Transnational, transcultural, translingual communities of practice in flux
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Claudia Kunschak
Abstract
The Community of Practice (CofP; Wenger 1998) model of social learning has recently been a preferred lense for investigating professional practice in education. This chapter focuses on the experiences and resultant beliefs and practices of a group of teachers from a range of backgrounds (local, national, international) engaged in a highly diverse community of practice. Data were collected through a mixed focus group, interviews and written responses at a university in Southern China, where local, regional, mainland, autonomous territory and overseas Chinese, as well as native, non-native, second-generation and third-culture international teachers live, work and socialize. I argue that the study of CofPs needs to draw more on the diversity of its constituent members rather than focus on commonly-shared features.
Abstract
The Community of Practice (CofP; Wenger 1998) model of social learning has recently been a preferred lense for investigating professional practice in education. This chapter focuses on the experiences and resultant beliefs and practices of a group of teachers from a range of backgrounds (local, national, international) engaged in a highly diverse community of practice. Data were collected through a mixed focus group, interviews and written responses at a university in Southern China, where local, regional, mainland, autonomous territory and overseas Chinese, as well as native, non-native, second-generation and third-culture international teachers live, work and socialize. I argue that the study of CofPs needs to draw more on the diversity of its constituent members rather than focus on commonly-shared features.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Language practice in dialogue
- The complex nature of Language-related Episodes 25
- Navigating the language-learning classroom without previous schooling 49
- Multimodality and coordinated participation in L2 interaction 79
-
Learning culture and identities through dialogue
- ‘ Tú no eres española ’ 107
- Exploring the complex nature of language and culture through intercultural dialogue 139
- Multilingual Eurovision meets plurilingual YouTube 167
-
Learning practices of communities
- Dialogic knowledge building in learning communities 195
- Artifacts, gestures and dispensable speech 221
- Changing frames in native speaker and learner talk 253
- Transnational, transcultural, translingual communities of practice in flux 287
- About the authors 307
- Index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Language practice in dialogue
- The complex nature of Language-related Episodes 25
- Navigating the language-learning classroom without previous schooling 49
- Multimodality and coordinated participation in L2 interaction 79
-
Learning culture and identities through dialogue
- ‘ Tú no eres española ’ 107
- Exploring the complex nature of language and culture through intercultural dialogue 139
- Multilingual Eurovision meets plurilingual YouTube 167
-
Learning practices of communities
- Dialogic knowledge building in learning communities 195
- Artifacts, gestures and dispensable speech 221
- Changing frames in native speaker and learner talk 253
- Transnational, transcultural, translingual communities of practice in flux 287
- About the authors 307
- Index 311
