Theorizing and Analyzing Agency in Second Language Learning

Theorizing and Analyzing Agency in Second Language Learning
Author: Ping Deters
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1783092890

Through several unique perspectives and contexts, this volume contributes to current understanding of agency in second language learning. It includes chapters discussing theoretical, analytical and pedagogical approaches, and will serve as a key reference for researchers of language learning and teaching.

Theorizing and Analyzing Language Teacher Agency

Theorizing and Analyzing Language Teacher Agency
Author: Hayriye Kayi-Aydar
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2019-06-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1788923936

This volume examines the agency of second/foreign language teachers in diverse geographical contexts and in both K-12 and adult education. It offers new understandings and conceptualizations of second/foreign language teacher agency through a variety of types of empirical data. It also demonstrates the use of different methodologies or analytic tools to study the multidimensional, dynamic and complex nature of second/foreign language teacher agency. The chapters draw on a range of theories and approaches to language teacher agency (including ecological theory, positioning theory, complexity theory and actor-network theory) that expand our understanding of the concept, while at the same time presenting various analytic approaches such as discourse studies and narrative inquiry. The chapters also analyze the connection of agency to other relevant topics, such as teacher identity, emotions, positioning and autonomy.

The Language of Adult Immigrants

The Language of Adult Immigrants
Author: Elizabeth R. Miller
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2014-06-04
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1783092068

This book is the first to explore the constitution of language learner agency by drawing on performativity theory, an approach that remains on the periphery of second language research. Though many scholars have drawn on poststructuralism to theorize learner identity in non-essentialist terms, most have treated agency as an essential feature that belongs to or inheres in individuals. By contrast, this work promotes a view of learner agency as inherently social and as performatively constituted in discursive practice. In developing a performativity approach to learner agency, it builds on the work of Vygotsky and Bakhtin along with research on ‘agency of spaces’ and language ideologies. Through the study of discourses produced in interviews, this work explores how immigrant small business owners co-construct their theories of agency, in relation to language learning and use. The analysis focuses on three discursive constructs produced in the interview talk–subject-predicate constructs, evaluative stance, and reported speech–and investigates their discursive effects in mobilizing ideologically normative, performatively realized agentive selves.

Reconceptualizing Connections between Language, Literacy and Learning

Reconceptualizing Connections between Language, Literacy and Learning
Author: Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2020-01-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030269949

This edited volume unpacks the familiar concepts of language, literacy and learning, and promotes dialogue and bridge building within and across these concepts. Its specific interest lies in bridging the gap between Literacy Studies (or New Literacy Studies), on the one hand, and SLA and scholarship in learning in multilingual contexts, on the other. The chapters in the volume center-stage empirical analysis, and each addresses gaps in the scholarship between the two domains. The volume addresses the need to engage with the concepts, categorizations and boundaries that pertain to language, literacy and learning. This need is especially felt in our globalized society, which is characterized by constant, fast and unpredictable mobility of people, goods, ideas and values. The editors of this volume are founding members of the Nordic Network LLL (Language, Literacy and Learning). They have initiated a string of workshops and have discussed this theme at Nordic meetings and at symposia at international conferences.

Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching

Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching
Author: Diego Mideros
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2023-09-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3031341821

​This book presents a unique perspective from an underrepresented region in the Global South. The volume features four different countries in the region: Barbados, Guyana, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Martinique, an island located just north of St. Lucia which is an overseas region of France. It documents innovations in learning and teaching Spanish, French, and Chinese in the case of the English-speaking countries, and English as a foreign language (EFL) in the case of Martinique. The chapters cover different aspects of language education in the Caribbean and will be of particular interest to those involved in managing change in language education that attempts to mediate between global trends and local needs.

L2 Learning During Study Abroad

L2 Learning During Study Abroad
Author: Yoshifumi Fukada
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2019-04-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9811375461

This book presents three case studies that examine how English language students construct affinity spaces to secure target language-mediated socializing opportunities with local people in both academic and non-academic contexts. The studies were conducted in Hawaii, the U.S and Tokyo, Japan and focus on the Japanese author of this book, an English as second language (ESL) speaker and learner, during his sabbatical in Hawaii; on a Japanese international student who studied in Hawaii; and on a Chinese international student studying in Japan. The studies hold a variety of implications for classroom practice, including helping students recognize the value of cultural and social capital in relation to their linguistic skills.

Multimodalities and Chinese Students’ L2 Practices

Multimodalities and Chinese Students’ L2 Practices
Author: Min Wang
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2020-03-13
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1498594573

Multimodalities and Chinese Students’ L2 Practices: Identity, Community, and Literacy explores the complex relations and interactions among multimodality, positioning, and agency in increasingly digitized, multilingual, and multicultural contexts. Min Wang uses interview narratives, WeChat exchanges, and class observations and field notes of three Chinese international students’ lived experiences of English learning to show that these L2 learners recognized and appropriated multiple modes and digital tools for their L2 literacies practices. They used multimodalities to position themselves as L2 users who are confident, able, and competent, but sometimes also struggling and ambivalent. The practice of meaning-making, remaking, designing, and redesigning demonstrated their agency as L2 learners. Positioned as cultural and social beings, these L2 learners presented their self-understandings and self-representations through symbolic and material artifacts, interactions with local and non-local people, and engagement in WeChat discussions and ELI learning. They assumed rights, obligations, and expectations in order to become legitimate community members. In the process their agency was promoted, negotiated, or sometimes limited by micro-social structures and ongoing interactions.

Second Language Learning Theories

Second Language Learning Theories
Author: Rosamond Mitchell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2019-01-21
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317206762

Written by a team of leading experts working in different SLA specialisms, this fourth edition is a clear and concise introduction to the main theories of second language acquisition (SLA) from multiple perspectives, comprehensively updated to reflect the very latest developments SLA research in recent years. The book covers all the main theoretical perspectives currently active in SLA and sets each chapter within a broader framework. Each chapter examines the claims and scope of each theory and how each views language, the learner and the acquisition process, supplemented by summaries of key studies and data examples from a variety of languages. Chapters end with an evaluative summary of the theories discussed. Key features to this fourth edition include updated accounts of developments in cognitive approaches to second language (L2) learning, the implications of advances in generative linguistics and the "social turn" in L2 research, with re-worked chapters on functional, sociocultural and sociolinguistic perspectives, and an entirely new chapter on theory integration, in addition to updated examples using new studies. Second Language Learning Theories continues to be an essential resource for graduate students in second language acquisition.

The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics
Author: Carol A. Chapelle
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 1654
Release: 2020-01-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1119147379

Offers a wide-ranging overview of the issues and research approaches in the diverse field of applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that identifies, examines, and seeks solutions to real-life language-related issues. Such issues often occur in situations of language contact and technological innovation, where language problems can range from explaining misunderstandings in face-to-face oral conversation to designing automated speech recognition systems for business. The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics includes entries on the fundamentals of the discipline, introducing readers to the concepts, research, and methods used by applied linguists working in the field. This succinct, reader-friendly volume offers a collection of entries on a range of language problems and the analytic approaches used to address them. This abridged reference work has been compiled from the most-accessed entries from The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (www.encyclopediaofappliedlinguistics.com), the more extensive volume which is available in print and digital format in 1000 libraries spanning 50 countries worldwide. Alphabetically-organized and updated entries help readers gain an understanding of the essentials of the field with entries on topics such as multilingualism, language policy and planning, language assessment and testing, translation and interpreting, and many others. Accessible for readers who are new to applied linguistics, The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics: Includes entries written by experts in a broad range of areas within applied linguistics Explains the theory and research approaches used in the field for analysis of language, language use, and contexts of language use Demonstrates the connections among theory, research, and practice in the study of language issues Provides a perfect starting point for pursuing essential topics in applied linguistics Designed to offer readers an introduction to the range of topics and approaches within the field, The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics is ideal for new students of applied linguistics and for researchers in the field.

The Routledge Handbook of the Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching

The Routledge Handbook of the Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching
Author: Tammy Gregersen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 642
Release: 2021-11-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000439909

This state-of-the-art volume is the first to capture a hybrid discipline that studies the role and linguistic implications of the human mind in language learning and teaching. This Handbook considers individual as well as collective factors in language learners and teachers from an array of new empirical constructs and theoretical perspectives, including implications for practice and “myths, debates, and disagreements” in the field, and points to future directions for research. This collection of stellar contributions is an essential resource for researchers, advanced students, and teachers working in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, psychology, and education.