FOSTERING LANGUAGE AND THINKING SKILLS THROUGH ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM INTERACTION

Abstract

This study examined the effects of teacher talk on creating conditions for foreign language and thinking skills development. Through the lens of socio-cultural theory, we looked at the learning affordance/constraints that teachers in eight English speaking classes at a university in Vietnam created for learners via their actions and interactions with students. Two main, but contrastive interaction patterns emerged from this analysis. In one pattern, extended teacher talk could provide learners with more input, but at the same time deprive them of the opportunity to produce meaning-focused output and exercise high-order thinking skills. In the other, however, the interplay among teachers’ proper use of referential questions, group work, extended wait-time, speakership assignment and appreciative responses was found to empower learners as active users of the target language as well as critical and creative thinkers. We therefore argue that by using talks that scaffold and facilitate learners’ critical, divergent thinking, conceptualising process and effectively distributing classroom time for learners’ thinking incubation and collaboration, teachers can create enabling conditions for learners to enhance both their L2 and thinking skills.