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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Understanding Classroom Interaction

I successfully completed the course above on 16th December 2017 and following is my certificate, my course progress chart and the full description of the course.  I found the course very useful and effective.

UCI1x (September 2017)
Understanding Classroom Interaction
Welcome!

Have you ever wondered why some classroom discussions are lively and engaging and others more like painful interrogations? Why some students always have an answer ready, but others never participate? Why everybody (or nobody) laughs at a teacher’s jokes? What role multiple languages should play in classroom talk? This course gives classroom teachers at all levels and subject areas the analytic tools to answer these and more questions about classroom communication. Each lesson introduces fundamental concepts and techniques of classroom discourse analysis, developing an analytic toolkit and promoting critical reflection on pedagogical practices overs the course of five modules.

Instructors:
Betsy R. Rymes, PhD. Instructor
Chair; Educational Linguistics Division
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania

Andrea Leone-Pizzighella, TA
PhD. Candidate in Educational Linguistics
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania


Objectives
You will learn about:
• turn-taking patterns and their function
• question types and their effects on classroom talk
• the role of intonation, gesture and other subtle cues on interaction
• types and functions of classroom storytelling
• types of class participation and their effects
Prerequisites
This course is designed for practicing teachers as well as for undergraduate (3rd/4th year) and graduate students who are student teaching or tutoring. There are no content prerequisites for taking this course. However, we encourage learners to take edX Demo101.
Please familiarize yourself with the privacy and policy statement of edX before taking edX courses: https://www.edx.org/edx-terms-service
Course Format
This is a self-paced course with five modules. All modules will be released on September 19, 2017, at 9:00am EST (14:00 UTC). All coursework (including Discussions, Quizzes, and Final Exam) must be completed by the close of the course—12 months from the course open date—on September 19, 2018 at 9:00 am EST (14:00 UTC). However, learners are encouraged to proceed through the course by completing one module per week. The course takes most learners five weeks to complete. More information on UTC conversion can be found at this link: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
A time commitment of 2-3 hours per module is expected. The Teaching Assistant (TA) will be available to facilitate discussions on the discussion forum and provide additional guidance on the assignments as needed. If you have any questions regarding the assignments, please review the forums to determine if the question has already been asked and/or answered. If it has not, we invite you to post your question in the discussion forum, and the TA will respond within 48 hours.

Each module will contain the following components:
Lecture videos
o 6-10 short lectures (or approximately 45-90 minutes of video content) per module
o Cover all content necessary for answering assessment questions
Quizzes
o 5-question graded assessment each module
o Two attempts are permitted per question
Final Assignment
o Short discourse analysis of turn-taking, questions, contextualization resources,
      storytelling, or participant structures in your classroom
o Open-response reflection and identification of these structures is required
Discussion Forum
o Participation in discussion forums is CRUCIAL as it is our means of interaction in a
      class about interaction ☺
o Please exercise good judgment and appropriate forum etiquette
▪ Be respectful of your fellow learners
▪ Focus your discussion on the course content
Grading
Grading will be based on:
Quizzes (80% of your grade) – Two attempts are permitted per question
Final Assignment (20% of your grade)
A composite grade of 75% is considered a passing grade. Learners who complete the course requirements on the verified certificate track will receive a web certificate. Learners on the audit track will see their achievement reflected in their course profile.
This course uses the edX honor code. Please do not use any reference material while completing quizzes.
Course Outline
Module One: Introduction to classroom interaction (What is it and why do it?)
• Introduction to previous classic research and reasons for studying classroom
   interaction.
• Introduction to basic terminology of the field and brief examples of how this
   terminology can be used to focus our observation of classroom talk.
Module Two: Turn-taking patterns and question types
• Introduction to typical turn-taking patterns, the different types of questions teachers
   and students ask and the consequences for student engagement and learning.
• Students will view examples of different types of questions and analyze the way
   classroom discussions develop around them.
Module Three: Beyond Language: The role of intonation, gesture and other non-linguistic
cues on interaction
• Introduction to the concept of “contextualization cues,” that is the role of gesture,
   posture, dress, and appearance in cueing how teachers and students understand and
   contribute to classroom interaction.
Module Four: Types and functions of classroom storytelling
• Review of classic research literature on storytelling in classrooms, from pre-school “sharing time” to literature and science discussions. Examples illustrate techniques of 
  narrative analysis in everyday classroom settings.
Module Five: Types of participation and their effects
• Introduction to different participant structures with emphasis on the joint nature of
   any classroom talk (from group work to teacher-delivered lectures). Examples of how
   different frameworks for participation in classrooms affects who talks, what gets said,
   and how.
• “Tying it all together” and analyzing individual repertoire within shared participant
    structures: Final Discourse Analysis and Reflection

Final Assignment. You are to do the following:
 1. Transcribe an event
            - Identify a Recurring Event in your classroom, workplace, community
            - Record that Event—audio and video, if possible (make sure you get permission
              from participants)
           - Transcribe the audio so you can investigate closely (or, if not possible to record, take
              extremely good notes of the event and analyze them thoroughly)
2. Identify the “hot-spots”
        - Foiled expectations 
        - Turn-taking & Questions
        - contextualization resources
        - Storytelling
        - participant structures
        - The role of individual communicative repertoire
        - Anything that otherwise catches your attention             
3.  Analyze the event
       - Identify possible explanations for your foiled expectations
       - Turn-taking & Questions
       - contextualization resources
       - Storytelling
       - participant structures
       -The role of individual communicative repertoire
4. Discuss implications for ongoing interaction in your context
-what questions do you now have after analyzing this data
-what would be important for participants in this setting to consider/be aware of going
  forward?
-are your observations and findings something that occurred in isolation, or are they "norms"
  of this setting? What COULD that imply?

After recording, transcribing, and analyzing your data, pick three significant findings and the examples of those findings in the transcript itself. Discuss your context, findings, and possible implications and SUBMIT THIS in the OPEN RESPONSE SECTION BELOW. You can also upload a PDF file below if you prefer (note: this is 20% of your grade).
Additionally, you will grade 3 of your peers' responses using the rubric provided. ASSESSING YOUR PEERS IS THE ONLY WAY TO RECEIVE A GRADE ON THIS ASSIGNMENT.

Final assignment

Context: The conversation in this video takes place among three friends (two girls and a boy) and a waitress in a restaurant. One girl wants to go out for a dinner with her friend, so she calls her and invites her to a particular restaurant where they meet another friend (male) by chance. They all go to the restaurant and order food and drinks they prefer. While eating, they talk about the quality of food and what their current work is. After eating, finally, they pay the bill and leave the restaurant. The students study different majors at the university and English conversation is one of the compulsory subjects they should study during their bachelor’s degree program. Their ages range from 17 to 20 and their first language is Thai. They study English as a foreign language in both school and tertiary level contexts.

Turn-taking & Questions: As this conversation takes places in a restaurant among friends, this can be thought of as a casual conversation in which the participant structure is whole group discussion. Therefore, each one is free to talk with the other friends. The conversation goes on in a natural way as if it were really happening in a restaurant because the turn-taking and questioning pattern are not disruptive in that each student gets a chance to interact with other three participants. Given this, it can be said that the interaction pattern which can be observed in this discussion is mostly IRE but not always. In this conversation, no one dominates but equality shares their ideas with one another in a relaxed atmosphere. They use the right language to ask questions and respond relevant to this specific situation (E.g., Let’s meet at Milky restaurant, How about the food? Good evening, please take seats).   

Foiled expectations: This conversation is not free of foiled expectations. A good example to prove this can be linked to the confusion which the boy gets when he is asked “Oh! I see. Can I taste it?” by his friend (A). The boy does not seem to understand what she asks, Instead, he himself is starting to taste the food again. This incident makes others laugh (Please watch the video and see it clearly) how the boy becomes embarrassed. In another situation, A is asking C (boy), “How do you know that?” to which C does not reply but keeps on gazing and then he nods his head, and this leads to a burst of laughter by all.

Contextualization resources: Since the conversation happens in a restaurant, a waiter is there to welcome them and lead the customers to a table. Bringing menu (I prefer if they could use a real one). Eating food (even though, they mimic), gaze, eye contact, facial expressions, posture (how they sit around the table), gestures (taking food from a plate and tasting a bit), wait time, and room set up and clothing (University students go the canteen and have food with their friends in the uniform) can be considered as contextualization resources present in this conversation.

Participant structures: As can be seen from the transcript as well as from the video, the participant structure in this discussion can be ascribed to students working in a group project. If the participant structure is mapped as shown in the table below.

Interactors
Phase
S1-S2
First phase of the conversation
S1-S2-S3
Second phase before entering the restaurant
S1-S4, S3-S4, S2 -S4
During ordering food and drinks
S3-S1, S1-S3, S3-S2
While eating
S1-S4, S4-S1, S1-S4, S4-S1,
S2, S3
Before leaving the restaurant
A careful analysis of the participant structure as shown in the table above, we can conclude that this discussion is near to a real-world situation in which friends go out together for a meal.


The role of individual communicative repertoire: Individual repertoire contains a number of elements such as greetings, ways of addressing, gestures, languages, pronunciation of certain words, catch phrases or signal words, expressing praises/criticism. In this discussion, I find that students are competent with their communicative repertoires. When analyzing the transcript, it is clear that that they know how to greet, how to address others, use gestures, expressing praise and criticism. Needless to cite all example, but I will cite a few examples to illustrate how the students in the conversation use to make it meaningful and alive. When they evaluate the quality of food which they are eating, they tend to ask each other how they feel about the food. Some say food is tasty while the boy says his fried rice is not good and allows others to taste. This may be culture specific. However, this kind of activity is generally done by most cultures. Another significant point which I would like to discuss here in relation to the role of individual communicative repertoire is that most Thai learners cannot pronounce certain words (e.g., fried rice is pronounced as ‘fire rice’ or phrases correctly. Sometimes, they do not care much about stress and intonation which might lead to miscommunication of the intended message. Overall, it can be said that each student equally contributes to the speech event with no one taking a dominant role.

Ongoing Interaction: Some questions that pose me after analyzing this speech event can relate to limited oral proficiency of students. As a result, they mostly use short utterances that contain less than ten words and they are also not free from grammatical errors (e.g., “These one fried rice, two pizza and three KFC”, “I don’t sad”, “you can go there and saw the sunset”). Moreover, they cannot continue a conversation for a long time. This is clear from the middle part of the conversation in which they talk about their careers or talk about what they did during their holidays. I think this kind of analysis will help me to identify the types of language errors which the students tend to make when they talk in social situations and provide them with feedback so that they will minimize their errors in one respect, on the other, they will be better prepared to face challenges they may have to face in their education and work place in the future. However, this kind of interaction will allow students to expose themselves to talk about issues relating to their education or society, share their ideas in a less threatening environment, provide feedback to their peers and finally to build up better understanding about each other and one another as important members of their community.


This video shows a classroom based role-playing activity which I recorded when I was teaching in a university in Thailand and it was published in www.youtube.com with the permission of the students who act in this role play. The video can be watched by accessing this website: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vcg7ZWa5dhY
Roles: A- (a girl) B- (a girl), and C- (a boy) friends    D-a girl (a waitress in a restaurant)
Transcript
A: (A calls her friend) Hello
B: Hello
A: Is that Pha speaking?
B: Yes. It's me. Who are you?
A: Hey, Pha. This is Pic. I want to go to have dinner at Milky restaurant. Would you
     like to join with us?
B: Yes. I do. What time?
A: At 6p.m. today.
B: Ok, I'm free.
A: Oh! let's meet at the restaurant.
B: Ok. See you. bye.
A: Bye.
A& B meets C (another friend)
C: Hello, Hello.
A: Hello, Sea.
C: Hello, Pic.
A: Nice to meet you.
C: Nice to meet.
A: Let's go to the Milky restaurant.
B: Yea.
C: How about your restaurant?
A: Oh, It’s bad.
C: you sure?
A: yes.
At the restaurant (The waitress welcomes them)
D: Good evening. Please take seats.
B: Yes.
A: Here.
A&C: Thank you.
A: Can I have menu please?
D: Yes. This is menu.
C: Ok. I want fried rice, two pizzas, three kfc.
A: I want a set of pizza and spicy salad.
B: I want (?) (what she is ordering must be some kind of Thai food which is not clear)
D: Ok. What about beverage?
A: A glass of orange juice.
C: Pepsi.
B: A glass of iced tea.
D: Ok. Wait a minute.
(After a while, the waitress brings the food and drinks they ordered)
D: These one fried rice, two pizza, and three kfc and Pepsi for you. ..and these (?)
      and iced tea for you. And these  a set of pizza and papaya salad for you
      and orange juice. Enjoy your meal.
A: Ok. Thank you very much.
C: Pic. How about your food?
A: Oh. Its some (?). I want to taste. (tastes). Yes. How about your fried rice?
C: Oh, fried rice bad.....
A: Bad.
B: Bad.
A: Really.
C: Yes.
A: Oh. I see. Can I taste it?
C: (he is confused a little, so he keeps on looking at A for a while and then A
      signals that she wants to taste the food).   Ok. Ok. Ok ((laughter))
    (A tastes fried rice)
A: Mmm..it's so sweet.
   (B also tastes)
B: Same you.
A: How about your work?
C: Oh! I'm free. I don't have work....I don't have a job.
A: Must be so sad.
C: No.. I don't sad. I'm very happy.
B: Wow!
(A asks D)
A: How about you?
B: Good. I'm a programmer.
C: How about your parents?
A: Oh, parents. There's good as well. Hey, last weekend I went to Phuket with my family
C: Really.
A: Yea.
C: What interesting Phuket?
A: Oh, you can go to saw the sunset and Phuket.
C:  I know...I know that Phuket.
A: Have you been there?
C: No.
A: How do you know that?
C: (Keeps silent ((laughter))
B: Yes.
A: Ok. And Pathong beach is also beautiful.
B: Good. I went to Phuket last month. (    ) It is so beautiful.. little island. Some
     beautiful..(?)
A: Yes, the beach is very clean. Right? Oh.. finish? Can I have the bill?
D: Here's your bill. 500baht.
A: Here's 1000baht.
D: Here's your 500baht.
A: Ok. This is a tip for you.
D: Thank you very much.
A: Never mind.
D: Thank you. See you next time. Please come again.
A, B &C: Ok...
A: Please, let's go.





                                      This is the certificate I received


                                    This is my course progress report
                          ( https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:PennX+UCI1x+3T2017/progress)  



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