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Second Language Learning

How do students learn and use English as a second language?

• Bakhtinian Contributions to Second Language Learning: Chris Iddings has investigated interactions among kindergarten classmates who were recent immigrants from vastly diverse linguistic backgrounds (e.g., Spanish and Laotian). The focus of the project was on understanding how English Language Learners made use of a variety of communicative modalities, such as gestures, drawings, wooden block structures, and ornate designs in order to re-represent their sense of self, to engage in meaningful interactions, and to establish friendships.
• Bakhtin's Carnival and Second Language Learning: In her study of young children who were new immigrant ELLs, Dr. Chris Iddings has documented how children make use of humor and spontaneity within the linguistically sophisticated discourse structure of parody to increase their English proficiency. She uses Bakhtin's notion of the imaginative, playful, and dialogic world of carnival as a way of understanding how young children create meaningful contexts for interaction with others and for learning.
• Language Play for Language Learning: In this study, Dr. Chris Iddings has investigated how language play (mimicking, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, puns, songs, mockery, repetition, parody, fictional words, and substitutions) creates opportunities for second language learning. She focuses on the role of language play in developing metalinguistic awareness/knowledge.