STUDENT INTERACTIONS

Data from student interactions derived from the frequency scale instrument as well as through classroom observations are presented in this section. Table 15 below outlines the summary statistics for opportunities provided to students to engage in student interactions. Again, qualitative data was quantified using a scale with the following ranks: 5 = Always, 4 = Often, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Rarely, and 1 = Never. The data revealed that opportunities for student interactions in the classroom were rare, as evidenced by the mean. Opportunities for L1 use to clarify a task, or to practice vocabulary or dialogues in the L2 were infrequent.

Table 15. Summary Statistics for Opportunities for Student Interactions

N M SD Min Mdn Max

This is also supported by the overall amount of times students were provided opportunities to interact with each other when compared to the amount of total lessons observed (out of 27 lessons observed, only nine lessons included activities with student-student interactions).

In examining the qualitative data from classroom observations, and to corroborate with the results above, when a student-initiated a request about pair work at a different time other than the other nine lessons observed with student-student interactions, the request was declined by the teacher as evidenced in communication sequence in Table 16 below.

Table 16. Student-Initiated Request

Dialogue Initiation Response Evaluation

1) Sd11: Can you work

with partners? T: Non, juste toi, s’il vous plaît.

[No, just you, please.]

Furthermore, when examining student-student interactions, the data in Table 17 below revealed that student interactions were “often” or “always” conducted in students’ L1, which was primarily English.

Table 17. Summary Statistics for Student Language Use

N M SD Min Mdn Max page 82, the data revealed that formulaic expressions were rarely employed in the classroom when engaging in student-student interactions, unless these formulaic expressions were present in scripted conversations.

Table 18. Summary Statistics for Student Use of Formulaic Expressions

N M SD Min Mdn Max

Student Initiation using

Formulaic Expressions

9 2.60 2.07 1.00 1.00 5.00

Student Response using

Formulaic Expressions

9 2.60 2.07 1.00 1.00 5.00

This data is also supported by qualitative data from observations where simple expressions of classroom language where rarely observed. In many instances as highlighted in Table 12 Dialogue 1 on page 77, students had difficulty when asking permission to go to the bathroom and required the assistance of other students in the class.

While there were only a total nine lessons which included activities with student-student interactions, it was noted that students seemed to understand French sentences they were writing in their scripts about a video project regarding school supplies as evidenced by the creative language use of these students:

Sd12: I have a pen and a boy in my backpack. (laughs)

Sd13: There is a computer and a teacher in my backpack. (laughs)

In these cases, students can be seen as having internalized these language structures to the point where they were confident enough to begin manipulating the language structure to suit their needs or to use humour when practicing their interactions with their classmates. In these examples, while students spoke in English, their scripted written dialogues were written completely in French (see Figure 8 on page 83).

Bonjour!

4. Ça c’est mon dejeuner, mon dejeuner est dans mon sac à dos.

5. Voici mon pupitre, dans mon pipitre il y a un livre est des crayons orange et bleu.

6. On met les taille-crayons ici.

7. Dan mon sac à dos il y a une calculatrice

6. We put the pencil sharpeners here.

7. In my backpack, there is a blue calculator and a water bottle.

Additionally, during the students’ conversational task about ordering at a café, students again used creative language to express humour as evidenced by these dialogues:

Sd14: Alors, vous voulez neuf croissants? (laughs) [So, you want nine croissants?]

Sd15: Je voudrais dix-neuf soupes! (laughs) [I would like nineteen soups!]

These examples illustrate a role-playing activity where one student played a customer while another assumed the role of a service worker. This activity was planned as the school was participating in a French festival that was open to the public and students were able to volunteer as servers at the French café. The script is shown in Figure 9 on page 85.

1. Good evening! My name is ___. Welcome to my school ___! Welcome to Café ___!

2. The café is here and the show is over there.

3. Good evening! My name is ___. Welcome to Café ___!

Can I help you?

4. Yes, I would like ___.

5. So, you want:

a croissant/two, three, four croissants

6. a hot chocolate/two, three, four hot chocolates a sugar pie/two, three, four sugar pies

a soup/two, three, four soups 7. Here is/are ____

your croissant/your croissants

your hot chocolate/your hot chocolates your sugar pie/your sugar pies

your soup/your soups 8. That costs ___ dollars.

Figure 9. French Café Script

In all student-student interactions, it was observed that if students’ TL output was perceived to be incorrect by their partners, the student evaluated that student’s response in English, 1

2

3

4 5 6

7

8

while if the perceived answer in the L2 was correct and conformed to the conventions of the script, the conversations continued.

In summary, the teacher, during the lessons, spoke French and English at approximately equal frequencies when initiating student communication or while evaluating student responses. Translanguaging and translation practices were observed during TL use by both the teacher and her students. Opportunities for student interactions were rare, having accounted for only nine out of the 27 lessons observed. A vast majority of student interactions were conducted in the students’ L1, which was English, and formulaic expressions in the TL were rarely employed during student interactions. Where students internalized a certain language structure they had practiced in class, students were able to manipulate the sentence structures with confidence to suit their needs or to introduce humour in their interactions.