001),in

addition to common ideas such as authentic matenals,teaching mateHals,and

equpmentin the classroom.

In explaining how these resollrces are related to social factors,Palfreyman introduces the ideas of針鑢 α

and影

,==確

g(Lave,1988).The

α

“

θ″α iS“a given socid event or collection ofevents"(Pdれyman9 2006,p.355)and the s″Jtt is`■騰 ∞ntext as expe五enced by a participant or set ofparticipants with reference to a social c(ntαt''

CPalfreymat 2006,p.355).Both matenal resollrces and social resolllrces are

described in tel.1ls ofα ″″α and膨″′″g.

In the usual EFL classroom at a school,the material resollrces are textbooks, blackboards,dictionaries,CD players,ctc。 ,and the social resolllrces tte smdents,

tachers,and sometimes assistant language teachers ttLTs)。 These material

resotrces and social resollrces constitute the ακ′α for leaming. They lnay not be

used in the sanle way by dl ofthe student%how students perceive the resollrces and

what resources they choose vary depending on the ways in which the sθ″′′g is

established.

These宙

ews about resollrces are helpful in amplitting the usemlness of the resollrces avallable in the classroom.Both mate五al resources and social resollrces are physically constralned by the α″′α on accomt of administrative rules or budgets,

but there is yet room for increasing their accessibility and usability in difFerent sθ ″J″gs.

I propose that collaborative leaming is one ofthe ways to expand the accessibility and

usめility of social resollrces.Students who ody study indi宙 dually in a classroom facing a teacher and a blackboard atthe front ofthe room are mlikely to be resources

to each othe■ Ifthey are simted in a contextin which they work together toward a particular goal,the me面

bers jointly working in the group can become mutual

resollrces.

Kasper(2011)indiCates,``[wlhether in classrooms or elsewhere in social life,the

inter面

onal competence to make acti宙ties mutually intelligible moment‐ bン

moment

pro宙des resollrces for participants''(p.119)。 CollabOrative leamng,which promotes

interactions,pro宙des a suitable method to increase resollrces.

Moreoverp Akita(2012)pOintS Out that collaborative leaming can save reluctant students.This can be interpreted as implying that peers are socid resources who can

provlde emotional support,and PalttDyman 2006)comments that such inction of

social resollrces influences learners'Inotivation seriously.

There are some lllore delicate factors conceming a影 ″′_電

.h collaborative

leaming,students'desks are usually placed in small groups,and that increases physical

closeness does■ot work to increase mutual accessibility.

Teachers also can become social resources in the class■ oo■1,but ifthe teacher is

dominee五 Dg,authoritat市e,or frowmng much of the time,it would be digicult for

students to access the teacher as a leaming resollrce. In fact,the awa that teachers

radiate in the classroom is of impomnce tO classroom climate eike&selby,1997). Teachers can be accessible and reliable resollrces when they behave in a democratic

malmer宙

th respect for each student as a whole person,and when they work as

facilitators with mst in the potential ofeach student.Atthe same time,such a stance by a teacher creates an impartid and supportive amosphere in the classroom.

This knowledge of resollrces in a social context,especially the ideas of α″σ′α

and sι″腕g,w11l be beneflcial in designing a resollrceful classroom. Lastly,I will

re宙ew the prevlous research on teaching materials as resources,which are``an integral

ptt ofsecond language dassroom''(Guerremz&JohnstOn,2013,p.779).

2。3.2e Teaching IInaterials

Tea■

」

ng inaterials are``considered to be essential to the enterprlse of language

leaming''(TarOne,2014,p.652),and tt iS Often the case that“

_‖

extb00kS in particular

play a ttor r01e in classroom liF'(Guerremz&JohnstOn,2013,p.799).ThOugh

the EFL textbooks for jumor high school students in Japan are edited based on a

gra―

atical syllabus,their topics are carefully chosen and laid out in a variety

according to the Collrse of Study issued by the Ministry ofEducatio■ ,Culture,Science

and SportscMEXT),whiCh States:

(AO Materials should be useful in enhancing the llnderstanding ofvanous wa7ys of

宙

ewing and thinkin3 foste五 ng the ability to make impartial judpents and

cultivating a Hch sensibility.

(B)Materials should be useful in deepening the llnderstanding of the ways of life

and cultures offoreign comtries and Japan,ralsing interest in language and cultllre

and developing respectal attitudes toward these.

(C)Materials should be use鑓 l in deepening the intemational understanding from a broad perspective,heightening students'awareness of being Japanese citizens

l市ing in a global community and cultivating a splrit of intemational cooperation

cMEは

、2008,p.8).

Jmior high school EFL te対 books contain a wide varlety oftoplcs and contexts to draw students'interests.For example,the textbooks l used for the present research

include topics such as`Ъ reakfast arolnd the worlご 'and``greetings arolmd the worlど '

for the seventh 3Taders,“

gllldc dogs"and“

Maoris"for the elghth graders,and

``volunteer activities''and``atomic bombs''for the ninth graders. It is thus■ ot fatr to

blanle only 3Ta― ar‐based textbooks for gTa― ar‐centered teachingo Even in``a

tradido■

al gra―

ar‐based and teacher fronted class,''mentions van Lier 9008),``We

must however bear in mind''that``leamers mlght move arolmd the suttect matter

mentallゝ and that language iself can consmct its Own panoramic space KthrOu

stories,cxamples,anecdotes,and so on)''● .54).

Garton and Graves(2014)also Suggest,``The content ofmaterials surely plays a signiicant role in the affordances for lanttage leanung,(p.654).In thiS respe軋 oontent language integrated leaming(CLIL)is the ided approach,which creates a Hch context for the stttect matter Lself(Jttinen,2009)。 Sacki(1995)pointS Out that

students should be exposed to worthwhile teaching mate五 als that are rich in authentic

culture and ofhigh qualれ _勇and that this is a particularly essential and important phase

ofeducation that v鳳1l help students pursue a mitful life.

to the creation of ZPDs.Akita 2012)suggettS Some techniques to invigorate active discussion,one of which is to ask authentic questions for which■ o one knows the

ansⅥc二 In a familiar scene ofa traditional classroonl,the teacher asks a question,the

students who know the answer ralse their hands and answer,the teacher moves to the

next question,and the class thus proceeds(SatO,2004).Students who know the

answer have no ZPDs.Students who sit passively listening or pretending to listen to the teacher and the answering students without understanding them have no ZPDs

eith∝ A ZPD is created when the students are asked a question which requlres their

smgglingp Which causes collaboration.This idea is applicable to tasks in the English classroomo When students grapple vttth tasks,preferably authentic ones,at a level

above their knowledge and skill,a ZPD is expected to be created.

In sllm, te″Юhing materials can be ettctive resollrces when the content is

meaningf直i to students'lives and the way they are proposed is adequate to create contexts fbrleamng.

2.4.SunLEllary

The theoretical backgrollnd and concepts related toル α

“″

g,ω

JJabο″′ルθ :car4i鵞g,and rasο″費,`想reViewed above can be sllmmanzed as follows:

Learning

‐

_{Lcaming is宙}

_{ewed as participation and/or contribution。}

‐ _{It is always embedded and emerges in contexts and activities.} Co■aborative leaming

‐ Collaborative learning creates a context for students to particlpate in group

activities.

‐ _{It constmcts a ZPE)by having peers to support mutually.}

‐ _{It provides students with the opportunities for social interaction, which}

prompts their cognitive,social,and e対 stential development.

¨ _{Social interaction also supports students'maturlng the citizenship,which is} the foremost aim ofeducation.

Resollrces

‐ The availability of the resollrces in the classroom is constricted,but their

"cessibility alld usability can be increased by the sθ

″′″g.

“ Erective teaching materials constmct ZPDs and create rich contexts for leaming.

Expected stude■ s'learmng

As we saw in this chaptet a classroom is a place where cognitive,social,and

e対stential leamng occllrs through interactions in a sociocultural milieu.Cognitive

learmng in a language classroo■ l can be divided into two subcategories:learlllng ofthe

language itselfand learnlng ofthe contents ofteaching materials.Social leaming can be subcatego五zed into the learmng of``skills''and``attitudes and values''according to

the domains of the education of citizenship.Depending on teaching mate五 als,the contents are sometimes related to social lea/mung or e対 stential learnulg.On the

premise that i is di亜cult to draw a sharp line,combining the education ofcれ izenship

v燿th the sociocultural theory of language learmng, I would expect the following

leaming to take place among the students in the classroom:

1)Learmng ofthe English language

Gra―

″L vocabulary9 dittёrences between Japanese and English,pronmciation,

witing,listening,reading,speaking9 and more

2)Lea―

g ofthe contents ofteaching matenals 3)Leaming ofsocial skills

Collaborating, listemng to others, asking a question, expressing opinions, collecting and processing infomation,and inore

4)Leamlng ofattitudes and values

Respecting diversiり ,conSideration for othe“

,concem about socid issues,

geneЮsitュ open‐mindedness,sense and responsibility as a citizen,and more

5)Existential leaming

Finding a place for oneself in a corttnutttL developing sel■

esteeln,

transforlnation ofide的 _{,and mOre}

ln this thesis,I use these flve subcategories when necessanら and Other tlnles l basically use three te....s;COgnitive,social,and exlstential.

h this ch"ter,I have re宙 ewed the existing literame,which helps us deepen ollr mderstanding of the sociocultural perspective on leamng by focusing On′ θα″′′_ヽ、

cο:=aborarlivθ icα晟 ;電_{, and resattθ}

s. The review also works in des13mng a

collaborative and resollrce■1l EFL classroom in which every student's learning is enhanced.

In the next cl,pt∝_{,I explan■} my research design based on this view

Chapter 3

Study

3.1。 School Contexts and Participants

The data pFeSented in this research were collected from elghth graders'EFL

lessons at a public JlllmOr high sclЮol in the noJにm area of Okayama Prefecture, Ja2pan.■ is a relatively slndl school with about 160 seventh‐to ninth‐grade students.

It is located in a rural area sllrromded by l■ omtains and flelds of五ce and vegetables,

and the public transpontiOll system is■ ot well developedo This rtrd circllmstance seems to arect the smdents'mOtivation to learn English to some extent,because they have few occasiolls to hear or practice English outside of the school.The several lessons in every tellll taught by an ALT are the solo opportmlty for most of the

students to see and talk with m English‐

speaking person hm abroad.Thus,for most

of the students,English has beem perceived as just a suttect fOr the entrance

examination,and they have hardly had an opportmty to expe五 ence why English is lmpOmnt Or necessary for their lives.One ofthe students once sttd to me,`Why do we have English lessons? I have never seen my mother and father use English.''

Interestinglェ

howeveL English slogans such as`Never Give Up!"or“

We Are

hvincible!''are frequently used for the school's sports day and festival balmers, displayed arolllnd the school.Somehow English apparen■ y appeals to students as a ``0001"language.

Forサ‐seVen eighth」aders(24 in Class 2‐ l and 23 in Class 2‐ 2)partiCipated in

the stutt DⅢ

ng the prevlous school yett they were asked to respond to a

quettionnaire that examined their attitudes toward leanung English at school.The questionnaire was designed by the author and consisted offollr items(See Appendix A and B). For the question“ Did you like learmng in Foreign Language Activities when

you were an elementary school student?"21 of the 47 students(45%)ansWered

posiiveltt nine students oO%)did■ Ot,and the rest answered``I don'tlmow" The

students who negatively responded to the questiOn above added their own conments such as``I didn't mderstand why l had to learn Englishr and``I cOuldn't llnderstand whatthe ALT said,almost tt all."

The school introduced collaborative learning as part of its school currlculllm in

2010 as mentioned in Chapter l.At flrst,the teachers needed to become familiar with what collaborative learmng is and how to put it into practice;they did so by reading books,宙 siing other schools where collaborative learnlng was expeHmentally iinplernented, and mviting a practitioner who had been promoting collaborative leaming in another prefecture once or twlce a year as an ad宙 so■ According to the

practitioner's advice,the teachers decided to glve the students at least one group

activity in each class ofall their school sutteCtS。

Some teachers feltit was too much ofa challenge to change their teaching styles,

and they were reluctant to follow the decision;they implelllented a group activity only

when they were Fequlred to demonstrate their class to other teachers.Some teachers

were afrand that,since teachers are likely to loosen their control in a group acti宙 _{飢 ■}

might Ёsk their classroom management and co■ sequently the class might become chaotic,whilo other teachers smggled tO chdlenge the new style.In the early days,

some teachers who were watching other teachers'open classes could■ ot resist a

temptation to teach the students there,and this was onen pointed outin the subsequent discussion.It was really challenging for the teachers to convert from teaching to ha宙 ng students engaged in learmng.

The students also have had to train themselves in a new way ofleaming. They were encouraged to listen to others carehl壌 to say“I don't mderstand"when they

did■ot mderstand,and to respond cordially when asked for help.In the record of lesson studies,the participants in the present study were observed to be more awkward at working together in a group when they were seventh graders.Both the students and teachers grew accustomed to the new style,but usually the classes were arranged as group actiⅥ ties llnder the αθ_σ

"お′′

Jο″ ″θ;彎hο″

(Sfard,1998)and seldOm as

dynamic scenes in which the smdents were devoted to explo五

ngthe mttЮ

wn wo■d.

Since l had been away from the school for about elght months when the present

research was conducted,I took partin the Class 2‐ l English classes three imes and the

Class 2‐2 folr tilnes from December 2,2013 to February 21,2014 for the purpose of

observing the students and renewing my relatiollship with them.I then taught

English in both classes on March 6,19,and 20 in 2014.

3.2e Lesson Plans

Lesson plans were designed in line with the theo五 es re宙ewed in Chapter 2 so

that every student could barn by increasing accessibility and usability of resollrces as

much as possible. The essential elelllents ofthe design as a whole were:

‐ _{Co■aborative leanung lo lnake full use Ofsocial resollrces}

‐ _{Teaching materials to prol■ ote access to material resources and social resollrces} ‐ Teachers as accessible facilitators

As the school had already expe五 mented with collaborative learning,and thus I

follnd what l needed for teaching materials which would:

‐ _{have content that is authentic,worth pursuing,and llleaningil to help students to} become mattre citizens

‐

_{be based on textbooks,■}ot a special p■ject,to be practical for everyday attemlDts

skill,and experience

…

constnd ZPDs for both sttgJing Students and advanced students and crette

contextsin which group members would collaborate in meamngful ways

The following are thc details of the three lesson plans(A,B,and C)宙 th the

principles IIlentioned above.

Lesson PlanA

All textbooks for the seventh,eighth,and」 nth graders include“

Sho宙

ng the

W勾

P'aS a speaking activitt rs a pOpular topic ofEnglish conversation in which the

students lnelnorize expressions such as“ 詢m lett at the second traFlc ligr'fbm the textbook,Howevet they have very few opportmties to use such phrases in their daily lives(see the school oontext above).In making a plan,I thollght i would be more pedagoJcJly Si3■liiCant for the students to experience a feeling and an action they should take when they see people in trouble on the street,rather than just leam the

expressions ofdirecting people.

This lesson plan is based on a story l heard彙

om one ofthe ALTs宙

th whom I

had worked.According to him,when he asked the directions to local places on his trip,Japanese people ran away sayin3`No,no,"or sdd nothing despite his effo五 to

speak Japanese. Another scenc l relne壷bered in lnaking this plan was that a man

with an exotic feames(■ tmed Out later that he calne from Ban」

adesD St00d

motionless in Kyoto Station with his sultcase,stanng at a rallroad route map wrltten completely in Japanes%nobody would help him until l went up to him.I felt that these two scenes could become宙宙d materials ilhstrating``Showing the Sヾ 'beCause

they were authentic,and the students inight actually encounter silnilar scenes in their

they were put in the same situation.Here are the details of the lesson plan that I prepared based on these scenanos:

Mate五al:“

Sho宙

ng the駒

''(based On`1』雄ο力J‐α″″α′''in`ヽTew Horizon English Collrse l&2,''Tokyo Shoseki,publisheう

TiIIle:lst pe五 od for Class 2‐ 1,6th peHod for Class 2‐

2,March 6,2014

α

jectives:

1)TO review expressionsto show the way

2)To reView gra―

aticd des and increase vocab」 ary through group wnting

tasks

3)To be able to perforln a skit in front ofother groups

4)To cultiVate a pos■ive and considerate attitude toward people in trouble

Preparation:textbooks,aDVD,mini‐whiteboards,dictionanes,photographs Procedure:

1)Rolc‐

play(an Ame五

can asks the way in Ja7panese and the Ja7panese people who are asked nm away without saying anything。 _)一pair work

2)Desc五

be the feelings of the American and the Japanese in this scenario―

group activity

3)Review expressiolls to show the ways― whole class

4)Make a ShOrt skitin which a Japanese studenttalks to a man who seems to be ■om overseas and at a loss in front of a si3■ lbOard wrltten in Japanese at a

stationi perfo.1.Ithe skit― group activity

Lesson Plan B

The ninth graders'textbook deals with fair trade.Although the tem“ fair trade"