Effects Of Peer-Interaction Strategy Instruction On Junior High School Students’ English Classroom Engagement

As the concept of "student-centered" teaching deepens,more and more emphasis has been put on the role of peer interaction in second language learning.In the field of L2 interaction research,researchers both at home and abroad have reached an agreement that peer interaction in the L2 classroom is beneficial to improving learners’ second language proficiency.Although foreign studies have shown that peer-interaction strategy instruction can make students more active classroom participants,little research has been conducted on peer interaction strategies and the effects of strategy instruction on classroom engagement.Furthermore,most of the previous studies tend to focus on college students,but few have been conducted on junior high school students.As a relatively new research area,peer interaction strategies have important research value.Therefore,this study aims to investigate the influence of peer interaction strategies on junior high school students’ English classroom engagement and the application of peer interaction strategies in junior high school English classrooms.Specifically,three research questions are addressed:(1)What effects does peerinteraction strategy instruction have on junior high school students’ behavioral engagement in the English classroom?(2)What effects does peer-interaction strategy instruction have on junior high school students’ cognitive engagement in the English classroom?(3)What effects does peer-interaction strategy instruction have on junior high school students’ emotional engagement in the English classroom?In this study,two intact classes with a total of 82 students in the second year of junior high school in Wujiang Experimental Junior High School,Suzhou,were selected as the participants.One of the classes was set as the experimental group and the other the control group,with 41 students in each group.In the treatment,the only difference between the two groups is that students in the experimental group were taught interaction strategies while those in the control group were not.To investigate the effects of peer-interaction strategy instruction on junior high school students’ English classroom engagement,the researcher employed a questionnaire,a semi-structured interview,and classroom observations as the research instruments.After the experiment,data collected from the questionnaire,combined with the results of the interviews and classroom observations,were analyzed to compare students’classroom engagement between the two groups.Based on the analysis of the data mentioned above,the present study yielded the following results:Firstly,the peer-interaction strategy instruction had a positive impact on students’ behavioral engagement in the experimental class.In the dimension of students’concentration,students were able to listen attentively to their peers’ speeches,speak actively,and record summaries;in the dimension of students’ persistence,students were able to question and seek solutions actively,as well as self-correct their mistakes.Secondly,the peerinteraction strategy instruction had a positive impact on students’ cognitive engagement in the experimental class.The dimension of students’ use of surface strategies shows that students could reduce mechanical memory and enhance their understanding and application of knowledge;the dimension of students’ use of deep strategies shows that students could relate knowledge to real life and actively ask for help or give help to their peers.Thirdly,the peerinteraction strategy instruction had a positive impact on students’ emotional engagement in the experimental class.To some extent,peer-interaction strategy instruction helped students increase their sense of accomplishment in cooperative learning tasks,gain pleasure in peer interaction,reduce anxiety and boredom,and actively engage in the classroom.