Examinando por Autor "Silva H., Alfonso"

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    The effects of proficiency on peer interaction patterns and L2 development in the Chilean EFL context: Multiple theoretical perspective
    (Universidad Andrés Bello, 2012) Poblete M., María José; Silva H., Alfonso; Viveros G., Paula; Zacarías A., Nicole; Masatoshi, Sato; Facultad de Humanidades y Educación
    This quasi-experimental study examined the relationship between proficiency levels and second language (L2) development enhanced specifically by interaction between second language learners (henceforth, peer interaction). This study was designed to promete learning opportunities for students using peer interaction and to investigate if learners' proficiency levels affect interactional patterns as well as developmental patterns. Also, this study aimed to promete the use of communicative peer interaction activities in Chilean EFL classrooms where grammar-based, teacher-centered teaching styles still prevail. By revealing the relationship between proficiency and peer interaction as well as the effectiveness of peer interaction activities on L2 development, this study aimed to make practica! suggestions to Chilean English education. In this study, two English classes with two proficiency levels participated. These levels were already divided by the school into low and high, totalling 49 learners (Low: n = 26; High: n = 23). lntervention was implemented once a week for four weeks. The linguistic targets were English past tense and vocabulary size. The pre and posttests (written and oral) were given before and after the intervention. The written test consisted of fill-in-the-blank sentences that elicited past tense verbs (regular and irregular). The oral test consisted of description of a picture also eliciting past tense. All intervention was audiorecorded and then transcribed by the researchers in order to get data that was later analyzed in a multiperspective scheme. The intervention was done in four consecutive weeks and each of them lasted approx 40 minutes (which equals to one period in the Chilean educational system). To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the data, both quantitative and qualitative methodology was employed. The quantitative findings revealed that both groups benefited from peer interaction regarding L2 development, although the low group benefited more than the high group did regarding vocabulary improvement. The high group also benefited from the intervention but not in a significant way. The qualitative findings showed that, in terms of collaborative behaviours, both groups showed similar patterns. However, regarding collaboration patterns related to task completion, the high group focused on task completion while the low group worked on linguistic issues more. lt is concluded that this difference caused the differential effects of peer interaction in the two proficiency groups.