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Social inclusion and the ‘reduced personality’: Migration, identity and language learning. Lynda Yates Macquarie University. Research Questions. How are these migrants positioned and how do they position themselves in their new communities? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Social inclusion and the ‘reduced personality’: Migration, identity and language learning Lynda Yates
Macquarie University
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Research Questions• How are these migrants positioned and
how do they position themselves in their new communities?
• How do they experience the renegotiation of their identities in English?
• What is the role of the AMEP in this renegotiation process and how can it best facilitate these transitions?
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Overview• Motivation for paper• Theoretical frameworks• Study• Insights from case study of 8 women in
first three years in Australia• Reflections on:
– Development of their English-speaking identities
– Understandings of learning and language use
– Role of language classes
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Motivation for paperLucia Q1my boyfriend or and here his family. Everybody’s
wah wah wah What talking laughing and I’m just sorry shy and he say-
The shy Columbian yes.And I’m not like that!
Kaye Q1Kaye: …and people thinks I’m really quiet.Do they?Kaye: But in Japanese, no, I’m really talkative,
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Theory: Focus on the individual
• Personal costs of developing transnationalism– Rebuilding social, cultural and economic
capital • Language anxiety (Oxford, 1999)
– Self-esteem (Horowitz et al 1986)• ‘Reduced personality’ (Harder, 1980)
– Late-acquired language – Frustrations re self-expression (Winch, 2005)
• Motivation– L2 motivational self (Dornyei & Ushioda 2009)
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Theory: Identity in context • Power differentials and structures of
participation– Positioning– Peripheral participation/ communities of
practice– Affordances & investment (Norton-Pierce, 1995)
• Motivation - interaction intentionality & social context (Ushioda 2009)– People-in-context view of motivation– Engagement of ‘possible selves’
• English speaking identity– Migrant identities (Miller 2000)– Transportable identities’ (Zimmerman 1998; Richards
2006)
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Language use and English speaking identity
Positioning (affordances)
ELL motivation(Ideal L2 self)
Past self-esteem(cultural capital)
+ ve- ve
Use of English
Engagement of possible selves:Transnational
English-speakingIdentity
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Language use and developmentof L2 identity
TransnationalEnglish-speaking
Identity
Engagement of possible selves
+ve or –ve experiences
Use of English
+ ve
- ve
Language anxiety
Reduced personality
Successful self expression
investment and confidence in language learning
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Language training and settlement success• DIAC funded project• 152 migrants (134) studying in AMEP• 11 centres around Australia• Different levels/ backgrounds/ ages/• A range of data:
– Interviews– Fieldnotes, observations, materials,
assessments– Digital recordings of goal-oriented and
social interactions inside and outside the classroom and the centre
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Language training• AMEP - national program
– all eligible new arrivals who lack functional English– free– three different certificate levels to those– Certificate III– preparation for further study or improvement in
employment prospects. • Beyond most urgent need for basic English• Language-related settlement issues• Negotiate social and professional identities
through English • C1 linguistic expertise / economic capacity • Australia: Struggle to draw on this capital
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Participants
Name C1 Yr Status Ed Occup C1
OccupAus
Lucia Col 1:1 De facto– Anglo-Aus
17 Telemarket/sales
Trammie
Lila Col 1:4 M /Col.-Aus
16 Student/ Microbiol
Pharmac. factory
Tobi Jap 1:5 De facto – Anglo-Aus
11 Office admin.
Jap. travel agency
Kaye Jap 2:3 M/ Anglo-Aus
16 Language teacher
Jap. lang. teacher
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Participants
Name C1 Res Status Ed Occ. C1 Occ. Aus
Sally PRC 2:5 M/ Chinese
14 Self-empl Home-maker
Jean PRC 2:9 M/ Fr-Aus
15 Primary teacher
Family store
Anna PRC 2 M/ Chinese
16 Landscape designer
Chin. paper /landscaper
Karen PRC 1:2 M/ Chinese
17 Ophthalm ologist
Glasses factory QA
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Social inclusion and settlement success:
Some commonalities• Social isolation and loneliness• Frustration at ‘reduced personality’• Insufficiency of workplace or partners
for English development• Goal of more challenging work• Underestimation of language learning• Tendency to self-blame• Desire to improve English• Desire for speaking and feedback
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Social isolation and loneliness
Frustration at:• Lack of friends
– Sally and son (playgroup), Anna (curfew), Tobi
• Inability to relate/ express E.g. – Formal phone conversations (Sally)– Parents (Kaye)– Partners’ friends (Lila)– Every day conversation at work (Karen)– Anybody (Anna)
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Insufficiency of routine work interactions• Robot - Lucia Q1
Lucia: I’m just- ah feeling totally like stuck. Like- like when I know- you know it’s like I’m feeling like I’m expressing myself always in the same way or always- [….] Using the same words and using the same-
Yes, so it’s a restricted range of things-that you can say and do and you want to expand that, yeah.
Lucia: Exactly because I feel like robot, you know?• Sally (take-away)/ Lucia (café)/ Karen (office)/ Anna
(factory)• But increases confidence? (Sally/ Karen cf Tobi) (also
Miller 2000)
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Karen Q2:Yeah (laughter) because I think if I work
for an Aussie company at least I have a good- good situation and every time I listening, every time I- I read I- I writing something, always learning English, so is good.
……………………….I think I- I can- … I so before- before this
job I don’t dare to talk with some you know Western people. But now I can, I can do this.
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Goal - more challenging workDesire to build on cultural capital:
– portray fuller range of skills - professional identity
– Participate more centrally
Lila Q1: So I was and I was and at uni they know me because I was good at uni.
[….]Lila: Yeah so that why here that’s why now oh I
don’t have and I would say to my sister I just came here and I’m no-one, nobody.
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Under-estimation of challenge of language learning
Anna Q2: before I came here I- I never I never think English is so hard because hhmmm, we in China we just do reading, especially in our field I found that this is- is not difficult. So before I came here I think oh, English is- is easy to me I can- (laughter) I can I can learn English quickly and fast but after I came here I found not
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Positive about AMEP classLucia Q1: … they’re [English classes] great it’s
just, you know, it’s, yeah, some of my first English classes here in this, yeah
Karen Q2: I think … ahh, we can, we can learn some some- some words and I think we can- we can spend long time in Engla- English situation.
Anna Q1: I enjoy the class-, the class because I can- I can meet and know differ different classmates from different country the-
(NB Sally/ Anna - stretching)
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Some commonalitiesTendency to blame self (Lila, Anna, Tobi)
Okay. And you said last time to Jackie that you were feeling a little bit alone.
Lila Q2: Yeah.How do you feel now?Lila Q2: Ahm … I try don’t think about it
(laughter) yeah.Still a little bit lonely then?Lila Q2: Yeah, I think maybe my personality, I
don’t know.
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Language use and English speaking identity
Successful self expression
investment and confidence in language learning
Reduced personality
Language anxiety
+ ve- veL2 identity and Use of English
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LuciaQ1• 50% English• Repetitive café to • Cute Spanish-speaker• Frustrated with
‘reduced personality’• Class useful for:
– structure and practice (pron and writing)
– Space to speak– Make friends– Organise her English
Q3• 80% English• Sociable trammie• Independent lover• Settled• Job as transition• Developing new
strategies to communicate
• Still frustrated at ‘inability’ to join in and limited identity in English, but….
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Lucia Q3:Lucia: I, you know, but it's just … I think the English
is- is, I, I remember I felt really isolate, my first-Yeah.Lucia: -months here. I didn’t have friends, I didn’t, I
was only with <partner’s> family and with, I can start to talk with anyone and that’s normal. You know I'm doing that with contacts-
Yeah, yeah.Lucia: -I'm making friends-on the tram, making
friends. I'm just--Yeah.Lucia: -I'm talking with people.Yeah, yeah.Lucia: And this is good.
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TobiQ1• 20% English• Japanese travel agency • Planning children• Frustrated but some
support• Class useful for:
– Place to speak English– Place for feedback
Q3• 15% English• Soon unemployed • Relationship breakdown• Feels old (30), worries
about health • Lost interest in studying
English: ‘I don’t like study English.’
• No support, maybe returning home
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AnnaQ1(2)• 40% English• Silenced / factory QA • Diligent but unrealistic• Came for opportunity• (misses professional
talk)• Class:
– Useful for ‘answers’– To meet people/ engage– Feedback/ correction– (wants to make NS
contact)
Q3(4)• 60% English• Quit job for more
speaking• Diligent -frustrated with
progress• More understanding and
confidence• Wants more Anglo talk• Refocusing goals -
optician• Considering returning• (confident assertive cf
mistakes /stupid in English)
• (lonely / husband)• (toughened / more
determined)
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JeannieQ1• 95% English• Family store • Believes in speaking
out • Proud of her English• Came for
opportunity/husband
Q3• 98% English• Wants to study• Disappointed can’t be a
teacher• Husband wants her to
work• Stays for son not
husband
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KarenQ1• 15% (50%) English• Chinese to English • Wants to improve
speaking • Came for husband/
opportunity• Class:
– Safe place to speak– Not laughed at
Q4• Return from work away• More confident about
English, but still afraid of mistakes
• Different ‘place’ from last yr:– Content, happy, lucky– Plans to settle– More confident with clients
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Role of language training• Source of:
– Structured language information– Feedback (handling of misconceptions)– Non-language information– Practice– Referral (plausible action plans) (Dornyei 2009)– Peer group / network
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AMEP class - safe place to:
• Use English without being considered ‘stupid’
• Develop of English speaking identity which reflects their ‘transportable identities’
‘engage directly with their possible selves as users of the L2, but within the current scope and security of their current communicative abilities, interests and social contexts’
(Ushioda: 2009: 225)
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References Dornyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation: Language identity
and the L2 self. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Harder, P. (1980). Discourse as self-expression – on the reduced
personality of the second language learner. Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 262-270.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70(2), 125-132.
Miller, J. M. (2000). Language Use, Identity, and Social Interaction: Migrant Students in Australia. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 33(1), 69-100.
Oxford, R. L. (1999) Anxiety and the language learner: New insights. In J. Arnold (Ed.) Affect in Language Learning (pp 58-67). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Norton-Pierce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9-31.
Richards, K. (2006). 'Being the teacher': Identity and classroom conversation. Applied Linguistics, 27(1), 51-77.
Ushioda, E. (2009). A person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dornyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, Language identity and the L2 self (pp. 215-228). Bristol: Mulitlingual Matters.
Winch, S. (2005). From Frustration to Satisfaction: Using NLP to Improve Self-Expression. Paper presented at the 18th Annual EA Education Conference
Zimmerman, D. H. (1998). Discoursal identities ad social identities. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (Eds.), Identities in talk (pp. 87-106). London: Sage.
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