Learning as Changing Participation: Discourse Roles in ESL Writing Conferences - Article Example

? Article Response Paper Young, Richard F & Miller & Elizabeth R. Learning as Changing Participation: Dis Roles in ESL Writing Conferences. p. 519-535 Main Issues/Points Discussed in Article This article by the authors explores the attainment of an uncommon conversational practice by an adult Vietnamese learner of English. A unique method of learning is followed in weekly English as a Second Language (ESL) writing conferences between the instructor and the student. This is a form of study-buddy approach, which underscores the proverbial concept that two heads are better than one.

The learning process becomes lively in which both the participants contribute to enrich the knowledge of the other. The students get the maximum benefit out of this experiment and their transformation is notable. But this process enables the instructor to learn from the interaction that results in addition to his own knowledge. The authors have highlighted the results of four successive writing conferences from the viewpoint of the students as well as the instructors. Situated discursive practices have thus become part of the language learning/writing processes.

The results are excellent. Personal observations/comments On reading this article, I am inclined to think that research has been done with a different perspective on the practical application of the principle of study-buddy approach. Instead of two friends/students getting engaged in their language learning and writing issues, under the model discussed by the authors, one of them is a teacher. The teacher is obviously expected to have more knowledge about the advantages and pitfalls of this unfamiliar discursive practice, as over a period, he will have the benefit of exposure to interaction with many students.

He is thus in an advantageous position to learn more from individual experiences of many students, and those experiences are bound to be different. The instructor’s position is enviable as he learns more from the students and gets the input from them on an ongoing basis, which in turn he can utilize to improve the knowledge of successive students. This research and the implementation of the model articulated by the authors are important for another reason. In the study-buddy approach, the status of the two learners participating in the program is equal.

A care-free and casual approach to study is possible and that will affect the performance and the results. But the acquisition of the unfamiliar discursive practice by the adult and the presence of the instructor give the competitive edge to the study and the adult student will respond with more urgency and attention, as he is participating in a time-bound program, and his performance will be watched and evaluated every week. Moreover, though learning and writing are like the alternative beats of the same heart, acquiring the writing skill gives more confidence to the ESL students.

With passing of the each session, the participation of the student becomes deep, and his confidence level increases as he crosses each ‘hurdle’. One of the important aspects of research finding is that the participation of both instructor and student changes and shows mutual co-construction of their respective roles. The sequence of eight tasks which are the hallmark of the revision talk is a confidence building measure of the student and it also enables the student to become a self-starter.

The greatest tribute a student can pay to the teacher is to dispense with the teacher and carryout the tasks with own skill and initiative. That objective has been achieved though this model, as it is observed that the students are able to perform seven of the eight prescribed tasks by mastering the interactional architecture. The student develops from peripheral to fuller participation. When the participants talk also with their gestures and body movements take it that they are in the process of getting molded into speakers and the next stage is the development of oratorical skills.

Excerpts i) Developing expertise in a new practice is a task that faces adults throughout a lifetime of learning.(Young & Miller,p.520) This excerpt indicates the importance of developing expertise on a permanent footing. ii) A relevant model for situated learning is apprenticeship, a situation in which apprentices and their masters change through acting as co-learners.(Young & Miler, p.521) This excerpt elucidates the fact that teaching, ipso facto, is a learning process. iii) For revision task practice a sequential development plan is construed thus consisting of the following developments. 1) Attend 2) Identify 3) Explain 4) Direct 5) Cand Revision, 6) Direct Write 7) Write 8) Evaluate.

(Young & Maller,p.522) This excerpt lists out in a systematic manner the stages of development of the adult learner. Questions 1. Can participation framework be compared to online learning programs? If not why not and which is better? 2. Whose initiative in this learning program is more important? The student, or that of the instructor and why? 3. If there are ten students in the class, and if their learning progress is not uniform, how should the instructor plan the teaching approach? Is uniform progress of all the students at the same time is an attainable reality?