Complexity in acting on images of idealclassmates in the L2 classroom
Complexity in acting on images of idealclassmates in the L2 classroom

Summary/Abstract: The current study endeavored to support learners in their transition to com- pulsory English as a foreign language lessons at a university in Japan. The study involved two classes of first-year science and technology students (N = 48). The action research initially explored students’ ideals for the actions of classmates that they believed may facilitate the development of a learning group more conducive to communicative language learning. From the second lesson of semester and thereafter, these ideals were reintroduced to the clas- ses which generated the ideas. Introspective participant journals were ana- lyzed during the action research process and revisited as a whole after the semester of data collection. The article introduces the descriptors articulated by students at the start of their studies, their choices to act on these ideals over the semester, as well as their reflections on action in the classroom con- nected to ideals. The results provide insights into a complex understanding of the social negotiation of action in the L2 classroom based on ideas of ideal classmates. The article moreover suggests pedagogical benefits of the inter- vention towards assisting students to adapt to a new language learning class.

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