Transforming EFL Classroom Practices and Promoting Students’ Empowerment: Collaborative Learning From a Dialogical Approach

Published

2017-07-01

Transformando prácticas y promoviendo empoderamiento en los estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera: aprendizaje colaborativo desde un enfoque dialógico

Keywords:

Collaborative learning, dialogical approach, English as a foreign language, public schools (en)
aprendizaje colaborativo, enfoque dialógico, inglés como lengua extranjera, educación pública (es)

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Authors

Janeth Juliana Contreras León
Claudia Marcela Chapetón Castro

Abstract (en)
Abstract (es)

This study investigates the impact of implementing collaborative learning from a social and dialogical perspective on seventh graders’ interaction in an English as a foreign language classroom at a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. Thirty students participated in this action research where field notes, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and artifacts of students’ work were used to collect data during a complete academic year. Results show that taking a critical approach to language education and understanding collaborative learning as a social construction of knowledge can ignite opportunities for changing traditional teaching and learning practices where both the teacher and students take different roles, thus balancing classroom relations and interaction among participants and also promoting students’ empowerment.

Este estudio analiza el impacto del aprendizaje colaborativo entendido desde una perspectiva social y dialógica en la interacción de estudiantes de séptimo grado, en clase de inglés, en un colegio público de Bogotá, Colombia. Treinta estudiantes participaron en esta investigación-acción en la cual se recolectaron datos a través de notas de campo, cuestionarios, entrevistas y artefactos producidos por los estudiantes. Los resultados indican que adoptar un enfoque crítico en la enseñanza del lenguaje y entender el aprendizaje colaborativo como una construcción social del conocimiento puede propiciar oportunidades de transformación en las prácticas tradicionales de enseñanza-aprendizaje donde el docente y los estudiantes asumen roles diferentes balanceando las relaciones y la interacción en el aula y promoviendo empoderamiento en los estudiantes.

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