Is it Relevant? The Role of Off-task Talk in Collaborative Learning

Authors

  • Khaled Barkaoui York University
  • Margaret So University of Toronto
  • Wataru Suzuki Miyagi University of Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v5i1.31

Keywords:

Off-task talk, collaborative learning, sociocultural theory, peer interaction

Abstract

We adopt a sociocultural approach to examine the characteristics and roles of the off-task talk (OTT) of three graduate students engaged in a collaborative learning task. Our focus is on three OTT episodes during three out-of-classroom meetings to discuss an academic article in preparation for a graded classroom presentation. In order to obtain an insider perspective on these episodes, each of the three students independently analyzed each OTT episode in terms of its characteristics, roles, and effects on the participants’ contributions and relationships. The results showed that the OTT episodes were short and infrequent; had an academic flavor to them; weaved smoothly on and off task; and played various social, affective, and cognitive roles in collaborative learning. We argue that definitions that emphasize the content, rather than the functions, of OTT are misleading and that a sociocultural theory perspective allows a more positive view of OTT as a socio-affective action within a larger cognitive activity. We close by outlining some of the limitations of the study and a call for further research on OTT in collaborative learning.

Author Biographies

  • Khaled Barkaoui, York University

    Khaled Barkaoui is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education, York University, Canada. His research interests include: second language assessment, second language writing, language program evaluation, research methodology, and English for academic purposes. His publications have appeared in American Journal of Evaluation, Assessing Writing, The Canadian Modern Language Review Language Assessment Quarterly, System, and TESL Reporter.

  • Margaret So, University of Toronto

    Margaret So is a PhD student at OISE/UT. Her current research focuses on noticing, speaking and sociocultural theory among Hong Kong high school ESL students. Other interests include cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, World Englishes, comparative education and language policy.

  • Wataru Suzuki, Miyagi University of Education

    Wataru Suzuki received his PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He is currently a lecturer in the Department of English Language Education, Miyagi University of Education, Japan. His main areas of research interests are roles of input, interaction, output, feedback, and languaging in second language learning. He has published articles on these topics in Language Awareness, System, TESOL Quarterly, Canadian Modern Language Review, and The Modern Language Journal.

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Published

2015-09-14

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Barkaoui, K., So, M., & Suzuki, W. (2015). Is it Relevant? The Role of Off-task Talk in Collaborative Learning. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 5(1), 31-54. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v5i1.31

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