Boundary-Crossing in Classroom Discourse Research

Amy B.M. Tsui
The University of Hong Kong
(bmtsui@hkucc.hku.hk)

Since the 1990s, the shift in research paradigm in general education from information processing to sociocultural perspectives of learning has led to a reconceptualization of classroom discourse as a semiotic resource that mediates learning in the classroom. This presentation provides a review of research on ESL and EFL classroom discourse and outlines current concerns and issues. It observes that conceptual frameworks in a variety of disciplines have been drawn on to advance the field and that this is a trend that will flourish in the next few decades. As an exemplification of how the field can benefit from boundary-crossing research, I present my recent work in which I draw on phenomenographic theory of learning to make sense of classroom discourse in ESL as well as a variety of content subjects. The basic tenets of the theory, that is, variation, discernment and simultaneity, have been applied to the analysis of classroom discourse data. The analyses have shown that the space of learning is an experiential space in which classroom discourse plays a critical role in opening up or closing down opportunities for expansive learning.