Using student co-regulation to address L2 students' language and pedagogical needs in university support classes

Abstract

This article highlights student co-regulation of teaching practices as a way of exploring how L2 students' language and pedagogical needs can be met in university support classes. Integration rather than assimilation – or adapting to the needs of the students rather than leaving students to face the exigencies of the new learning environment alone – is the focus of the article. Data are taken from a qualitative study of south Sudanese former refugees attending an Australian university. In this study it was found that teachers used their authoritative position to adapt their teaching to the students' apparent needs to differing degrees. Students benefitted from some modifications in teaching practices, but their ambivalent reactions to discussion-based teaching, in particular, proved to be an obstacle to their learning in the support classes.

Keywords:

• co-regulation
• integration
• adaptation
• student support
• positionality