ERIC Number: EJ887675
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-May
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-8274
EISSN: N/A
Collaboration and Social Interaction in English Classrooms
DeCosta, Meredith; Clifton, Jennifer; Roen, Duane
English Journal, v99 n5 p14-21 May 2010
English language arts classrooms are especially rich sites for both explicit and implicit collaborations among those who inhabit those spaces. In these venues, Bakhtinian "heteroglot voices" (Bakhtin 278) saturate the oral and written discourse that students produce as they engage in discussions and as they write in a wide variety of genres, media, and modalities. When students speak or write, they draw on this polyphony even though they may not be consciously aware of their reliance on the ideas of others. In considering the nature of collaboration, it is fruitful to note Vygotsky's observation that what humans do is social first and individual later. Collaboration is both explicit, relying on social experiences with others, and implicit, drawing on the voices that rise out of those social experiences and echo in the writer's mind. In this article, the authors provide theoretical bases for collaboration in the classroom and discuss a rich array of new technologies that enable collaborative activities for students.
Descriptors: Interpersonal Relationship, Interaction, English Instruction, Language Arts, Classroom Communication, Classroom Environment, Classroom Techniques, Educational Practices, Social Networks, Teaching Models, Technology Uses in Education, Influence of Technology
National Council of Teachers of English. 1111 West Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. Tel: 877-369-6283; Tel: 217-328-3870; Web site: http://www.ncte.org/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A