Pair Work Research at the ESOL Lab School

The English-as-a-second-language classes at the ESOL Lab School are video and audio taped and this data is organized in a media resource that allows researchers to view all or sections of the tapes. Researchers at the ESOL Lab School analyzed dozens of sections or clips in which two students worked together on a particular task. See examples of these clips.

The pair work research at the NCSALL ESOL Lab School found that:

• "Adult ESL students can work productively in pairs, even at beginning levels of instruction. (Garland, 2002)
• Students working in pairs often must negotiate how to work together and how to communicate meaning, rephrase statements, ask for clarification, and search for the correct words as they jointly determine the best way to complete the task. (Harris, 2005a)" (Smith, Harris, & Reder, 2005).
• "Student pairs will negotiate different aspects of the same pair activity. Therefore, pair activities help students with their specific language learning needs (Harris, 2005b). In other words, teachers can expect that students will learn the things that they each need from pair activities, rather than all having the same learning experience.
• When teachers approach a pair of students working together, the nature of the students' interaction changes. Students often stop negotiating and instead (a) ask the teacher to solve the problem they are having (which prevents them from figuring out the solution on their own), (b) attempt to perform successfully for the teacher (which ends the authentic interaction in which students were engaged), or (c) start to have an independent interaction with the teacher (which ends the conversation and work on the task) (Garland, 2002)."
(Smith, Harris, & Reder, 2005).

Garland, J. N. (2002). Co-construction of language and activity in low-level ESL pair interactions. Unpublished MA Thesis, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.

Harris, K. A. (2005a). Meaning negotiation in beginning adult ESL class activities. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Harris, K. A. (2005b). Same activity, different focus. Focus On Basic, 8(A), 7-10.

Smith, C., Harris, K., & Reder, S. (2005). Applying Research Findings to Instruction for Adult English Language Students (CAELA Brief, 2005-03, August 2005). Washington, DC: Center for Adult English Language Acquisition.