Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

Language Socialization 431
Beyond these routines, we could look more specifi cally at the activities
or assignments that students must do once instruction has really begun
and consider how they are being socialized into those social and linguistic,
or discursive, practices. Research might look specifi cally at the components
and criteria for successfully preparing for and then performing an
oral presentation, such as a show-and-tell session for young children or a
high school science project presentation on the environment. In highereducation
contexts, the presentation might be about an important legal
case in law school, a particular medical research fi nding or case history in
medical school, or a group presentation on cell phone circuitry in engineering.
Thus, language socialization research analyzes how teachers or
students lay the foundation for participation in each of those spheres as a
presenter, team member, or audience member. The socialization may occur
by means of explicit discussion in the course outline, by modeling presentations
for students, or by giving instruction and public feedback on presentations
that participants can learn from (see Duff, 1995, 2009; Kobayashi,
2004; Morita, 2000; Zappa-Hollman, 2007a). In Excerpt 4, we observe the
beginning of a Canadian high school social studies class (Duff, 2009) in
which a student is scheduled to make a presentation, and then the feedback
(socialization) provided by the teacher afterward. As in the earlier
excerpts, students are expected to be quiet and attentive before the instructional
phase, the presentation, begins.
Excerpt 4 (Canada)
Teacher: Sooh, we’re fi nally ready for current events so when Dean is
paying attention and when Susan
S1: Yeah.
T: is a good member of the audience, then we’ll start. Yep.
Dean: ((comes up to the front of the class and writes his title on the
board))
Uh my article is on . . . ((makes his presentation and then is
fi nished))
Ss: ‘Applause by class’
T: Okay. Great. That was a nice uh conversational manner you
have when you – it’s not like you’re reading. That’s excellent
‘cause you’re not reading. Nice job there. Uh there may be –
What?
S2: (Nothing?)
T: There m – no I mean I’m encouraging – that’s good public
speaking.
(adapted from Duff, 2009: 169)
In this excerpt, then, the teacher again focuses students’ attention on
the instructional activity performed by Dean, telling students (using Susan
as an example) to be good members of the audience, and then praises