No research to date has involved ESL students as researchers in
investigations of community language practices. This study examined the
research processes of 23 international college students in an advanced
ESL course. The students worked on an original curriculum, the Language
Research Project, through which they performed ethnographic and
discourse analytic tasks and engaged in collaborative action research. As
the students uncovered the tacit rules that regulate communicative
practices in the university community, they sought to improve their own
performance in academic interactions. The teacher-researcher
simultaneously observed and analyzed students' perspectives, seeking to
improve her teaching practice.
An analysis of the classroom dialogues showed that intertextual links
made by the teacher and the students served to build a system of scaffolds
for the group. These intertextual links acted as cognitive and affective
support for reflection and evaluation of ideas. The students' comments to
each other resembled comments made by the teacher, which indicates that
they appropriated the teacher's expert role. Thus, this study reveals that
learners of similar levels can offer each other expert assistance in the
completion of tasks.
The students developed a high level of metacognition. Their
reflections uncovered serious conflicts between themselves and native
English speakers. They observed that they performed better in social
settings. Conversely, they felt awkward in academic settings when
interacting with domestic classmates and professors, who were often
unsupportive and unwilling to engage in communication. This denial of
access by Americans resulted in feelings of inadequacy and inferiority for
the students. Nevertheless, some students rejected and transformed certain
dominant practices of the community. By adopting the identity of
researchers, the students were empowered to engage in their own realities
from a position of strength and to assert their individual needs. These
findings demonstrate that the students developed a sense of critical
language awareness.
This dissertation portrays an emerging Vygotskian sociocultural
perspective on second language acquisition research. The findings support
social constructivist teaching approaches that incorporate students' lived
experiences. Finally, this study reveals an urgent need to sensitize faculty
and students in higher education in the United States about the experiences
of language-minority students. / Graduation date: 2003
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/31177 |
| Date | 13 January 2003 |
| Creators | Dantas-Whitney, Maria |
| Contributors | Cohen, LeoNora |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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