Exploring How Teachers of Multilingual Learners Manage Disagreements in Asynchronous Online Discussions

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Negotiations of Meaning, Authority, and Agency in Language and Literacy

Abstract

In education, decision-making frequently involves moral stance-taking when making choices between two or more solutions to an educational ‘problem’. When making such choices, teachers are often expected to take a stance on issues related to the needs of learners. To understand how teachers in an online English language (EL) teacher licensure program manage disagreements over such issues, this study uses a discourse analytic perspective influenced by conversation analysis to examine teachers’ asynchronous discussions. Findings demonstrate that participants engaged in disagreement by 1) taking stances that were often softened or hedged; 2) grounding their disagreements through particular discursive strategies including personal experiences, rhetorical questioning; 3) and by making morally-imbued claims that were difficult to disagree with.

Authors

• Amber N. Warren, ACTFL

• Jessica Nina Lester, Indiana University