Acquisition VS Participation

        In chapter 3 of the book,  “Dialogic Approaches to Tesol”, the focus was turned on the acquisition of learning a language vs the participation of learning a language and the idea of problem posing.  Acquisition of learning is described as the use of linguistic structures, ignoring classroom discourse.  On the other hand, participation highlights power relations where learning is achieved through collaborative problem solving.  Rather than taking a student’s mistake as a failure, the teacher should use the problem posing approach using a variety of assessments to make these mistakes as opportunities for learning.  From the information stated above, I believe learning acquisition is based on a set of rules, whereas participation is the actually doing of the acquisition, which is a lot more useful in the classroom and in everyday life. 

I really enjoyed Charlie and Dana’s problem posing examples during their student teaching experiences.  For example, Charlie’s class, the students learned about standard measurement, for example, through engaging with the problem of communicating about length.  Charlie allowed his students to use physical tools to make measurements and symbolic tools to discuss those measurements.  

These examples in the book had me thinking of what I have learned in my previous classes at ISU.  Scaffolding techniques, portfolios used for assessments, and creating open-ended questions to engage students’ in critical thinking are all components the book briefly describes.  “A problem posing approach to TESOL emphasizes the process of learning as much as material or canon to be mastered.  Students must play an active role in their education, and they will if they are a part of a community of learning involved in dialogue questioning debate and analysis” (87).  This approach, to me, is very important in the learning process, especially for language learners.  Although there are many rules and guidelines to follow, it is important that students participate to actually gain an understanding of these rules and guidelines.