KOTESOL International Conference 2016
(Concurrent Session)
Paul Leeming, Kindau University
Small-Group Work, Emergent Leadership, and Second Language Acquisition
Abstract
Students are placed into small groups to provide opportunities for language acquisition, but how does emergent leadership influence the subsequent interaction? This study measured perceptions of leadership among members in small groups, and considered how leadership influenced the interaction considering language related episodes, and a qualitative analysis of the conversations. Results showed that groups with strong leaders engaged in more language related episodes, providing more opportunities for language acquisition. Leadership also influenced general participation in group activities. The implications for teachers and researchers are discussed.
Biographicals
Paul Leeming is an associate professor in the Faculty of Economics at Kindai University in Osaka, Japan. He has taught at several universities and also at the junior and senior high school levels in Japan. His main research interest is group dynamics within the language classroom, and particularly students as emergent leaders within groups. He is also interested in use of the first language in the foreign language classroom, and pair interaction and language acquisition. Task-Based Learning is another area of interest and Paul is a co-founder of the JALT TBL SIG. Most recently Paul co-authored a TOEIC text-book written for university students in Japan.
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