Discourse Analysis in the CLIL Classroom. The Effects of Task Dimensions on L2 Oral Performance

Resumo

This study explores the hypothesis that pedagogical tasks in the context of second or foreign language acquisition can be defined as a function of three factors: the role of the student in the task, the amount of context support embedded in the task, and the cognitive demand. In order to confirm this theory a new framework to analyse concrete cases is established. The transcriptions of the tasks carried out in a classroom of 9 elementary school students are analysed as an example of action-research to detect the dimensions of tasks that favour the oral use of the L2 in the classroom. The role of the student in the input, the amount of context embedded in the tasks, and the cognitive demand are the factors chosen for a factorial design. The variables of the study are the amount of oral L2 produced, measured in As-units per second, and the quality of this later, measured by the number of clauses per AS-unit. The amount of L1 produced is measured as well, in the same manner that the L2 is.