This study aimed to investigate the relationships between how EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners positioned themselves and how they approached their learning in an English club. Three focuses formed the basis of this study: 1) the process of learners' enactment of different social positions in the English club meeting; 2) the relationship between learners' perceptions of the English club and their self-positioning in the English club meeting; 3) the relationship between learners' self-positioning and the meaning of learning in the English club meeting.
This study adopted a case study approach focusing on 3 participants in an English club. Data were collected from a variety of sources for triangulation, including personal information survey, interviews, and field observations. Data collection was comprised of 2 stages of participant observation and 3 rounds of individual interviews. The observational data was approximately 54 hours in total. The interview data for the 3 focal participants was approximately 14 hours in total, while the interview data for the other club members was approximately 15 hours in total. Constant comparative method was employed to analyze collected data at the early stage. Zimmerman' s (1998) three identity categories (i.e., situated identity, discourse identity, and transportable identity) were adopted to be the analytical framework for future theorization.
There were three major findings in this study: 1) the 3 focal participants demonstrated different forms of self-positioning in the English club meeting based on Zimmerman's three identity categories; 2) the 3 focal participants' perceptions of English clubs had a bearing on their self-positioning in the English club meeting; 3) the 3 focal participants made their own meaning of learning in relation to their self-positioning in the English club meeting.
On the basis of the findings, the present study has six major discussion focuses: 1) shifting forms of self-positioning; 2) levels of self-positioning; 3) perceptions of English clubs and self-positioning; 4) meaning of learning and self-positioning; 5) continuum of a social community; 6) English club members as language users.
To enrich the understanding of social positioning, the researcher suggest the following: 1) comparing the differences between how other members in an English club position the focal participants and how focal participants position themselves; 2) investigating EFL learners' social positioning in an English club with native English speakers; 3) exploring how EFL learners position themselves in two or more English clubs; 4) understanding how silent members think of their participation in an English club
To enhance the participation in and usefulness of an English club, three practical suggestions are provided: 1) members should be granted enough freedom to adopt different routes of participation in an English club, such as being a listener, a story teller, or a merrymaker; 2) activities and practices in such an English club should be as diverse as possible to embrace and accommodate different types of members; 3) particular attention should be given to diversify the grouping of members.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0127111-133703 |
| Date | 27 January 2011 |
| Creators | Liao, Yin-lun |
| Contributors | Yi-Hsuan Lo, Yu-Feng Yang, Heng-Tsung Huang |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0127111-133703 |
| Rights | off_campus_withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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