Presentation
The social turn in SLA course pedagogy
American Association of Applied Linguistics
(2017)
Abstract
This presentation examines how the ‘social turn’ in applied linguistics (Atkinson, 2011) has influenced our pedagogy in second language acquisition (SLA) courses in L2 teacher education programs. Geared towards L2 teacher educators who teach foundational SLA courses, this presentation aims to stimulate critical reflection about the ways our pedagogical practices in introductory SLA courses are keeping up with epistemological advances in our understanding of the socio-political and socio-historical dimensions of language learning and teacher knowledge.
This presentation focuses on 3 pedagogical decisions concerning the interpretation of the ‘social turn’ in the design of introductory SLA courses:
(1) the specification of the thematic scope of SLA courses, in particularly the emphasis placed on individual's mental functioning relative to social context;
(2) the nature of course assignments that support the connection between the study of SLA theories and lived realities in actual language learning contexts (Johnson, 2006); and
(3) the nature of teacher reflection activities that support the links between SLA theory-building and teacher identity development (Kanno & Stuart, 2011)
Included in this presentation is a brief review of recently published introductory SLA textbooks and the features that support socially-informed teacher training pedagogy. To close, the audience is invited to share their own pedagogical strategies and questions regarding the alignment of their SLA course with social theories.
Disciplines
Publication Date
March, 2017
Location
Portland, OR
Citation Information
Maricel G. Santos, Casey Keck and Robert Kohls. "The social turn in SLA course pedagogy" American Association of Applied Linguistics (2017) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/casey_keck/19/