Dialogue With Bakhtin on Second and Foreign Language Learning: New Perspectives

This volume is the first to explore links between the Russian linguist Mikhail Bakhtin's theoretical insights about language and practical concerns with second and foreign language learning and teaching. Situated within a strong conceptual framework and drawing from a rich empirical base, it reflects recent scholarship in applied linguistics that has begun to move away from formalist views of language as universal, autonomous linguistic systems, and toward an understanding of language as dynamic collections of cultural resources. According to Bakhtin, the study of language is concerned with the dialogue existing between linguistic elements and the uses to which they are put in response to the conditions of the moment. Such a view of language has significant implications for current understandings of second- and foreign-language learning. The contributors draw on some of Bakhtin's more significant concepts, such as dialogue, utterance, heteroglossia, voice, and addressivity to examine real world contexts of language learning. The chapters address a range of contexts including elementary- and university-level English as a second language and foreign language classrooms and adult learning situations outside the formal classroom. The text is arranged in two parts. Part I, "Contexts of Language Learning and Teaching," contains seven chapters that report on investigations into specific contexts of language learning and teaching. The chapters in Part II, "Implications for Theory and Practice," present broader discussions on second and foreign language learning using Bakhtin's ideas as a springboard for thinking. This is a groundbreaking volume for scholars in applied linguistics, language education, and language studies with an interest in second and foreign language learning; for teacher educators; and for teachers of languages from elementary to university levels. It is highly relevant as a text for graduate-level courses in applied linguistics and second- and foreign-language education.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. J.K. Hall, G. Vitanova, L. Marchenkova, Introduction: Dialogue With Bakhtin on Second and Foreign Language Learning. Part I: Investigations Into Contexts of Language Learning and Teaching.K. Braxley, Mastering Academic English: International Graduate Students' Use of Dialogue and Speech Genres to Meet the Writing Demands of Graduate School. A.C.D. Iddings, J. Haught, R. Devlin, Multimodal Rerepresentations of Self and Meaning for Second Language Learners in English-Dominant Classrooms. J.L. Orr, Dialogic Investigations: Cultural Artifacts in ESOL Composition Classes. A.M.Y. Lin, J.C.M. Luk, Local Creativity in the Face of Global Domination: Insights of Bakhtin for Teaching English for Dialogue Communication. H. Dufva, R. Alanen, Metalinguistic Awareness in Dialogue: Bakhtinian Considerations. E. Platt, "Uh uh no Hapana": Intersubjectivity, Meaning, and the Self. G. Vitanova, Authoring the Self in a Non-Native Language: A Dialogic Approach to Agency and Subjectivity. Part II: Implications for Theory and Practice.L. Marchenkova, Language, Culture, and Self: The Bakhtin-Vygotsky Encounter. A. Kostogriz, Dialogical Imagination of (Inter)cultural Spaces: Rethinking the Semiotic Ecology of Second Language and Literacy Learning. L.A. Yotsukura, Japanese Business Telephone Conversations as Bakhtinian Speech Genre: Applications for Second Language Acquisition.

About the Author :
Joan Kelly Hall, Gergana Vitanova, Ludmila A. Marchenkova

Review :
"'Dialogue with Bakhtin' is an excellent resource for both teachers and scholars of second and foreign language acquisition. Its strength lies in the contributors' empirical studies providing concrete supporting evidence for their claims. Paired with dialogic theory, these studies become testaments to pragmatic solutions for language problems non-native speakers face from elementary school on through to the workplace. This text underlines the continued importance of Bakhtin's theories in current academic research and succeeds in extending them to a new era, non-native language learning." —TESL-EJ "The need for this work is immense. The insights Bakhtin offers for language learning in both foreign and second language connections have only been dimly explored by scholars in language education to date. This text offers an illumination of the issues in much greater detail and could set the stage for a revolution in language teaching on a global context....It is revolutionary and a much-needed addition to the literature." —Terry Osborn, University of Connecticut "The chapters in this book reflect precisely the dialogic context that Bakhtin proposed as instrumental for teaching....This is a needed resource." —Diana Boxer, University of Florida "…the collection as a whole brings a stimulating new perspective to the field of SLA." –Agnes Bolonyai, Studies in Second Language Acquisition (2007), 29: 491-492) "Dialogue with Bakhtin is the first of its kind that systematically explores how Bakhtin's theoretical insights into language and practical concerns with second- and foreign-language learning and teaching can be fruitfully connected...I anticipate that scholars in applied linguistics, language education, and language studies with an interest in second- and foreign-language learning , teacher educators, and language teachers from elementary to university levels will surely find it a valuable collection" --Lawrence Jun Zhang, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Pedagogies: An International Journal