Page 125 - Apuntes de Investigación en la Enseñanza de Idiomas

109 Apuntes de Investigación en la Enseñanza de Idiomas

Literature Review

Largely, social mediation in any of its forms has proven to be relevant in the process of learning. The
effective use of socially shared mediation has demonstrated several advantages for learners such as
the use of shared strategies and high-quality learning. For example, Vauras and colleagues (2003)
studied individual and social processes of fourth graders working in the solution of mathematical pro-
blems and found that shared regulation helped the learners to use strategies which led them to high
quality learning. Some conclusions of the study revealed that the members of a group build common
learning, group monitor and mediate joint activity, assuming responsibility for regulatory actions and
the co-construction of knowledge (Vauras et al, 2003).

During social mediation, some members of a group are expected to “take the control” and manage
any dimension of the learning situation, providing assistance to help another learner accomplish
a specific part of the task (Pifarre and Cobos, 2010) by prompting or discussing a possible solu-
tion. Sometimes, the help given in the groups is provided to encourage other learners to advance in
the process. Rogat and Adams-Wiggins (2014) made qualitative analyses on videotaped observa-
tions of seventh graders solving three activities in teams. They observed that these learners mediated
each other with either a facilitative or a directive purpose. The directive form refers to the influence
that a learner has to control what others should do, determining the steps to follow, controlling the
materials, ordering others what to do and maintaining the control of the task procedures. On the
other hand, the facilitative mediator guides, assists in any of the processes of the group (Hadwin
and Oshige, 2011; Rogat and Adams-Wiggins, 2014). The result of this study suggests that directive
does not allow the other group members to contribute in the task so the quality of mediation de-
creases. This kind of mediation must not be seen as a matter of one member controlling others but
helping and facilitating each other’s work.

Lantolf and Poehner (2011) claim that social mediation functions bidirectionally; that is, in the as-
sistance given to another, there is reciprocity in the regulatory activity given in a class, for example,
“whereby a learner’s responsiveness to teacher mediation also regulates the teacher and her subse-
quent attempts at assisting the learner” (p. 18). In their study, Lantolf and Poehner (2011) analysed
the interactions between an elementary school teacher of Spanish and learners. The results of the
study demonstrated that the more a learner is able to respond to implicit mediation, the closer he is
to gaining control over the language, and where mediation might be implicit or explicit fosters develo-
pment in the learners. For instance, teachers or peers may assist or mediate each other by prompting
a strategy (through implicit or explicit mediation).

Parallel to social mediation, a large body of literature has been published within the enterprise of eluci-
dating the term scaffolding. Scaffolding has been defined as the assistance given by another person
for the purpose of learning, aid provided from an expert to a novice (Knouzi et al., 2010). Scaffolding
might be considered as a form of social activity. The intentional help provided by the “other” implies
that this “other” has a better understanding of certain topic or has qualities that might assist the other
to improve in their performance. As observed, much has been researched in the field but very little
has been said about how language teachers interact and work in groups discussion about the pro-
blems they face and what strategies they use to give a solution to these problems.