A description and evaluation of sociocognitive processes in a second language learning study

Learning study in HK has been promoted as an alternative, dialogic and transformative process which values teachers’ authority of experience (Munby & Russell, 1994) and enables reconsidering and reorganizing of that experience, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of teaching and learning. Using data from Learning Study cases such as meeting notes, classroom observation records, publications, diaries, and post-study teacher evaluations, we observed evidence of the sociocognitive aspects of Learning Study. Our findings suggest that, during the negotiation process of formulating the objects of learning and their critical features, there is a need for ‘brokering’ (Ng, He & Loong, 2004) between teacher-educators and teachers to fill knowledge gaps among participants. A related need is for the participants to explore each other’s ‘positionality’ (Martin & Van Gunten, 2002) in establishing openness to dialogue in the meetings. We came to realize the extent to which Learning Study is a site of social interaction. This mediated social learning is, after all, the pre-requisite to achieving the goal of Learning Study – better teaching quality. Thus, we believe it is insufficient to focus only on tangible outcomes of Learning Study, e.g. students’ pre-and post-lesson performances. What is needed, in addition, is attention to the semiotic means – the negotiation processes through which participants’ understandings transform.