Learning to Play, Playing to Learn: FL Learners as Multicompetent Language Users (original) (raw)

Reconsidering language teaching through a focus on humor

Formal language education is often predicated on a series of modernist fictions that greatly simplify the nature of language and the process of communication. Acts of linguistic creativity involving humor and language play are frequently either ignored or considered deviant. In this paper, we contribute to ongoing efforts to re-conceptualize language education in ways that make use of more robust (and less modernist) theories of language and communication. We revisit calls for more pedagogical focus on humor and language play and illustrate how more attention to these types of language might help us to move away from some of the classroom fictions that currently constrain teachers and learners alike. Specifically, we present recent conceptions of language and of communication, and discuss how, in light of these, humor and language play can be used to increase learners' metalinguistic awareness and expand their communicative/interpretive repertoires. La enseñanza de idiomas formal a menudo se basa en una serie de ficciones modernistas que simplifican enormemente la naturaleza del lenguaje y el proceso de comunicación. Los actos de creatividad lingüística que implican humor y juego lingüístico son frecuentemente ignorados o considerados desviados. En este trabajo ofrecemos una contribución a los esfuerzos en marcha para reconceptualizar la enseñanza de idiomas de manera que utilice teorías más sólidas (y menos modernistas) del lenguaje y la comunicación. Reivindicamos la necesidad de un enfoque más pedagógico en el humor y el juego lingüístico y mostramos cómo una mayor atención hacia estos tipos de lenguaje nos podría ayudar a alejarnos de algunas de las ficciones del aula que actualmente limitan tanto a los profesores como a los alumnos. En concreto, presentamos recientes concepciones del lenguaje y de la comunicación y analizamos cómo, a la luz de dichas concepciones, el humor y los juegos del lenguaje se pueden utilizar para aumentar la conciencia metalingüística de los alumnos y ampliar sus repertorios comunicativos/interpretativos. Palabras clave: HUMOR, JUEGOS LINGÜÍSTICOS, PEDAGOGÍA DE SEGUNDAS LENGUAS. L'insegnamento formale delle lingue è spesso basato su una serie di convenzioni moderniste che semplificano notevolmente la natura del linguaggio e del processo di comunicazione. Gli atti della creatività linguistica che coinvolgono l'umorismo o i giochi linguistici sono spesso ignorati o considerati fuorvianti. Con questo articolo vogliamo contribuire agli sforzi che si stanno compiendo per riconcettualizzare l'insegnamento delle lingue basandosi su teorie del linguaggio e della comunicazione più solide (e meno moderniste). Facendo nostre le richieste di un maggiore interesse pedagogico per l'umorismo e i giochi linguistici, mostriamo come una maggiore attenzione a queste forme del linguaggio possa aiutarci a discostarci da certe convenzioni che in classe ostacolano sia gli insegnanti sia gli alunni. In particolare, presentiamo alcune recenti concezioni del linguaggio e della comunicazione e discutiamo di come, alla luce di queste concezioni, l'umorismo e i giochi linguistici possano essere utilizzati per aumentare la consapevolezza metalinguistica degli alunni e incrementarne il repertorio comunicativo/interpretativo. Parole chiave: UMORISMO, GIOCHI LINGUISTICI, PEDAGOGIA DELLE LINGUE SECONDE.

It's Just a Game, Right? Types of Play in Foreign Language CMC (2007)

This study focuses on the various playful uses of language that occurred during a semester-long study of two German language courses using one type of synchronous network-based medium, the MOO. Research and use of synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) have flourished in the study of second-language acquisition (SLA) since the late 1990s; however, the primary focus has been on the potential benefits of using CMC to increase the amount of communication (Beauvois, 1997; Kern, 1995; Warschauer, 1997), motivate students (Beauvois, 1997; Kern, 1995; Warschauer, 1997) and foster the exchange of ideas (Beauvois, 1997; Kern, 1995; von der Emde, Schneider, & Kotter, 2001; Warschauer, 1997). Only more recently has research within SLA begun to investigate the types of communication that occur online. (1) An analysis of the transcripts from a second-semester German course and an upper-level German communication course reveal that a large portion of the language use online cannot be described using standard referential definitions of communication, but rather is playful in nature. Using research from SLA and theories on social interaction, this article investigates the different types of play that occurred within the online discussions and the possible implications of the presence of play in online discourse.

The serious matter of language play in two EFL classrooms

2004

THE SERIOUS MATTER OF LANGUAGE PLAY IN TWO EFL CLASSROOMS GRAZIELA MARÓSTICA CALLEGARO UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA 2004 Supervisor: Dr Gloria Gil The present study aims at investigating the phenomenon of Language Play (LP) within the interactions in two EFL classrooms as it is believed that LP may facilitate the development of the process of learning EFL in such a formal learning environment. The ideas of play in the processes of learning suggested by Guy Cook (1997, 2000) and different studies based on the sociocultural perspective (Mitchell & Myles, 1998; Kramsh & Sullivan, 1996; Sullivan, 2000a, 2000b; Broner & Tarone, 2001) gave the theoretical background for this study. The purpose was to determine how LP was characterized and categorized, and to verify which functions the occurrences of LP would perform in these two EFL classrooms. Ethnographic techniques were applied for a clearer perspective of the participants. Seventy-four (74) episodes of LP were identified and...

Translanguaging as Playful Subversion of a Monolingual Norm in the Classroom

Translanguaging as Everyday Practice

Previous studies of educational translanguaging have described it as an instructional and inclusive practice supporting the active classroom participation of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. This chapter demonstrates how in monolingually-oriented educational contexts, translanguaging can also constitute a form of subversive language play targeting the local monolingual norm. The data are video-recorded lessons from secondary-level CLIL (Content-and-Language-Integrated-Learning) classrooms in Finland. In CLIL classrooms L2 is often upheld as a normatively assigned medium of interaction, particularly in whole-class talk, and students use their shared L1 in peer interaction. This chapter offers a case study investigating how one student's translanguaging, which takes place as a reaction to the teacher's enforcement of the L2-only norm, is treated as a 'language mix' by other participants in the classroom. Drawing on conversation analytic (CA) methodology, we describe the sequential unfolding and the normative context of the focal student's translanguaging, as well as practices of categorisation with which other students respond to him. We suggest that these kinds of situations can help to empirically tease apart some differences between translanguaging and code-switching. Further, we argue that the 'meaning' of translanguaging to participants cannot be established without considering its relation to locally upheld norms around language choice, which in the present case are employed as resources for the construction of language play and subversive identities.

Bridging notions of language play and language awareness

This article explores the interface between language play and language awareness. Grounded in an understanding of two kinds of language play, ludic language play and language play as rehearsal, it shows how the shared theoretical underpinnings and distinctive features of both overlap with the concept of language awareness. Spanning across cognitive, affective, and social dimensions of learners' language awareness, both types of language play highlight learners' conscious perception and sensitivity to linguistic forms and functions, attention, noticing, alertness, and particularly engagement. The paper contends that there is a close connection between language play and language awareness, and thereby argues that language play episodes, whether for the purpose of amusement or private rehearsal, could yield insights into students' knowledge about language and their ability to reflect on it through engagement with language. Finally, the paper outlines implications for research on language play episodes and for their use in teaching to incorporate humor into the language classroom.

Language Game of Language Education: Instructional Talk, Pedagogical Aids, and Communication

International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation

This research aimed to determine the professional codes in language education using Wittgenstein's concept of a language game. It is a qualitative inquiry by nature as it uses content and textual analysis as its main research methodologies. Specifically, it analyzed the manifestations of professional codes in the teaching and learning process, pedagogical aids or instructional materials, and the communications used in this field of specialization. Furthermore, textual evidence or extraction of manifestations of a certain code of communication was systematically done vis-à-vis the presuppositions of the actions and behavior of the speakers to reveal sets of words, phrases, and elementary propositions or codes of communication. The study found out that the language game of language education is, indeed, distinct from other disciplines in terms of lexicon and locution, syntactical constructions, semantic associations, and pragmatic implication. Essentially, the professional codes i...