This thesis reports a cross-cultural study that investigated the ways Chinese and Swedish college students do gender in their experiences of reading English as a second language. The concept “doing gender in reading” in this study derives from the view of reading as a social practice that leads to gendered identities construction. Previous studies, which mostly found that girls outperformed boys in reading achievement, created a linear relationship between gender and achievement. This study, informed by social theories of literacy (Gee, 2008; Street, 1984; Kress, 2010) and poststructuralist theories of gender (Weedon, 1997; Butler, 1990), explored how socially-constituted gendered ideologies might be instantiated and negotiated in college students’ experiences of reading English as a second language. It gave particular attention to diversity within and between genders and to the dynamics of students’ socio-culturally mediated reading practices. The study was guided by the following sub-questions: (a) What gender-specific ideologies can be identified in Chinese and Swedish college students’ narratives of reading English as a second language? (b) How do Chinese and Swedish college students act in relation to gender-specific ideologies in their everyday English reading practices? The study was conducted with a qualitative approach of narrative inquiry. Focal informants were four Chinese students and four Swedish students enrolled in English teacher education programs in their home countries. Data were collected over a sixmonth period with techniques of student journal writing, interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observations. Baxter’s (2003) feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis framed and guided data analysis. The study found three recurrent English reading practices across cases that led to gendered identities construction. These were: making investment in English reading; adopting the strategy of reading English alone; and choosing English reading materials in relation to teachers. Overarching ideologies that shaped these practices included perceptions of reading as a more female-appropriate activity, male readers as independent readers who could solve problems on their own, and female readers as emotional readers who are sensitive to their relation with others. Informants’ actions in relation to these gender-specific ideologies fell into two major categories: conformance and resistance. Findings suggested that female informants seemed to be more ready to resist these ideologies whereas males tended to comply. Swedish informants seemed to demonstrate more awareness of and readiness to resist gendered ideologies compared to Chinese informants. The findings from this study imply that gendered ideologies can have both facilitating and debilitating effects on students’ reading experiences. Therefore, language teachers should develop a critical consciousness of gendered ideologies and how they relate to their students in specific contexts. In response to prevailing socioculturally constituted and power-laden ideologies, the study proposes a new perspective from which to interpret gender and reading English as a second language across cultures. Such a contribution adds momentum to the paradigm shift from essentialism to poststructuralism in second language acquisition that purports that gender is more than an identity label. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In this thesis project, the relationship between attitudes toward target and native culture groups and attained ESL proficiency among immigrants was evaluated. The subjects were thirty adult native Swedes, all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who had spent an average of 29 years in the United States. Fourteen were members of a Swedish-speaking branch, while sixteen were members of English-speaking wards. Significant differences were found in immigrants' attitudes toward the culture groups. High English proficiency related positively with a more positive attitude toward the target culture group. Those demonstrating high proficiency viewed the general native culture group more negatively than those demonstrating low proficiency. Immigrants belonging to the Swedish branch scored significantly lower on the test and so did those with Swedish spouses, over the age of 30 at the time of immigration and those who had not had any English training in Sweden. These groups also perceived themselves as less intelligent and less confident than their companion groups.

El siguiente trabajo pretende analizar el nivel de desarrollo de la competencia pragmática en usuarios nativos y no-nativos del español con origen chileno y sueco respectivamente. Se han analizado una serie de conversaciones telefónicas endolingües y exolingües y se han comparado en términos de longitud y en organización de sus secuencias de negociación. Por otro lado, también se ha observado en detalle la cantidad y tipología de marcadores lingüísticos de mitigación utilizados en ambos grupos. A partir de dicho análisis conversacional comparativo se pretendió determinar en qué medida un usuario no nativo de nivel avanzado en español inmerso en una cultura hispanohablante ha logrado dominar la segunda lengua en términos del dominio del discurso y el uso funcional de los recursos lingüísticos de acuerdo a un cierto escenario de intercambio comunicativo. Como resultado se han observado diferencias entre los usuarios nativos y no-nativos en relación con la producción de marcadores de mitigación pero no en la longitud y organización secuencial de las conversaciones. / The following paper aims at analyzing the level of development of pragmatic competence among native and nonnative Spanish speakers from Chile and Sweden. A series of endolinguistic and exolinguistic phone conversations have been analyzed and compared with regard to their length and the organization of negotiation sequences. Also, the amount and types of linguistic mitigation markers used in both groups have been accounted for. The overall aim of this comparative study in conversation analysis is to determine in which way nonnative advanced Spanish L2 speakers immersed in a Hispanic culture have been able to master the second language in terms of discourse command and functional use of linguistic resources in a given communicative activity type. Differences were found between native and nonnative speakers with regard to mitigation markers production but not in the length and organization sequence of the conversations.