A Socio-Cognitive Perspective on the Factors Affecting Malaysian Business Students’ Learning when Spoken in English in a Second-Language Classroom
Abstract
The current literature review of second-language learning (SLL) views second-language (L2) development as a complex system comprised of ecological interactions between multi-faceted agents that fluctuate over time, in constantly changing environments. This concept is in contrast with two dominant theories that have framed many existing studies in the field of SLL: the cognitive theory that sees cognition as the nucleus of SLL, and the socio-cultural theory that maintains that SLL occurs as a result of social and cultural forces. However, little research has been done to explore the dynamic nature of SLL in a deeply comprehensive manner, in order to explain the phenomenon. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap of knowledge via a detailed investigation of how Business students at a Malaysian public university developed their English-speaking abilities in an L2 classroom context. A group of 31 undergraduate Business students (30 females and one male), as well as their English teacher, were involved in this case study, collecting data through classroom observations, interviews, a survey, as well as relevant curriculum documents, including academic records. The findings from the qualitative analysis via a unique model proposed in the study, based on a socio-cognitive theory, have revealed that learning to speak English is a complex process involving the ongoing physiological activities of adaptation and alignment. The notion of co-dependency exists between individual learners and their physical and conceptual resources, constituted in the social environment of the classroom, in order to perform the appropriate learning actions.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.21.1.5
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abdul Hamid, M. S., Islam, R., & Hazilah, A. M. (2014). Malaysian graduates' employability skills enhancement: An application of the importance of performance analysis. J. for Global Business Advancement, 7(3), 181-197. https://doi.org/10.1504/jgba.2014.064078
Atkinson, D. (1999). TESOL and ’culture’. TESOL Quarterly, 33(4), 625-654. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587880
Atkinson, D. (2002). Towards a socio-cognitive approach to second language acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 86(4), 525-545. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00159
Atkinson, D. (2010). Extended, embodied cognition and second-language ’acquisition’. Applied Linguistics, 31(5), 599-622. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq009
Atkinson, D. (2011). A socio-cognitive approach to second-language acquisition: How mind, body, and world work together in learning additional languages. Routledge-Atkinson, D., Churchill, E., Nishino, T., & Okada, H. (2007). Alignment and interaction in a socio-cognitive approach to second-language ’acquisition’. Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 169-188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00539.x
Atkinson, D., Churchill, E., Nishino, T., & Okada, H. (2018). Language learning great and small: Environmental support structures and learning opportunities in a socio-cognitive approach to second-language acquisition/teaching. Modern Language Journal, 102(3), 471-493. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12496
Chuchu, D. F. H. A., & Mahali, S.N. (2014). Politeness in advertisements: Based on non-verbal cues. Proceedings of SOCIOINT14, Turkey.
Baba, R. (2013). Teaching proper English to Malaysian speakers: Focusing on the vowels, consonants, syllables, and stress. US-China Foreign Language, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.17265/1539-8080/2013.04.002
Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language- testing. Oxford University Press.
Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Languag- testing in practice: Designing and developing useful language tests. Oxford University Press.
Baharum, H. I. (2013). Learning business English in virtual worlds: Effectiveness and acceptance in a Malaysian context [Doctoral thesis, Management Information Systems, Massey University, Palmerston North].
Baldwin, D. A., Markman, E. M., Bill, B., Desjardins, R. N., Irwin, J. M., & Tidball, G. (1996). Infants’ reliance on a social criterion for establishing word?object relations. Child Development, 67(6), 3135- 3153. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131771
Barnard, R. (2010). Activity theory: A framework for analysing intercultural academic activity. Action: An International Journal of Human Activity Theory, (3), 25-37.
Barrot, J. S. (2013). A macro perspective on key issues in English as Second Language (ESL) pedagogy in the post-method era: Confronting challenges through a socio-cognitive-transformative approach. Asia-Pacific Educational Research, 23(2), 435-449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-013-0119-4
Battista, A. (2015). Activity theory and analyzing learning in simulations. Simulation & Gaming, 46(2), 187-196. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878115598481
Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second-language acquisition. Edinburgh University Press.
Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second-language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
Chapelle, C., Grabe, W., & Berns, M. (1997). Communicative language proficiency: Definition and implications for TOEFL 2000. Educational Testing Service.
Cohen, A. D., & Dörnyei, Z. (2002). Focus on the language learner: Motivation, styles and strategies. In N. Schmitt (ed), An introduction to applied linguistics. Arnold.
Cohen, A. D. (2010). Focus on the language learner: Styles, strategies and motivation. In N. Schmitt (ed), An introduction to applied linguistics. Hodder Education.
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason and the human brain. Avon Books.
Driscoll, D. L. (2011). Introduction to primary research: Observations, surveys, and interviews. In C Lowe & P Zemliansky (Eds.), Writing spaces: Readings on writing (vol. 2), Parlour Press.
Ellis, R. (2012). Language teaching research and language pedagogy. John Wiley & Sons Inc. Wiley- Blackwell.
Fogassi, L. (2011). The mirror-neuron system: How cognitive functions emerge from motor organization. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 77(1), 66-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2010.04.009
Foot, K. A. (2014). Cultural-historical activity theory: Exploring a theory to inform practice and research. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 24(3), 329-347. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2013.831011
Ganeson, D. (2018). A needs analysis of English for business students at a private university in Malaysia [Master thesis, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur].
Gee, J.P. (1992). The social mind. Bergin & Garvey.
Goh, C. C. M. (2017). Research into practice: Scaffolding learning processes to improve speaking performance. Language Teaching, 50(2), 247-260. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444816000483
Gustafsson, J. (2017). Single case studies vs. multiple case studies: A comparative study [Thesis, Halmstad University, Sweden].
Harnish, R. (2002). Minds, brains, computers. Blackwell.
Harsch, C. (2017). Proficiency. ELT Journal, 71(2), 250-253.
Hasan, H., & Kazlauskas, A. (2014). Activity theory: Who is doing what, why and how. In H. Hasan (ed), Being Practical with theory: A Window into Business Research. University of Wollongong.
Hiver, P., & Al?Hoorie, A.H. (2016). A dynamic ensemble for second-language research: Putting complexity theory into practice. Modern Language Journal, 100(4), 741-756. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12347
Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. MIT Press.
Hymes, D. (1971). Competence and performance in linguistic theory. In R. Huxley & E. Ingram (eds), Language acquisition: Models and methods. Academic Press.
Jamshed, S. (2014). Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Editorial, 5(4), 87. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-0105.141942
Khamis, N., & Wahi, W. (2021). Enhancing business communication skills: An action research. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 11(7), 355-364. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.1.2021.117.355.364
Kitzinger, J. (1994). The methodology of focus groups: The importance of interaction between research participants. Sociology of Health, 16(1), 103-121.
Kitzinger, J. (1995). Introducing focus groups. British Medical Journal, 311, 299-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.ep11347023
Lantolf, J. P. (2000a). Socio-cultural theory and second-language learning. Oxford University Press.
Lantolf, J. P. (2000b). Second-language learning as a mediated process. Language Teaching, 33(2), 79-96. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444800015329
Lantolf, J. P., Poehner, M. E., & Swain, M. (eds). (2018). The Routledge handbook of socio-cultural theory and second-language development. Routledge.
Lee, M. S. (2015). Implementing the socio-cultural theory while teaching ESL. SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement, 1(1), 28-35.
Levinson, S. (2006). Cognition at the heart of human interaction. Discourse Studies, 8(1), 85- 93. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445606059557
Luoma, S. (2004). Assessing speaking. Cambridge University Press.
Ma, R., & Oxford, R. (2014). A diary study focusing on listening and speaking: The evolving interaction of learning styles and learning strategies in a motivated, advanced ESL learner. System, 43, 101-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.12.010
Mislevy, R. J. (2018). A socio-cognitive perspective’, in R.J. Mislevy (eds), Socio-cognitive foundations of educational measurement. Routledge.
Nyumba, O., Wilson, T., Derrick, C. J., & Mukherjee, N. (2018). The use of focus-group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(1), 20-32. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12860
Ortega, L. (2013). Cognition. In B. Comrie & G. Corbett (eds), Understanding second-language acquisition (pp. 82-109). Routledge.
Oxford, R. (2013). Teaching and researching language-learning strategies. Routledge.
Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2013). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed-method implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(5), 533-544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y
Perlovsky, L. (2011). Language and cognition interaction neural mechanisms. Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/454587
Piggin, G. (2012). What are our tools really made of? A critical assessment of recent models of language proficiency. Polyglossia, 22, 79-87.
Rethinasamy, S., & Chuah, K.M. (2011). The Malaysian University English Test (MUET) and its use for placement purposes: A predictive validity study. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 8(2), 234-245. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2146007
Seong, Y. (2014). Strategic competence and L2 speaking assessment. Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL; Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 13-24.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case-study research. Sage.
Suzuki, Y., Nakata, T., & Dekeyser, R. (2019). Optimizing second-language practice in the classroom: Perspectives from cognitive psychology. The Modern Language Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12582
Tae-Young, K. (2007). Second-language learning motivation from an activity-theory perspective: Longitudinal case studies of Korean ESL students and recent immigrants in Toronto [Doctoral thesis, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada].
Tomasello, M. (2014). The ultra?social animal. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44(3), pp. 187-194. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2015
Tratnik, A., Urh, M., & Jereb, E. (2017). Student satisfaction with an online and a face-to-face Business English course in a higher education context. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 56(1), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2017.1374875
Van Patten, B., & Benati, A.G. (2015). Key terms in second-language acquisition (2ndedn). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Wei, L. (2018). Trans-languaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), 9-30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039
Wiley, T.G., & García, O. (2016). Language policy and planning in language education: Legacies, consequences, and possibilities. Modern Language Journal, 100(1), p. 48-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12303
Xu, Q., Chen, S., Wang, J., & Suhadolc, S. (2021). Characteristics and effectiveness of teacher feedback on online business English oral presentations. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 30(6), 631-641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-021-00595-5
Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions: Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2), 311-325. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12014
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case-study research: Design and methods (4th edn). Sage.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case-study research: Design and methods (5thedn). Sage.
Zhang, L. (2018). Development of the framework of language use. In L. Zhang, Metacognitive and cognitive strategy use in reading comprehension a structural-equation modelling approach. Springer.
Zhang, W., Zhang, L. J., & Wilson, A. J. (2021). Supporting learner success: Revisiting strategic competence through developing an inventory for computer-assisted speaking assessment. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689581
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
p-ISSN: 1694-2493