Intentional Dynamics in TESOL: An Ecological Perspective

This paper presents an ecological perspective on meaning-making, conceptualised as developingintentionality and exemplified with reference to three international TESOL settings. The paperdraws on philosophical and folk-psychological perspectives on intentionality, including Searle€™s(1983) distinction between intrinsic (individual) and derived (social) forms of intentionality andYoung, DePalma and Garrett€™s (2002) modelling of intentional dynamics in educational settings.The paper illustrates the analytical affordances of the perspective through sample analyses ofintentional dynamics found in three international TESOL settings. This includes: (i) younglearners€™ interpretations of love and marriage in a joint writing task in a Norwegian primary L2classroom, (ii) a Turkish teacher€™s first experience of teaching English to young learners, and(iii) the impact of the English as the global language phenomenon on the teaching of English toyoung learners in South Korea. The paper concludes that explorations of intentional dynamics ondifferent levels of language education activities can enhance our ecological understanding of thecognitive, social and political dimensions of TESOL.