The Affordances of Variation Theory (New Phenomenography) in Enhancing EAL Students' Learning

Abstract

Variation theory is relatively new perspective on learning and has not been comprehensively explored in the English as an additional language (EAL) context. Research in other educational fields has shown that lesson structures informed by variation theory have been able to enhance student learning. This paper is an attempt to demonstrate how lesson structures guided by variation theory can be applied to teaching vocabulary. An analysis of the lesson presented suggests that using variation theory in an EAL context provides affordances that increases the probably of student learning, and merits further investigation.