The Investigation of Language Classroom Processes

The second language classroom has long been a center of research interest. In the last several years, attempts to examine the second language classroom—to clarify how the language classroom experience differs from what is available outside the classroom and how language classrooms differ among themselves—have been increasingly guided by a shared set of goals and premises. Classroom process research is based on the priority of direct observation of second language classroom activity and is directed primarily at identifying the numerous factors which shape the second language instructional experience. The result has been a marked departure from earlier research on the nature and effects of classroom instruction in a second language. Selected studies in three areas are reviewed: the linguistic environment of second language instruction, patterns of participation in the language classroom, and error treatment. Also reviewed are recent applications of introspective (mentalistic) research to the problem of describing the second language classroom experience.