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ERIC Number: EJ1089384
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1554-480X
EISSN: N/A
New Border Crossings for the Interaction Hypothesis: The Effects of Feedback on Gonja Speakers Learning English in a Rural School in Ghana
Sherris, Ari; Burns, M. Susan
Pedagogies: An International Journal, v10 n3 p238-255 2015
While Ghanaians in urban and rural settings are multilingual, English is the language of Ghanaian newspapers, politicians, the courts, much of television and radio in the metropolitan centres of the country. Indeed, urban Ghanaian adolescents have expanding opportunities to use English, the only official language of Ghana, even when not in school. Interaction in English is much less true of rural contexts, many of which are not on the national electric grid, have few electric generators resulting in little or no television and Internet access, and perhaps only an occasional newspaper found on the side of a dusty road. The purpose of this study, arising from conversations with policy leaders, is to demonstrate how language development occurs when students are given a task that provides them with opportunities to utilize their language resources to formulate questions. A controlled, small, fast-response, clinical design was sought because voices from the policy arena felt that relying on similar studies from industrialized contexts would not necessarily mirror those of rural Ghana. However, findings indicate otherwise. Tasks that stimulated interaction promoted question-form development. The paper concludes with important pedagogical implications for instructional practices in rural Ghana. The paper further argues for scaling up the study, situating it in classrooms, and developing tasks that are linked to school subjects.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Secondary Education; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ghana
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A