Cross-analyzes of teaching and learning situations : a step forward the production of more consistent resources for educational research.

Author(s):

Brigitte GRUSONPascal TREINSOUTROT Dominique FOREST

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching

Format:

Paper

Session Information

27 SES 05 B, Issues in Language Teaching and Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-29

08:30-10:00

Room:

NIG, HS 2G

Chair:

Brigitte GRUSON

Contribution

Providing evidence so as to improve the quality of the teaching and learning process remains a demanding task. It requires the use of a coherent and resistant theoretical and methodological framework associated to numerous qualitative data. To our mind, that means that the production of resources for educational research depends on collaborative work. Indeed it seems almost impossible for an isolated researcher to conduct extensive analyzes grounded on theoretical and methodological tools powerful enough to grasp the complexity of the learning and teaching process. Consequently, in our presentation we will show how three researchers from different origins work together to study how English and Spanish are taught at the beginning of lower and upper secondary education, that is at two key-levels of the French educational system. To do so, we will focus on situations implemented by four experienced teachers to develop students' listening skills, which are among the most difficult to master. During our presentation we will show that this study is deeply grounded on a multi-leveled comparative approach to didactic phenomena. Firstly, it compares teaching and learning situations implemented in two different foreign languages at two different levels. Secondly, it brings together and compares three researchers’ viewpoints and approaches. Considering the objectives of this research and the researchers' origins, the theoretical tools used are borrowed from three main fields. Thus, the main notions comes from linguistics (in particular, Charaudeau et Maingueneau, 2002 ; Vernant, 1997), from foreign language didactics (in particular, Bange, 2005 ; Cicurel, 2002 ; Coste, 2002 ; De Pietro, Matthey & Py, 1989 ; Gaonac’h, 2006 ; Gruson, 2006, Vandergrift, 2007), from the joint action theory in didactics (Sensevy & Mercier, 2007, Schubauer-Leoni & al., 2007) and from proxemic analyzes (Hall, 1976, Forest, 2006). This on-going research is the opportunity to put those theoretical framework to the test of precise empirical data and thus to probe their heuristic relevance and to evaluate their potential convergence.

Method

The data composing the corpus of this research can be classified in three categories: the video recordings of 4 lessons, the documents elaborated or used by the teachers and the audio recordings of ante and post interviews conducted with the teachers. To make the study possible the lessons have been transformed into synopses elaborated by each researcher independently. These synopses have been completed by the transcriptions of significant episodes. The approach used to analyze those data is mainly characterized by the constant interplay between the theoretical tools and the empirical data. As such it can be defined as a bottom-up and a top-down approach. It is also a clinical approach (Foucault, 1963 ; Leutenegger, 2000) as it focuses on very precise empirical data. Finally, it includes an a priori analysis of the situations so as to put to light the knowledge at stake and the constraints of the situations.

Expected Outcomes

This research has several objectives. The first one is to contribute to the elaboration of a new methodological and theoretical framework built to analyze teaching and learning situations. The second one is to provide resources for teacher training as the three researchers are all involved in the training of primary and secondary teachers in France. The third one is related to an international project, the VISA project (Videos of learning situation), which brings together European and American research centers whose goal is to elaborate instruments for educational sciences.

References

Bange, P. (2005). L’apprentissage d’une langue étrangère – Cognition et interaction. Paris : L’Harmattan. Charaudeau P. et Maingueneau D. (2002). Dictionnaire d’analyse du discours. Paris : Seuil. Cicurel, F. (2002). Les réagencements contextuels dans l’enseignement des langues. In Cicurel, V. & Véronique, D. (Coord.), Discours, action et appropriation des langues (pp. 179-194). Paris : Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle. Coste, D. (2002). L’acquisition en classe de langue, Revue AILE (Acquisition et Interaction en Langue Etrangère), n° 16. St Denis : Association Encrages. Forest, D. (2006). Analyse proxémique d’interactions didactiques. Carrefour de l’Education, pp 73-94. . Amiens : CURSEP. Forest, D. (2008). Proxemic Analysis in Didactics. International conference, « From Teaching to Learning ». Göteborg, Sweden, September 10th-12th. Forest, D. (accepté). Agencements didactiques : pour une analyse fonctionnelle du comportement non-verbal du professeur. Revue Française de Pédagogie. Gaonac’h, D. (2006). L’apprentissage précoce d'une langue étrangère – le point de vue de la psycholinguistique. Paris : Hachette Education. Gruson, B. (2007). Agir, interagir et rétroagir en anglais : analyse de la pratique d’un professeur de CM2 et de ses élèves lors d’une situation de « pairwork » - (2ème partie). Carrefours de l’éducation, 23, 39-54. Gruson, B. (2006). Agir, interagir et rétroagir en anglais : analyse de la pratique d’un professeur de CM2 et de ses élèves lors d’une situation de « pairwork » (1ère partie). Carrefours de l’éducation, 22, 45-57. Gruson, B. (2007). A comparative analysis of the way English, as a foreign language, is really taught in two primary and two secondary classes. International conference, « Contested Qualities of Educational Research », Ghent, Belgium, 19-21 septembre 2007. Gruson, B. & Le Hénaff, C. (2008). Analysis of the effects of group work activities on the teacher’s and students’ joint action. European Conference on Educational Research ECER, Göteborg, Sweden, September 10th-12th. Gruson, B. (à paraître).Analyse de situations de compréhension de l’oral au CM2 : pistes de réflexion pour l’enseignement et la formation. Etudes de Linguistique appliquée. Klincksieck. Hall, E. T. (1963). A system for a notation of proxemic Behavior. American Anthropologist, 65, 1003-1026 Hall, E. T. (1966). The hidden dimension. New York: Anchors Books/Doubleday Leutenegger, F. (2000). Construction d’une clinique pour le didactique. Une étude des phénomènes temporels de l’enseignement. Recherches en didactique des mathématiques, 20/2, 209-250. Mondada, L. (2005). École thématique - Méthodes d'enregistrement et d'analyse de données vidéo prises en situation de formation - PIREF 17-19 Janvier 2005 - ENS LSH Lyon. Sensevy, G. & Mercier, A. (2007). Agir ensemble. L’action conjointe du professeur et des élèves dans le système didactique. Rennes : PUR. Shubauer-Leoni M-L., Leutenegger, F. & Forget A. (2007). "L'accès aux pratiques de fabrication de traces scripturales convenues au commencement de la forme scolaire : Interrogations théoriques et épistémologiques". Education & didactique, n°2, p. 9-35. Rennes : PUR. Vandergrift L. (2007). Recent development in second and foreign language listening comprehension research. In Language teaching. Vol. 40, 191-210 Vernant D. (1997). Du discours à l’action. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Author Information

Brigitte GRUSON

IUFM, Université de Bretagne Occidentale

Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres

Rennes

Pascal TREINSOUTROT

IUFM, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, France

Dominique FOREST