“Opening up to the world”?
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Elizabeth Smolcic
Abstract
This chapter reports on a study exploring the developing intercultural awareness of novice ESL teachers as they become border crossers in an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher preparation program. In addition to learning about instruction of English Language Learners (ELLs), the study abroad experience encouraged teachers to explore their own cultural identities, to develop conceptual understanding of culture and interculturality, to analyze their own L2 learning process in classroom and homestay settings, and to uncover the macro‐social relationships underlying processes of global human migration. Analysis of ethnographic data uncovered how immersion promotes enhanced self‐awareness, frequently bringing about dissonance which in turn leads to transformations in personal identities, changing goals for the future, and a means of gradual socialization into new communities of practice.
Abstract
This chapter reports on a study exploring the developing intercultural awareness of novice ESL teachers as they become border crossers in an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher preparation program. In addition to learning about instruction of English Language Learners (ELLs), the study abroad experience encouraged teachers to explore their own cultural identities, to develop conceptual understanding of culture and interculturality, to analyze their own L2 learning process in classroom and homestay settings, and to uncover the macro‐social relationships underlying processes of global human migration. Analysis of ethnographic data uncovered how immersion promotes enhanced self‐awareness, frequently bringing about dissonance which in turn leads to transformations in personal identities, changing goals for the future, and a means of gradual socialization into new communities of practice.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement ix
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Part I. Orientation
- Introduction 3
- Researching whole people and whole lives 17
-
Part II. Qualitative and case studies
- Self-regulatory strategies of foreign language learners 47
- “Opening up to the world”? 75
- Politics of identification in the use of lingua francas in student mobility to Finland and France 101
- An American in Paris 127
- Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference 155
- The transformation of “a frog in the well” 179
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Part III. Pragmatics and identity
- “I joke you don’t” 207
- Getting over the hedge 239
- Identity and honorifics use in Korean study abroad 269
- A corpus-based study of vague language use by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context 299
- Afterword 333
- Name index 337
- Subject index 343
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement ix
-
Part I. Orientation
- Introduction 3
- Researching whole people and whole lives 17
-
Part II. Qualitative and case studies
- Self-regulatory strategies of foreign language learners 47
- “Opening up to the world”? 75
- Politics of identification in the use of lingua francas in student mobility to Finland and France 101
- An American in Paris 127
- Exploring the potential of high school homestays as a context for local engagement and negotiation of difference 155
- The transformation of “a frog in the well” 179
-
Part III. Pragmatics and identity
- “I joke you don’t” 207
- Getting over the hedge 239
- Identity and honorifics use in Korean study abroad 269
- A corpus-based study of vague language use by learners of Spanish in a study abroad context 299
- Afterword 333
- Name index 337
- Subject index 343
