The present study examined the language and literacy practices of one ethnolinguistically diverse family literacy English classroom for women who recently migrated to the United States as refugees, and whose access to formal, school-based learning was interrupted prior to migration. More specifically, this study investigated how institutionally-valued practices socially positioned the women in class, and how the women discursively negotiated and claimed new or different positionings for themselves. Overall, this study draws on social positioning theories (Davies & Harré, 1990; Harré & van Langenhove, 1999), to attempt to address the relationship between English language education for women and notions of social inclusion (Allman, 2013). Designed as a linguistic ethnography (Copland & Creese, 2015), data were collected over the course of two years and included eight months of thrice-weekly classroom-based participant observation; classroom audio (105) and video recordings (39); photographs (1038); audio and video-recorded semi-structured interviews with the focal teacher (4), three focal students (2 each), and the main administrator (1); and document collection. Data were transcribed and analyzed utilizing thematic (Saldaña, 2012) and micro-ethnographic discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2006). Findings show a range of institutionally-valued language and literacy practices and diverse accompanying positionings. Some practices served to socialize learners into specific “storylines” (Harré & Moghaddam, 2003) related to socially-preferred ways of “doing” language and literacy both inside and outside the classroom, particularly in relationship to the learners’ positions as mothers. Other practices served to position learners as legitimate co-authors and community members, affording them ways to use English to “write (and speak) themselves into” the times and places of their surrounding communities (Trend, 1994, p. 226). The findings further illustrate that learners used language and other multimodal means (i.e., photographs, video, social media) to make inter(con)textual, intercultural, and transnational connections for both academic and personal purposes—and to draw others into those connections with them. These connections positioned learners as academically, technologically, and relationally resourceful transnational women. Implications for pedagogy, programming, policy, theory, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand how context may shapemultiple goal negotiation. Prior research has focused on identifying variables that influence goal pursuit in general, but little attention has been given to how these principles operate in different circumstances. This study adopted the Dynamic Systems Model of Role- Identity and studied context through an identity lens. The context of the L2 teacher was selected as the focus of investigation, specifically the L2 teacher’s pursuit of speaking in the second language for 90% of instructional time while forming meaningful relationships with students. Fifty six L2 teachers participated. The study was carried out over five phases. In the first phase, data were collected in an online survey targeting teachers’ contextual variables, goal commitment, goal expectancy, self-accordance, job satisfaction, and perception of goal conflict. In the second phase, teachers were divided into groups based on their perception of conflict between the two goals: misaligned, no effect, and aligned. Chi-square analysis and Fischer exact tests were conducted and the only significant difference between groups was the amount of L2 spoken. A MANOVA, followed by univariate analysis found that the groups differed significantly regarding their level of commitment to the L2 goal, and their goal expectancy for forming relationships. In the third phase, a content analysis of the open-ended responses found that context influenced the goal navigation process, that the most frequent approach to resolving conflict was abandoning the L2 goal, that multifinality is contingent on one’s role-identity, and that tension may be conscious or unconscious. In the fourth phase, 14 L2 teachers completed semi-structured interviews, which were used to further explore how role-identity informs goal navigation. Analysis of the transcripts revealed that role- identity has a powerful influence on how teachers manage and construal their goals. In the fifth and final phase, all the data were synthesized, resulting in the implications for researchers, administrators, and teachers. / Educational Psychology