Collaborative Conversation-Based Instruction and Critical Content for World Language Classrooms: A Tri-Case Study on Teacher Agency

This multi-case study explores world language (WL) teachers’ perceptions of collaborative conversation-based instruction (CCBI) (Mellom et al., 2019), initially designed for English language learners, as an effective pedagogy to support WL student dispositions when engaging with cultural, critical, and socially relevant topics. The ACTFL World-Readiness Standards communicate that WL education must develop student dispositions that are both collaborative and reflect cultural competence to engage effectively in society. As ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversity increases in classrooms across the country, so does the need for curricular approaches that develop and affirm collaborative dispositions. While standards hold educators accountable for end-goals, they do not provide specific roadmaps for student interactions and lesson plans. CCBI can assist WL teachers in developing students’ dispositions that support civil engagement, especially during critical discourse.

This study utilized Farrell’s framework for reflective practice (2015) and multiple qualitative methods to document three Spanish teachers’ experiences as they learned to mobilize CCBI pedagogy through an intensive professional development experience. Interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith et al., 2022) assisted in identifying themes to describe each teacher’s (1) philosophies and approaches regarding student interaction and engagement with cultural, critical, or socially relevant issues and (2) their perceptions of the utility of CCBI for their classrooms. Drawing from the case narratives, teacher agency was explored through an ecological lens (Emirbayer & Mische, 1995; Priestley et al., 2015) to understand (3) how teachers enact agency in implementing CCBI pedagogy in their WL classrooms.

Findings illustrate how complex personal and professional histories impact teachers' instructional priorities. Although teachers found CCBI to be an imaginative and critical intervention (Emirbayer & Mische, 1995), their agentive moves in implementing the pedagogy in-full were compromised by feelings of overwhelm, tensions around TL use, and external administrative expectations. Critical reflective practice, communities of practice, and interactive professional development can help teachers explore their identities, set goals, and engage with theory to enhance their classroom practices. This research contributes to a limited body of work concerning critical reflective practice and teacher agency in WL education and introduces CCBI as a promising pedagogy to support collaborative student dispositions for WL education.