20 years of Conversation Cards: Agency & Efficacy

Summary

Learner agency (Mercer, 2011) and teacher efficacy (Tschannen-Morana & Hoyb, 2001) are crucial aspects of instructed language learning, particularly in the learning-centered, communicative classroom. Twenty years ago, in an attempt to attend to both aspects, the presenter initiated the development of a collection of tools and procedures for university-level communication skills courses (Kindt, 1998). Based on findings from sociocultural theory (SCT) (Lantolf, 2000) and complex systems theory (CST) (Larsen-Freeman, 1997), these tools and procedures were designed to develop learners’ active communication skills in English while promoting learner autonomy and providing opportunities for teacher development. As a 20-year retrospective, this workshop will revisit several of these tools and procedures, including those focused on increasing learner agency (e.g., (1) active vocabulary development (Lott, 2015), (2) expert & peer models (Murphey, 1998), conversation strategies (Dörnyei, 1995), (4) Students’ Own Conversation Cards (SOCCs) (Kindt, 2019), (5) recursive practice (Kindt, 2005; Kindt & Bowyer, 2018), and (6) conversation recordings, follow-ups, & self-evaluations (Kindt, 2001)), and those promoting teacher efficacy ((7) action comments (Kindt & Davies, 1999), and (8) class newsletters (Kindt & Murphey, 2000)). After a short overview of the tools and procedures and their development, a selection of these will be demonstrated. Participants will leave this workshop with a greater understanding of how these tools and procedures can be effectively integrated to promote both learner agency and teacher efficacy.

References

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