This study investigates the role of visualisation in language education to explore a visual strategy for learning that is driven by the goal of deeper learning for all learners, built on theoretical principles of pluriliteracies development learner agency and multimodality. The integration of these concepts has significantly impacted the rationale of the research foci and therefore lies at the heart of this pioneering study that connects pluriliteracies with English language teaching and learning in a primary school in China.
In order to investigate the potential role of visuals in English language learning classrooms, this study was conducted by designing and teaching visual-related thematic content to three small groups of English younger learners in China and interviewing them using their own preferred online platform. Participants were encouraged to create visuals, for example, drawings to demonstrate their thinking of abstract conceptual knowledge and scaffold their communication with peers and the teacher-researcher. Such integration of visual creation with language learning is facilitated by learner-teacher Learning Conversations constructing a shared learning space owned and led by learners, which may offer a clear steer in the direction of promoting learner agency and achieving the quality of learning, thereby complementing traditional ways of teaching in China and beyond.
Emphasised by research and studies regarding pedagogies for ‘quality’ and ‘successful’ learning (Coyle & Meyer, 2017), the long-established means of measuring learning using tests and examinations may not be sufficient for building learners’ sense of achievement and agentic mindset to direct their own learning. Given the importance attached to PISA league tables on a global basis, the quality of education is at the core of socio-political concerns, offering alternative pedagogic thinking to education systems that define passing examinations as the main criterion of academic success.
Note from the editor: The PowerPoint presentation in the appendix had to be edited due to copyright concerns.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- The international positioning of English
- Overview of English language developments in China
- From Chinese historical perspectives
- The Shift of Focus on English Language Learning in China
- The Study
- Integrating current pedagogic thinking in language classrooms
- Personal experiences
- Research gaps and value
- Thesis outline
- Literature review
- Positioning language
- Language interpretation- from linguistic systems to social practice
- The roles of language in content and language learning classrooms
- Linguistic demands for meaning-making
- Languaging learning
- Cognitive discourse functions
- Scaffolding languaging
- Learning Conversations as formative feedback
- Visualisation
- Visual languaging in additional language classrooms
- Translanguaging
- A translanguaging theory and practice
- Translanguaging as a pedagogy
- Aligning translanguaging with this study
- Ecological shifts
- Fundamentals of literacies
- Pluriliteracies momentum
- Deeper learning
- Conceptualising deeper learning
- The pluriliteracies model for deeper learning – PTDL
- Aligning the pluriliteracies model with visual languaging
- Research questions
- Methodology
- Introduction
- Philosophical Stance
- Ontology
- Epistemology
- Research design-case studies
- Review of mainstream design approaches
- The nature of case studies
- The instrumental case study
- Research context
- Purposeful sampling
- Methods
- Data collection
- Data analysis
- Research timetable
- Ethical considerations
- Researcher as teacher
- Bias and trustworthiness
- Participant consent
- Self-reflections
- Overview
- The Pilot Study
- The Pilot Study English lesson plans
- The Pilot Study data
- The Pilot Study data analysis
- Concept and language development
- Describing and explaining emotions
- Language scaffolding in the lessons
- Language scaffolding in the interviews
- Languaging with visuals
- Describing, explaining, evaluating visuals
- Describing learning with visuals
- Student feedback
- Feedback for teaching with visuals
- Feedback for learning with visuals
- Pilot Study implications for the Main Study
- Concerns about using L1
- The importance of individual-based Learning Conversations
- Learners’ visual output
- Learners’ ownership
- Drawing
- Chapter summary
- The Main Study
- Chapter introduction
- The Main Study design
- The Main Study methods
- The Main Study data collection plan
- The Main Study lesson plans
- The Main Study data -themes and categories
- Discussion of the research findings
- Chapter introduction
- Discussing research question one
- Discussing research question two
- Discussing research question three
- Chapter summary
- Visual languaging with conceptualising and communicating dimensions
- Visual languaging with mentoring dimension
- Visual languaging with learner agency
- Illustrating visual languaging
- Conclusion
- Summary and implications of findings
- Designing visual creation and articulation tasks
- Supporting students via Learning Conversations
- Fostering learner agency
- Limitations
- Researcher identity
- Research time
- Sample size
- Future recommendations
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This study explores the potential of visualisation in supporting conceptual knowledge and language learning in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. The research aims to investigate the effect of visual languaging on student concept construction, language development, and learner agency in online classrooms.
- Visual languaging as a bridge between conceptual knowledge construction and language learning
- The role of cognitive discourse functions in visual languaging
- The potential of visual languaging for mentoring and learner agency
- The Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning (PTDL) as a framework for integrating visual languaging into EFL classrooms
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Chapter 1 provides an overview of the historical and contemporary context of English language learning in China and internationally. The chapter discusses the researcher's personal experiences as an English language learner and teacher, which led to the development of this study.
- Chapter 2 reviews existing literature on language interpretation, cognitive discourse functions, and the role of visual tools in language learning. This chapter examines the conceptualization of translanguaging and how it can be integrated with visual learning strategies. It also outlines the importance of pluriliteracies for deeper learning and presents the Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning (PTDL).
- Chapter 3 details the methodology and research design of the study. The chapter clarifies the philosophical stance of the research, which draws on relativism, connectivism, social constructivism, and interpretivism. The methodology of the study is based on an instrumental case study approach, integrating elements of the pluriliteracies model. The chapter also outlines the specific methods for data collection and analysis.
- Chapter 4 presents the findings of the Pilot Study, which involved six primary school students from China participating in two English lessons focusing on colors and emotions. The data from the Pilot Study informed the design and methods of the Main Study.
- Chapter 5 discusses the main study, which investigated the potential of visual languaging to enhance learning among eleven primary school students in China. The chapter details the learning activities designed for the study, the data collection methods, and the emerging themes and categories that were analyzed from the data.
- Chapter 6 focuses on the discussion of the findings, explicitly addressing the research questions. The chapter examines the ways in which visual languaging, integrated with Learning Conversations, can contribute to conceptual development, appropriate language use, and learner agency. It further discusses the alignment between the visual languaging approach and the Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning.
- Chapter 7 presents the conclusion of the study. It summarizes the key findings and implications of the research, highlighting the potential of visual languaging to promote deeper learning. The chapter concludes by outlining the limitations of the study and providing recommendations for future research.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The primary keywords and focus topics of this research include visual languaging, pluriliteracies, deeper learning, online EFL classrooms, cognitive discourse functions, mentoring, learner agency, and the Pluriliteracies Model for Deeper Learning. The research explores how visual languaging, integrated with Learning Conversations, can enhance English language learning among young learners in China by fostering their conceptual understanding, developing their language use, and promoting their agentic roles in learning.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Dandan Chen (Autor:in), 2023, Visualisation and Languaging for English Language Teaching and Learning in an Online Primary School Classroom in China, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1366776
