Abstract:

Since the last part of the XX century to nowadays there has been an emphasis on FL learning. Globalization has prompted researchers to investigate new and more effective ways to learn. New theories have been developed and practitioners applied some of them. Action research has been increased during the last 20 years (Burns, 2010) and the benefits of research has led to more creative ways of teaching.
Although big efforts have been made on making lessons more meaningful to students (Long & Doughty, 2009) and helping them to think in a foreign language (Puchta &Williams, 2011), we believe that the best way to understand classes is investigating the teaching-learning process. Besides observing and recording, classroom transcription (Harfitt, 2008) and analysing classroom discourse.

This research pretends to investigate the teaching-learning process, not centered on teacher's behaviour (Chaudron, 1988) but on students' communicative discourse.

Taking discourse analysis as an essential tool we have adapted Sinclair & coulthard's discourse analysis model (1975) adding elements from Conversation Analysis (tsui, 1994) and te tripartite conception of language (Poyatos, 1994). We study English classes for Spanish students in the south of Spain.

We focus on ESL classroom structure, defining types of pedagogical episodes that take place in class and analyse in depth those developing students' FL oral output. Two different methodologies, Cooperative Learning and Traditional method, are compared to investigate which one helps learners better to speak in English.

Results are of great interest for teachers, researchers and ESL book publishers.

Keywords:

Cooperative learning, classroom interaction, pedagogical episodes, FL teaching, Young learners.