The Fluid Manual: A Polyphonic Alternative in Foreign Language Education
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Abstract
This empirical study explores a dialogic alternative to the conventional, fixed foreign language textbook by introducing the concept of a fluid manual—a pedagogical resource co-constructed dynamically through classroom interactions between teacher and adult learners. Grounded in Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism and heteroglossia, the fluid manual embraces the multiplicity of voices and meaning-making processes inherent in language use, positioning each lesson as a unique and collaborative event. Rejecting monologic, pre-determined content, this approach enables learners and teachers to shape the curriculum in real-time, using evolving questions, answers, and reflections as the core instructional material. Inspired by recent developments in digital collaborative logbooks, this intervention was implemented in two adult English language courses in Portugal, targeting absolute and advanced beginners. Through qualitative analysis of participant opinions and perceptions, the study reveals that the dialogic classes resulting in the fluid manual significantly enhanced learner motivation, autonomy, and engagement, while fostering a deeper connection to the learning process. Participants reported feeling more empowered and invested in their learning, attributing this to the co-authored nature of the content and the space for their voices to emerge and be transformed dialogically. The findings suggest that textbook-free teaching grounded in dialogism offers a viable and impactful alternative in language education, particularly for adult learners, by creating learning environments that are socially responsive, psychologically rich, and pedagogically inclusive. We do, however, acknowledge several constraints to the implementation of dialogism as a language teaching and learning approach, most of them related to the pre-established relationship between teacher and students in the conventional educational institutions and the objective oral expression limitations in the foreign language from the learners’ part. We conclude by affirming the educational potential of materials and methods that privilege interaction over transmission, and that recognize language learning as a fundamentally heteroglossic and co-authored process.
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