abstract: This linguistic ethnography follows three journalism students (Petra, Penélope, and María) as they engaged in experiential language learning (EX-LL) via collaboration with community members during their Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) internship sites in the fields of journalism and medicine within the local Metro Phoenix community. Data were collected over the course of a 15-week semester via ethnographic methods (field notes, interviews, observations, and participant-reported data) to explore how the interns (i) took advantage of their SSP internship experiences to engage in identity work that exceeded the goals of the program and how they (ii) implemented their strategic knowledge via communicative strategies (CSs) during breakdowns in communication with community members related to their SSP internship sites/the social function of such strategies. In order to answer the first research question, the data were analyzed via open and focused coding (Dyson & Genishi, 2005), followed by discourse analysis (Gee, 2005) informed by Critical Applied Linguistics (Pennycook, 2001) and Positioning Theory (Davis & Harré, 1990). To answer the second question, all instances in which the interns implemented communicative strategies were analyzed based upon the categorization repertories established by Dörnyei and Scott (1995a, 1995b, 1997), Lafford (2004), and Tarone and Yule (1987). To go beyond understanding what the interns were saying to why were they saying it, discourse analysis was used (Gee, 2005). The findings show that Petra, Penélope, and María appropriated their SSP internship to engage distinct, yet interrelated language- and ethnic/racial-based identity work. Each intern utilized language (and extra-linguistic elements, such as corporeal expression) to position themselves in different ways within social discourse. Furthermore, this identity work influenced which CSs they utilized, as the social function of many of these strategies was to maintain and/or protect their desired identities. Drawing on these insights, a variety of implications are offered from four viewpoints: implications for (i) EX-LL-based research: colonized versus humanizing research, (ii) critical community collaboration inside and outside of EX-LL, (iii) CSs and communicative competence, and (iv) EX-LL/Languages for Specific Purposes pedagogy and internship design. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Spanish 2018

La presente ricerca è volta a collegare l'ambito artistico all'educazione degli adulti. Primo obbiettivo della ricerca è stato riconoscere le peculiarità dell'apprendimento adulto per potere individuare quali tra esse fossero da considerare irrinunciabili in una pedagogia per il patrimonio artistico. Il primo capitolo è dedicato a ripercorrere la letteratura critica relativa al tema dell'apprendimento degli adulti nei musei per mettere in luce: 1) le caratteristiche dell'apprendimento adulto che devono essere considerate nel progettare attività rivolte a questo tipo di pubblico. 2) le teorie pedagogiche maggiormente diffuse in ambito museale americano e che influenzano le esperienze europee. Il secondo capitolo nasce come continuazione del primo e tenta di offrire un'alternativa al modello costruttivista di museo, portando all'attenzione il concetto di persona derivante dalla posizione filosofica realista. Il terzo capitolo si divide in due parti: la prima rende conto della fase di osservazione condotta presso il Solomon Guggenheim Museum, il Metropolitani Museum of Art e il Museum of Modern Art di New York. Presso tali istituzioni museali ho individuato un'attività che per la metodologia adottata ha costituito il modello di riferimento per la fase applicativa della ricerca condotta presso il Museo dell'Ottocento di Milano e descritta nella seconda parte del capitolo. I risultati della sperimentazione hanno confermato la validità di tale metodologia e hanno aperto il campo a nuove riflessioni. / The aim of this research is to make a connection between art and lifelong learning. The first goal of the study was to underline the specific features of adult's learning to identify which should be considered as crucial in the artistic heritage pedagogy. The second goal was to study an approach to the artwork that fitted the requirements of adult's learning. The first chapter is dedicated to consider: 1. the essential characteristics of adult's learning to be considered in the process of planning activities and 2. the most widespread pedagogic theories in American museums, and how they influence European works. The second chapter tries to describe an alternative to the constructivistic model of the museum, focusing on the concept of person that arise from the realistic philosophy. The third chapter is formed by two parts: in the first it is described a period of participant observation at the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art of New York. During that period, I identified an activity that formed the methodological basis for the practical activity I realized at the Museo dell'Ottocento of Milan. This activity is described in the second part of the chapter. The results of the groundwork confirmed the high quality of the methodology and encourage further studies.